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Where Passion & Purpose Collide

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15 {Potentially Awkward} Things…

                              You probably don’t know about me. 

                   {and quite possibly, don’t want to}

  1. I think sweaty feet smell like buttered popcorn {which, needless to say, I don’t care for}, and belly-button “jam”, like parmesan cheese {which, disturbingly enough, I do enjoy}.
  2. I really want a tattoo.  I’m just far too chicken to go through with it, which is odd considering… 
  3. My super-woman ability to push a 10.5 pound baby out of my…um, body, naturally…and still needles make my stomach flutter and my knees weak.
  4. I don’t believe people should rise before the sun does {yes, I realize the world as we know it would cease to function}.  I loathe getting up early and, my husband will attest to this, will miraculously come up with very convincing reasons as to why I should remain snuggled under my warm covers and not emerge {don’t judge}.
  5. If I could redo my wedding, the only thing I would change would be the color scheme.  Periwinkle blue in October…?  What was I smoking?
  6. One time in 9th grade, before all this, I accidentally stole a backpack from Target.  As soon as I realized I had walked out with it on my back, I walked back in and returned it.
  7. When people crack their knuckles in front of me, it makes me want to dry heave.
  8. Despite my ability to speak easily to inanimate objects, to hold down {relatively intelligent} conversations with most anyone and in spite of my love for speaking publicly, I’m really quite awkward and insecure.  I still struggle with overanalyzing everything I say, wondering what people think of me, and am easily bummed if I feel like people don’t like me.
  9. Swinging on a trapeze is a life-long dream I’m determined to make happen one day.  If I could jump off another bridge tomorrow…I’d do it in a heartbeat!  But you couldn’t pay me enough to sky dive.  You could die, for pete’s sake!
  10. Many moons ago, during my first big Media meeting {while working in radio}, I was recovering from some mega chest congestion.  I coughed into my hand and without realizing it, spewed a “glob” on my wrist.  It was long after I had introduced myself and shared expressively {I talk with my hands} that I looked down and thought, “how did I get mustard on my arm!?”.  We were eating breakfast.  I wanted to die.
  11. I hate scrapbooking.  Despite being a creative soul, the thought of having to literally print, crop, glue and embellish photos gives me hives.
  12. No matter how hard I try, I cannot bring myself to recycle my Richard Marx, Ace of Base, No Mercy or Michael Bolton CDs. 
  13. I am in love with the ocean {and large bodies of water in general} and all the beauty, life and mystery it encompasses, and oddly enough, am equally Derangedenamored with – and terrified of – sharks.  They give me happy heeby-jeebies.
  14. I’m a picker.  Zits, scabs, cradle cap, jagged nails, you name it…if I can see it, I want at it!  This drives my family nuts!
  15. While I supported {okay, encouraged} the selling of my husband’s motorcycle when our first child was in utero…I long for the day we can purchase another.  Vrrooom!

 

{just 16 days to go until I plan to eat this with a spoon!}

Related posts:

  1. Processing Life.
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Complete nonsense, Keepin' it Real

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Simply Bloom exists to empower women to embrace their stories, live out their passion with purpose, and leave a legacy of love.
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Hello there! I'm Joy. Speaker, designer, author & coach, and creator of the #weROARproject. Welcome to Simply Bloom Co., where passion & purpose collide.

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What if grace has been waiting for you where perfe What if grace has been waiting for you
where perfection never could take you?

This week on Oh, Good Grief, we wrap up our exploration of the 9 Enneagram types, and how each one engages grief, with Type One: The Reformer.

We'll explore the gift of integrity, the burden of the inner critic, and the freedom that comes when we stop striving to earn what God has already given.

The Enneagram may reveal the stories we've believed to survive.
But only grace tells us who we've been all along.

🎧 Episode 038 is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
From the front, our little apple tree is living he From the front, our little apple tree is living her best life: laden with fruit and bursting with life.

But that’s only half the story.

Take a walk around the backside and you’ll see something entirely different: a large branch, nearly a third of the tree, black and barren. Clearly diseased. Clearly dead. Clearly in need of pruning.

And yet, every time I walk past it on our evening loop around the campground behind our house, it catches me off guard. I forget it’s even there.

Maybe because I prefer to look at the fruitful side.

And isn’t that a little like us?

We’re pretty comfortable displaying the beautiful parts: the wins, the answered prayers, the accomplishments, the parts of life that look healthy and fruitful.

The broken parts? The grief. The struggling relationships. The things we’ve neglected. The places where we’re tired or hurting or simply not okay?

