Joy Let Loose

September 10, 2020

My Son, My Sunshine, and The Yellow Boots

The yellow boots that turned sadness to praise
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Transported back in time

Do you ever catch sight of something and get transported back in time in an instant? That happened to me today. It was the yellow boots I saw in the store.

My son, Morgan, was about 4 when he inherited some boots just like these from a bigger kid he looked up to. He. Loved. Them. He wore them everywhere, and there was never a pair of boots that more accurately expressed his sunshiney personality.

A Big Personality

Morgan had such a big and joyful presence that you could feel him coming. These were just right. (Plus yellow was always his favorite color.) But then one Fall day he lost them. Worse than that, we almost lost him.

The yellow boots

He was out with friends and their dads fishing for the afternoon. All was awesome – they were just stopping to fish along the lakeshore as they walked. The kiddos took off quite a bit ahead of the dads and then stopped again. It really was quick, but little Morgan accidentally tumbled in, yellow boots and all, and the drop-off was significant. I’ve heard from his dad that it felt like an eternity to get to him and when they did he was really struggling.

I’ll tell you what: Superdads are a real thing. I didn’t want to re-live that snapshot, but there were those yellow boots in the store today.

Sadness turned to gratitude

But instead of making me feel sad and experience the anxiety again, it actually turned me to gratitude.

  • So grateful I still have my sunshiney boy. Life is precious.
  • So grateful for his dad and our friend making such a quick rescue.
  • So thankful that we know a Heavenly Father who walks with us through difficult and traumatic times and doesn’t leave us to bear them alone.
  • So glad that Morgan is now a very strong swimmer.
  • And I’m eternally grateful that he still lives as though he’s sporting those yellow boots – walking through life with joy and vibrancy that affects everyone around him.

What about you?

What about you? Do you have difficult memories that you can turn around to praise today? How will you bless the Lord at all times?

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

(Psalm 63:4)

Elizabeth JOY

Posted in: Family
Tags: , , , , ,
August 30, 2020

There is Wonderful Joy Ahead

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Sometimes it’s hard to see joy ahead. Right now it seems as though every which way I turn, people are hurting. Whether through illness, oppression, job loss, trauma, betrayal, invisibility, misrepresentation, relationship breakdown, or loss of purpose, people are enduring trials.

The enemy of our souls is hell-bent on stealing, killing, and destroying God’s people. He thrives on division and ruin. He wants you isolated.

You are not alone

You are not alone. This hardship you face is real. It is arduous. It brings pain that must be felt and acknowledged. There must be grief. But you do not have to bear it by yourself.

On the other side of persisting through trials with hope and Christlikeness is JOY.

  • There is wonderful JOY ahead in the form of forgiveness and wholeness.
  • There is wonderful JOY ahead in the reality of grace extended, of not really being destroyed even when you have been struck down.
  • There is wonderful JOY ahead in the arms of Jesus who welcomes the weary one.

So don’t give up

Persist. Hope. Repent. Receive. Worship. Painful, dark moments will fade into the glorious light of Christ if you will pursue Him only.

There is wonderful JOY ahead!

Elizabeth JOY

Posted in: Journey, Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,
August 13, 2020

How to step into life purpose

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How to step into life purpose

Almost a month ago I asked the question “So now what?” as I wrote about my business helping me flesh out my life call. At that time I was keenly aware that my Young Living journey is a gift that God has given me to help me let JOY loose in people’s lives. I see it in myself, my customers, my running mates and my builders. Such an unexpected gift! (If you haven’t read about that journey, I’d encourage you to click here before reading on. Or if you’ve been looking for an entrepreneurial vehicle in the realm of wellness, with crazy good personal development and an amazing community to help you pursue your life purpose, I’d encourage you to click here so we can connect directly!)

Even in the last few weeks since I wrote that post I’ve been discovering more about how to step into my purpose. And I’ve become more mindful that a lot of people I know can’t actually articulate their life purpose, and don’t know how to move into it with their families, vocations, or future plans.

What is your life purpose?

On a scale from 1 (I have no idea) to 5 (I know it and I’m pursuing it!), where do you stand in relation to articulating your life call or life purpose?

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Persist and Imagine

For the last few years, I’ve started the year by establishing words I felt drawn to for that calendar year. These words would be a lens of sorts that I would choose to view life through. In 2017 AND 2018, that word was JOY. In 2017 I was fighting for it, in 2018 I started finding it. And then in 2019 my word became HAPPY.

When the calendar turned to 2020, I had a massive shift and couldn’t get away from two words for this year: Persist and Imagine. I didn’t know necessarily what those might mean, but they were as clearly dropped into my heart and mind as an Amazon package left on my doorstep. They even rang the doorbell.

