We’re still talking all things JOY on the Dear Daughters Podcast because I want to help you bring a little more joy to your everyday life. I am so excited this week because I love my garden and creeks and mountains and a big blue sky and we are talking about joy in nature!
Verónica Godoy spent most of her life out in nature, climbing trees and playing on the beach in Argentina where she grew up. God opened her eyes to the biology of His creation when she was just 8 years old and she knew then that it was what she wanted to study (and sure enough, she earned both a B.S. and PhD in biological sciences). She has been a scientist and a teacher, and now works at A Rocha, a national community of Christians working in biodiversity conservation to take care of our environment.
God gave us the important assignment to tend to and care for His glorious creation. We must be good stewards of nature, caretakers of the world around us. To be good stewards, first we need to care. To care, first we need to know. Listen in as Verónica and I talk about our JOY-filled responsibility of caring for our non-human neighbors … and how we develop the eyes to see their needs and a heart for that mission. Veronica invites us so warmly and graciously to take care of God’s creation and in turn receive so much joy from nature … I can’t wait for you to hear all she has to say.
There is so much we can learn about God in nature. I hope that you take the time to enjoy God’s creation and I pray that you become a good steward of the trees and flowers and birds and all the wonderful things God has made.
We’re still talking all things JOY on the Dear Daughters Podcast because I want to help you bring a little more joy to your everyday life. This week we’re looking at joy a little differently because a lot is going on in the world … we’re going to talk about the search for joy in the midst of hard things.
Meredith McDaniel is an author and counselor at her practice, Milk & Honey Counseling. Meredith is a beautiful soul and she is joining me this week to talk about the desperate plea for all of us … “God, how can I find you?”
Joy almost sounds frivolous when there is so much despondency around us. When our world is threatened, we feel our fear and worry and anxiety rise. We’re often trapped inside a false reality of hope, wishing for what was … rather than facing the discomfort and acknowledging that we’re out of control. It’s then that we’re really in a position to release ourselves to joy. Because there is a hope that abides in the middle of where you are, no matter where that is, or what is happening. When we rest in knowing it doesn’t all hinge on us … that’s where freedom and joy start to enter the picture.
I hope that you open your eyes to the love notes that God is leaving just for you and know that you are not alone. I pray so many things for you … that you rest in knowing it does not all hinge on you, that you see the hope in the middle of it all, and that you can hold the joy next to the hard things.
We're talking JOY on the Dear Daughters Podcast because I want to bring a little more joy to your everyday life. We’ve talked about joy at home, joy at the table, and now we’re going to talk about joy in relationships.
This week I have my husband, Will, next to me to start this next part of the series about how to find joy in your marriage. Will and I have been married 37 years this week, and we’ve had days that have been really joyful and we’ve had days that have been really difficult.
Listen in as we dig deeper into ways to keep the joy in your marriage like these:
I pray that you are able to find so much JOY in your marriage. I hope that you and your spouse can use your marriage to bring joy to others around you, too.