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Book Reviews

What others are saying about XES…

 

laura“WOW! Was my first thought after the first chapter. XES is a book that will encourage you in your intimate life as well as challenge you. Here I was reading it for my “job” and to help others but instead found it helping and inspiring me!

~ Laura Laffoon, International Speaker & Author of He Said, She Said

sheila

 

 

“Joy writes a real and honest book about what Christian women need to understand about sex …why would we want to miss that?!?  An easy-to-read book, with lots of great stories, Joy delves into why we often avoid sex, why we’re sometimes scared of it, and a lot of the relational obstacles to great sex (including mommyhood!)”  

~ Sheila Wray Gregoire, International Speaker & Author of The Good Girl’s Guide to Great Sex

shannyn

“Witty and well written.  Joy McMillan speaks so freely about the taboo that we are free to consider that it may be not only super fun, but holy.  A ladies book club waiting to happen”.

~ Shannyn Caldwell, Family Life Radio Morning Show Co-Host & Author of The Healing Season

 marlene

 

 

“Real, relevant, and rubber-meets-the-road practical! With raw emotion and wit Joy challenges us to bring God’s abundant life to the bedroom! A must read for any woman, married or contemplating marriage.”  

~ Marlene Lawson, Speaker & Author of The 1st Peter 3 Girls: Sisterhood of Tragedy, Triumph and God’s Amazing Grace

.

 alisa

“Truth. Joy McMillan tackles the difficult subject of SEX in Christian marriage with candor and transparency. This is a book that I will be encouraging each of my clients to read as a way for them to understand how amazing sex can be…”  

~Alisa DiLorenzo, Author & Co-Founder of ONE Extraordinary Marriage

 

ashley

“Joy bravely weaves her own stories of brokenness throughout the pages…The words in this book will lovingly and boldly guide you to let go of anything that’s holding you back from truly unlocking the beautiful, fun, steamy marriage we all truly desire.”

~ Ashley Wells, Blogger & Author

woods

“This book reminded us that a good, healthy, uninhibited sex life is a form of worship because obedience IS worship. Just like marriage, our sex life within the marriage confines, is God ordained. Most people would not usually use the words “sex” and “holy” in the same sentence. However, since God created sex, it’d be a good idea if we were concerned about practicing it in a holy manner. Joy does a beautiful job of helping us to understand what that should look like!”  

~ Alan & Jamie Wood, Pastors of Inverness Vineyard Church (Alabama), Authors of Power Marriage, and founders of Third Cord Secret

 

dustin

“This is a fantastic book that every Christian woman should read. As someone who writes/speaks/works in the arena of marriage, it was so refreshing to find a resource that didn’t stay to just one side of the God/Sex line. God designed sex to be an incredibly joyful experience that unites couples and a taste of Heaven, and Joy totally gets it!” 

~ Dustin Riechmann, Engaged Marriage

.

tonya

“There is a movement happening in the church, and the wave starts within the pages of this book. It is time we kick the world out of our bedrooms, and let the Author of Love Himself, back in where He belongs.” 

~ Tonya Ferguson, 4 Little Fergusons blog

 

 

Pastors---Alma-Vineyard-chu

“This book took courage to write, and takes courage to read! It will challenge you, stretch you, make you laugh, make you cry, and change you! You will find wonderful treasures in every chapter – life-giving treasures that bring hope, freedom and permission to dream again.”  

~Mary Douglas, Pastor & Speaker

 photo Joy.jpg

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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I am regularly overwhelmed by the kindness of God I am regularly overwhelmed by the 
kindness of God in the small + simple.

Things like twinkle lights + Christmas jazz,
scraping out the peanut butter fudge pot
all by myself while sitting on the counter,
and walking around the corner to find my
loin fruit snuggled up together over tea.

They may fight like cats + dogs at times,
but their bond is deep and true and sweet.
Happy release day, @dralisoncook 💛 Written at Happy release day, @dralisoncook 💛

Written at the intersection 
of faith and psychology, 
this book is yet another 
soul-nourishing,
heart-healing, 
boundary-fortifying 
gift from Alison Cook
(if you’ve had a heart-to-heart
with me in the past two years,
you know how much I loved 
‘Boundaries for the Soul’). 