Those we tend to tuck around the backside, hoping no one notices.

But here’s the thing: what we hide still needs tending.

We don’t have to be ashamed of the barren branches. We don’t have to pretend they aren’t there. And we certainly don’t have to wait until everything looks beautiful before we allow ourselves to be honest.

Maybe growth does look like good fruit.

And maybe sometimes it looks like finally walking around back, taking an honest look, and saying, That needs to go.

Pruning isn’t failure.
It’s making room for what’s still alive.

And if you’ve got a few dead branches of your own right now, take heart. You are not the barren branch. You are the whole tree. 🌿

#SimplyBloomCo
If you are a Nine, my prayer is that you would nev If you are a Nine, my prayer is that you would never lose your gift of bringing calm, compassion, and steadiness into a fractured world.

Those are beautiful reflections of the heart of Christ.

But may you also discover that your voice is not an interruption, your needs are not an inconvenience, and your presence is not optional. May you become the kind of peacemaker who tells the truth with love, receives love without shrinking, and lives fully awake to the life God has entrusted to you.

May you know, deep in your soul, that you don't have to disappear to belong.
What if the peace you've been protecting has come What if the peace you've been protecting
has come at the cost of your own presence?

This week on Oh, Good Grief, we're exploring Enneagram Nine: The Peacemaker.

Nines have an incredible gift for helping others feel safe, seen, and understood.
But somewhere along the way, many learned that staying connected meant staying quiet.

What if healing isn't about becoming louder?
What if it's about believing your voice already belongs in the room?

🎧 Episode 037 is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Permission Granted. In case you needed someone t Permission Granted. 

In case you needed someone to tell you: yes, you should absolutely make the impromptu stop at the roadside farm stand and buy the $5 bouquet of flowers.

No, you do not need a reason.

No, you do not need to be buying them for someone else (although that is a perfectly lovely thing to do, too).

Buy them for yourself.
Put them in your kitchen.
Smile every time you walk past them. 🌸

And support your local flower growers and farm stands while you’re at it.

That is all.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled scrolling.
If you are an Eight, my prayer is that you would n If you are an Eight, my prayer is that you would
never lose your fierce love for justice, your courage,
or your willingness to protect those who cannot protect themselves. 

Those are holy gifts.

But may you also discover the freedom of being protected yourself.
May you find people with whom you no longer need armor. And may you know, deep in your bones, that the God who fights for you is inviting you to rest...
not because you're weak, but because you were never meant to carry every battle alone.
The year we moved into this house, a peach tree sp The year we moved into this house, a peach tree spoiled us thoroughly. It produced more peaches than we knew what to do with—cobbler, galette, crumble, smoothies, fruit leathers, and basket loads given away.

Our expectations for peach season were high.

Turns out, that tree was throwing itself a retirement party.
It died the following year.

We’ve since planted two more. The one that has always been unproductive surprised us this summer with these gorgeous, generous peaches. The healthy, established tree that usually produces? One. Single. Peach.

Fruit-bearing is an interesting thing.
Unpredictable. Relatively unmanageable.
Sometimes delicious and sometimes disappointing.

And maybe that’s why I love the reminder it offers:
performance isn’t always a good indicator
of what’s happening beneath the surface.

Take heart, dear one.

Some seasons, you’ll crush the to-do list,
accomplish the goals and have plenty to show for yourself.

Other seasons, you’ll simply keep showing up.
Quietly. Consistently. Faithfully.

And that is enough, too. 🌱
What if your greatest strength was never meant to What if your greatest strength
was never meant to become a hiding place?

This week on Oh, Good Grief, we're continuing in our Summer Enneagram Series by exploring the Type Eight: The Challenger.

Many Eights learned early that strength was safer than vulnerability.
But what if healing isn't about becoming less strong?

What if it's about discovering that courage
and tenderness were never meant to compete?

God isn't asking you to lay down your strength.
He's inviting you to lay down the armor you no longer need.

🎧 Episode 036 is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you identify with the Enneagram 7, my prayer fo If you identify with the Enneagram 7, my prayer
for you is that you would never lose your capacity
for wonder, laughter, creativity, and hope.

Those are sacred gifts.

But may you also discover the freedom of staying present
when life feels heavy. May you trust that joy does not disappear
when sorrow arrives. May you find that God is not only present
in the moments of celebration, but also in the quiet,
painful places you once tried to avoid.

The One who created your joy can also hold your grief.

You are loved.
Follow @SimplyBloomJoy

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