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Simply Bloom Co.

Where Passion & Purpose Collide

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Yzma

“I’ll call her Yzma”. {gulp} As soon as those words left her {innocent, adorable, 3 year old} little mouth, my involuntary eyebrow-lift and lip-curl occurred simultaneously. I may have snorted a little too. Not because “Yzma” is such a dreadful name or anything {however it will never not conjure up frightening images of a shriveled-up, overly-eye-lashed, evil little woman}, but… Read More

Keepin' it Real, The Kiddos

simplyflush.net

I decided late last night that it was time to get my own domain name. Not because my little blog is working magic in the blogosphere or any reason remotely that extravagant, but simply because I’m tired of typing .blogspot.com. I’m lazy like that. I had grandiose plans, I tell you. Until I discovered I was too late.  Simplybloom.com was… Read More

Complete nonsense, Keepin' it Real

Our Wild Day at the Zoo

If nothing else was gleaned from our ridiculously exhausting, overly priced, underly enjoyed {is ‘underly’ a word?} day at the Detroit zoo…it was what NOT to do next time.  And that the little local zoo – with it’s cheaper rates and shorter drive – is where we’re heading next time we get spontaneous and think…gosh, wouldn’t it be fun to… Read More

Family, Keepin' it Real, Travels

Holy Moment

Cricket loves Jesus.  She loves what she understands of Jesus, which doesn’t seem like much at the tender age of 3. But it’s growing everyday as she explores the beauty of nature, learns about the stunning intricacy of the human body {her favorite bone is her patella}, and gets a front row seat in watching God faithfully work out details… Read More

Faith, Keepin' it Real, The Kiddos

Stream of Consciousness

Today was a toughie.  Definite crazy cycle going on between Cricket and I.  Both ended up in tears.  Twice.  Was not pretty.  Most definitely not one of my finest parenting days {by a long shot}. Comedy of errors in getting together with a new friend I just met…running behind, gas light on {country life does not provide us many gas… Read More

Keepin' it Real, Motherhood

Shortcake is on the Line

It never ceases to amaze me just how many potential ‘lessons in love’ I face daily.  Potential because there are days I choose not to take the opportunity to learn, but simply to remain in whatever frustrated {read: impatient, ungracious, and overall unpleasant} state I may be in. It does amaze me, however, just how little I seem to have… Read More

Keepin' it Real, Motherhood

Farewell Mommy Mafia

Judgment.  Doesn’t the feeling of the word in your mouth just make your tongue swell? Judging.  Judgmental. However you say it, when coming from one human to another, based on flawed perception, it wreaks havoc. Dishing it out, like we so easily do {especially as Christians, you know it’s true!}, may deliver a temporary sense of superiority or achievement, but… Read More

Friendship, Keepin' it Real, Motherhood

A change of heart

My husband is a country boy.  I was a city girl. Notice I said “was”. I’m a changed woman.  You see… Boy meets girl.  Girl who despises smell of cow poo {and who assumes all country life involves having to smell cow poo day and night and life in a crappy, old farm house} convinces country boy that life in… Read More

Daily Life, Garden, Keepin' it Real, Motherhood

Paint, Cookies & Attitude, oh my!

How has 3 years flown by so quickly?  It seems just yesterday I was feeling her little feet kick within my belly.  Okay, that’s not true.  Many days it feels like 13 years, but you know.  As my beloved besties remind me, “it is what it is…but it will not always be this way”. And it is for that reason,… Read More

Keepin' it Real, Motherhood

Our First {Real} Adventure

Yesterday I ventured to the store for the first time, by myself, with the kids.  It sounds silly, I know, but for some reason this whole living in the country thing has me a little gun-shy.  Okay fine, I’m down right hibernating.  I don’t know anyone.  And I’m hesitant to get to know the neighbors {term used very lightly, as… Read More

Family, Keepin' it Real

Do the limbo!

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt as unsettled as I do right now.  It’s as though my whole world is caught in a state of unrest. The container company that is responsible for damaging thousands of dollars of our belongings is not returning phone calls.  Our garage holds moldy furniture and lampshades that may not be replaced. And we have… Read More

Faith, Keepin' it Real

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 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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May you remember that God is not only the God of d May you remember that God is not only
the God of destinations, but of detours.

When life takes you somewhere you never intended to go,
may you recognize that you have not been forgotten.

