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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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Before the empty tomb, there was a basin. Before Before the empty tomb,
there was a basin.

Before glory,
there was grief.

The Jesus Way is not dominance.
It’s downward mobility.
It’s loving in the face of betrayal.
Serving in the face of misunderstanding.
Choosing humility when pride would be easier.

If loving like Jesus feels costly, you’re not doing it wrong.
It has always cost something.

🎧 Episode 017 | The Jesus Way is now streaming.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #SimplyBloomCo #TheJesusWay
How's your internal monologue? Be brutally honest How's your internal monologue?
Be brutally honest here.

Are you actually kind to yourself?
Do you practice curiosity + compassion
when your emotions + responses catch you
off guard and feel oversized for the occasion?

Are you patient and gracious with your soul's
long + messy journey of growth and healing?

Are you gentle with your heart when you mess up?
Or, do you instantly shift to shaming + blaming?

Is self-loathing a constant (albeit unwanted)
companion who lingers in the corner just
waiting for an invitation to show up with
cruel words, gasoline and a match?

For many of us, if we talked to our dearest
friends the way we talk to ourselves...
well, we wouldn't have many.

Go ahead and read that again.
Let it sink in.

/ / /

Consider this a gentle reminder
to be tender with yourself.
Speak life to your own soul.
Always, always, always be kind.

We are never more like the enemy of our souls than
when we assume the role of accuser + condemner.

Catch every negative, shaming thought you have
and see if it aligns with how God sees you (and others).

If it isn't good, kind, hopeful, constructive, grace-laced and restorative, then it doesn't belong in your head + heart.

You are, after all, allowed to be both a mess and
a masterpiece...all at the very same time.

You are so loved.
Easter reminds us that the tomb is empty. But befo Easter reminds us that the tomb is empty.
But before the resurrection, there was a towel.

In John 13, just hours before the cross,
Jesus doesn’t assert power, He kneels.
He washes the feet of Peter.
He washes the feet of Judas.
He loves them to the end.

🎙️ Episode 017 | The Jesus Way is live.

What does it look like to choose love in the middle
of betrayal, grief, disagreement, and struggle?
The way of Jesus isn’t flashy.
 It’s faithful.

🎧 Listen wherever you stream podcasts.

#OhGoodGrief #TheJesusWay  #KnownByLove
Instagram post 17956039791092382 Instagram post 17956039791092382
So very thankful for the life that came from his d So very thankful for the life
that came from his death.

May you know how wildly, wholly
and wonderfully you are loved…

“This is how much God loved the world:
He gave his Son, his one and only Son.
And this is why: so that no one need be
destroyed; by believing in him, anyone
can have a whole and lasting life.
God didn’t go to all the trouble of
sending his Son merely to point an
accusing finger, telling the world
how bad it was. He came to help,
to put the world right again.”

John 3:16-17 | The Message

#GoodFriday #ItIsFinished

📷 Levi Lusko
Boundaries are not the opposite of love. They are Boundaries are not the opposite of love.
They are often the evidence of it.

Jesus touched lepers.
He wept with friends.
He restored the broken.

But He also corrected boldly.
He withdrew intentionally.
He did not entrust Himself to everyone.

You can forgive someone
without restoring immediate proximity.
You can love someone
without giving them full access to your life.

Episode 016 | Grace + Guardrails is available now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #BoundariesMatter
Instagram post 18396581398148716 Instagram post 18396581398148716
Love does not require unlimited access. In Episod Love does not require unlimited access.

In Episode 016 of Oh, Good Grief, we explore what Jesus
actually modeled when it comes to boundaries.

He loved everyone.
He did not entrust Himself to everyone.
He was full of grace and truth.
He welcomed the crowds, but confided in the few.

In a world that demands access to our time, energy, and heart, this episode unpacks what it looks like to forgive without naivety, love without losing discernment, and practice grace with guardrails.

🎧 Grace + Guardrails | How Jesus Modeled Boundaries in a World
  That Demands Access is live wherever you listen to podcasts

#OhGoodGrief #GraceAndTruth #BiblicalBoundaries #FaithInRealLife
Sometimes the most honest thing we can say is: thi Sometimes the most honest thing we can say is:
this is where I am today…
but it isn’t where my story ends.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #GodIsFaithful
Follow @SimplyBloomJoy

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