As an enneagram 2 who was raised 
in the church, this book was a timely
and liberating read. Pure balm for the 
weary, recovering-people-pleaser soul. 

I am beyond grateful for the wisdom, 
compassion + experience that Alison 
brings to all she shares (and it was
such an honor to be on her launch 
team for this beautiful new book).

Need a survival guide for your growth
and healing journey? Here you go! ✌🏼

#thebestofyou #thebestofyoubook #womenoffaith #healthyboundaries #healthyyou #healingjourney
Find yourself a tribe of people who will, togethe Find yourself a tribe of people who will, 
together, spend a beautiful Saturday
morning pulling this workout off:

• 20 mile run
• 340 tire flips
• 2,000 air squats
• 1,000 pull ups
• 1,500 box jumps
• 2,200 pull ups
• 600 devil press
• 3,300 sit ups

Brutal. Amazing. 
Exhausted.
So grateful for these two - their friendship, enco So grateful for these two - their friendship,
encouragement and wise counsel over the
past decade of being our pastoral couple
has been such a gift to our family 💛

Congrats on your retirement, dear friends!!
“Over the years, I have come to realize that t “Over the years, 
I have come to realize that 
the greatest trap in our life is not 
success, popularity, or power, 
but self-rejection.”
 :: Henri Nouwen

Somewhere along the journey of 
life, we start to believe the lie that - 
despite being made in the very image 
of a good and beautiful God - who we 
are is inherently bad and broken, and 
we learn to cover that deep sense 
of inadequacy (and the shame that 
accompanies it) with performance.

Because our visceral 
human response to 
‘bad + broken’ is 
‘reject + conceal’.

We think it’s the rejection of others
that cuts us to the core, but the truth
is…most of us walk around wounded 
by a constant and unrelenting sense 
of self-rejection and self-loathing.

Want to know why we feverishly seek 
out the approval and validation of others?
Why we desperately want others to like us?

Because we’re out of touch with our
inherent value and worth, and we’re
not sure that we even like ourselves.

We resent our weakness,
and abandon ourselves.

/ / /

But this good + beautiful God of ours…
He is drawn to our weakness like a
moth to a flame, swooping in to
bring strength and grace.

Paul writes in Corinthians 12:9 that 
he learned to delight in his weakness 
because it was when he was week that
“His strength is perfected in me”. 

Or, as the Passion Translation so 
stunningly puts it, “my weakness 
becomes a portal to God’s power”.

Precious ones, we can shun our tender
still-in-process places, pretend to have 
it all together, and hustle for our worth…
OR we can drop the masks, offer kindness 
and curiosity to our hurting, broken parts,
and learn to live fully seen and known.

But we can’t have both.

And yes, it’s scary.

Today may we choose
…grace over perfectionism
…curiosity over shame
…acceptance over rejection
…gentleness over judgement
…wholeness over pretense

You are loved.
And they’re off! Alathea is in 10th grade and A And they’re off!

Alathea is in 10th grade and
Aiden is heading into 8th grade.

Here’s to a year full of grace,
discovery, friendship + growth 🙌🏼
"Faith isn't the ability to believe long + far i "Faith isn't the ability 
to believe long + far 
into the misty future. 
It's simply taking God 
at His Word + taking 
the next step."

:: Joni Eareckson Tada
Day 15 | Beach Day + Travel Prep We fly out late Day 15 | Beach Day + Travel Prep

We fly out late tomorrow evening so today
has been a lazy day of laundry, laying in the
sun, a petshop visit (where Aiden fell in love 
with a cute rat + I discovered zebra finches), 
an impromptu stop for bubble tea + stuffed crepes [oh my word, were these delicious!!],
shopping [I found the best, comfiest - Joe
would argue ‘ugliest’ - romper at the thrift
store that I can’t wait to wear on our long
journey home], and Aiden is currently off
doing his thing: fishing right from the pier.
Our view from the lodge last night ✨ Our view from the lodge last night ✨
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