May you have eyes to see the people in front of you,
hands willing to gather the sticks,
courage to shake off the snakes,
a heart willing to welcome and be welcomed,
and faith to believe that even here,
especially here, God is at work.
What if the place you keep calling a detour is act What if the place you keep calling a detour is actually part of the story?

Paul was headed to Rome. Instead, he ended up shipwrecked on Malta.
It wasn't the destination. But it mattered.

A reminder for all of us: don't waste the waiting,
the detour, or the place you didn't choose.

🎙️ 042 | Make Malta Matter | Finding Purpose in Divine Detours
  The latest Oh, Good Grief Podcast episode is out now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #MakeMaltaMatter #SimplyBloomCo
Instagram post 17924817765424628 Instagram post 17924817765424628
What if the years you thought were wasted… weren't What if the years you thought were wasted…
weren't wasted at all?

In Part 2 of my conversation with Leah Harvey,
we go deeper into what it means to trust
God when the outcome is still unknown.

Leah has spent years carrying the ache of infertility,
and she doesn't offer a tidy answer or a spiritual shortcut.

Instead, she talks about restoration.
About eternity.
About choosing Jesus over her preference.
About looking for treasure in the middle of the story.

And about the surprising realization that there
may not have been wasted years after all,
because God was present in every one of them.

He is.
Even here.
Even now.

🎧 Part Two with Leah Harvey is live now.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #StruggleWell #StayRooted #SojournTogether
Instagram post 18091972097640684 Instagram post 18091972097640684
What if trusting that God is good doesn't mean bel What if trusting that God is good doesn't mean
believing He will give us everything we ask for?

That's one of the questions my friend Leah Harvey
and I wrestle with in this week's episode.

Leah and her hubby, Jake, have walked through years
of infertility and the kind of unanswered prayer that
doesn't just hurt once—it asks you to keep
trusting God over and over again.

We talk about grief, surrender, the questions we sometimes feel afraid to ask, and what happens when we stop trying to put tidy answers over messy pain.

This is a tender conversation about choosing Jesus over our preferences, embracing the mystery of God, and learning to believe that His goodness doesn't depend on whether He gives us the thing we're asking for.

Part One of my conversation with Leah Harvey is live now
🎧  040 | The Goodness of God in the Waiting

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #StruggleWell #StayRooted #SojournTogether
Before the world told you who you needed to become Before the world told you who you needed to become...
Before fear taught you how to survive...
Before shame convinced you to hide...
God looked at you and called you His own.

Not because you had healed.
Not because you had figured yourself out.
Not because you had become your best self.
Simply because you were His.

You are still becoming.
And you are already loved.

Keep coming home.

#OhGoodGriefPodcast #SimplyBloomCo
What if the goal isn't to become a different type, What if the goal isn't to become a different type,
but to become more fully yourself?

We've spent the last several weeks exploring the Enneagram:
our gifts, wounds, coping strategies, and the stories we
learned to believe in order to survive.

Now it's time to come home.

Episode 039 closes this Summer Series by asking
what happens when self-awareness becomes surrender.

The Enneagram can help us understand our patterns.
But it was never meant to become our identity.

You are not your number.
You are not your trauma.
You are not your coping strategy.

You are a beloved child of God.

🎧 Oh, Good Grief — Episode 039 is available now.
Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee, m Sitting on the front porch with a cup of coffee, my Bible and a book of maps in my lap, and the sun on my face, has me thinking about how strange and beautiful life can be.

It’s no small honor to be given the opportunity to preach at our church from time to time. Had you told the broken, shoplifting, lying, giving-her-body-away-for-free teenage girl I once was that one day she’d stand in a pulpit and talk to people about God’s goodness and grace, I would have laughed at you.

But maybe that’s exactly why God delights in using the messy, the unlikely, the misfits. Because these are the stories that make His redemption impossible to miss.

One of my favorite lines from The Chosen, spoken by Mary Magdalene, sums it up perfectly: “I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”

That’s my story, too.
And if I were to hazard a guess, it's yours as well.

It’s one of my greatest joys to dig into God’s Word, share what He’s laid on my heart, offer some encouragement and conviction, confess the uncomfortable things, and ultimately point people back to Jesus.

Because there’s no denying the extraordinary power of redemption when you’ve lived it yourself.
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