Well, how to persist became evident fairly quickly, both as a pandemic took over the globe, and as my parents’ health rapidly declined and I was unable to be with them to help. Not only that, but as our family joined millions of others with a main source of income suddenly lost, persisting became normal quickly:

  • Praying for my family and others
  • Intentionally keeping relationships alive
  • Staying focused on helping a church ministry shift
  • Choosing to rejoice when negativity was so rampant
  • Choosing to establish and maintain healthy habits in quarantine
  • Diligently working on my business to try to make up some financial discrepancies we faced.
  • Prayerfully entertaining opportunities, conversations, and suggestions about what we are to do next.

For us, like many of you, this season has been marked by persistence.

So how about imagining?

Sometimes it is easy to get lost in a head-down, push-through rhythm. Persisting holds less dreaming and more “get it done.” I definitely felt like that by early May. It was draining, and sucking the life out of me. I realized I needed to create space to lift my head and be more of a hummingbird than a hamster. I was going to need to listen, not speak. Nourishment and renewal became a craving.

And that is when the dream started to open up. Imagine had told me that dreaming was on the horizon in 2020. But when the year slammed in like a monsoon instead of a gentle tide, I couldn’t even imagine imagining!

But as I purposefully unplugged, and spent time listening, resting, and quieting my soul, my imagination began to come alive. It was slow. Kind of vague. But nevertheless, the horizon vision started to materialize a little bit. Somehow, persisting had led me by the hand toward imagining. Kind of like God had gone before me to prepare me or something.

My life purpose

I’m currently sitting in the summer breeze, halfway through a 14-day quarantine restriction imposed on us because we crossed a national border. And in this short season of isolation, the dream is becoming clearer. All of a sudden, any limit on dreaming is lifted, and it is like God has spoken that it is time for me to begin to step into purpose. It seems I hear Him best when I’m still.

Surrender your anxiety! Be silent and stop your striving and you will see that I am God. I am the God above all the nations, and I will be exalted throughout the whole earth.

Psalm 46:10 TPT

It thrills me, consumes me, and scares me a little now that He’s removed any lid from my imagining. But while He is allowing me to begin to do some tangible research and brainstorming, He has also been crystallizing for me my history, showing me all the many ways He has been preparing me for this dream. And WOW – things that seemed unrelated to me before are synthesizing into the beautiful training ground for what He is calling me to. (They always had been, I just didn’t realize it.)

Start with acknowledging that deeper longing within you. If I had to take a guess, that’s why you’re here. You can feel it. I don’t even have to define what it is–you know exactly what I’m talking about. It is that “something more to life” rumbling around in your gut, that tug drawing you toward a scary, audacious dream.

Bob Goff, Dream Big

So what about you?

What would I hope you would take away from this small and evolving part of my story? Well, there are a few things:

  • Consider asking the Lord for an annual guiding word – it’s not too late to redeem 2020!
  • If you’ve been head-down, consider editing your lifestyle to create space to lift your head.
  • Allow for silence. Listen.
  • Look back and look around. What has God done in you? What has He been training you for?
  • Look inward: what do you LOVE? What are you absolutely passionate about? What are you awesome at? Those will in some way reflect life purpose.
  • Ask a trusted friend for an honest assessment whether they believe you are inhibited by limiting beliefs or self-talk.
  • Stay patient. Purpose unfolds.
  • Read this book:

  • And finally: When God asks you to take a step, don’t be afraid of it. If He suddenly lifts a lid, trust in His goodness and move forward into it.

Don’t be afraid

God is trustworthy. He created you with purpose for a purpose. He wants you to dream and follow hard after Him into things that will bring you joy and fulfillment, and things that will glorify Himself to others. This is life purpose.

So how are you going to begin to step into your life purpose? Tell us your next step in the comments below!

Elizabeth Joy

Posted in: Journey, Purpose
Tags: ,
August 3, 2020

Holding Hands

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I wrote “Holding Hands” almost a year ago but it just published today. It’s been a reality I’ve been conscious of and seeking the Lord about for several years, but it seems much more front of mind now than before. I want to be a woman who is keenly aware of and appreciative of people’s uniqueness and value, and shaped by our differences instead of trying to be blind to them. God has made us with such diversity, pointing to His vast creativity and beauty. I think young children can be our very best teachers in this.

Holding Hands

by Elizabeth Rhyno

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. (Gal. 3:26)

The two looked shyly at each other. But even in their silence it was clear they were learning. They sized each other up, slowly taking it all in. In the bustle of the airport, it seemed as though time stopped for the little pair.

Dad crouched between them and slowly spoke their names, introducing the new brothers to each other for the first time. This was a holy ground moment for this now-expanded family. One after the other, each boy climbed up on their dad’s knees, directly facing each other, and he noticed a shy smile crawl across both faces. Such a contrast in color and clothing, yet already such a similarity in disposition. When black and white fingers slowly intertwined, Dad breathed a prayer of gratitude for the grace of God.

Our faith in Jesus ushers us into a new family, one made of people from every background, color, and language. When we die to ourselves and lean into God’s mercy we are buried in Jesus’ death and raised up with him to new life. And we immediately receive a welcome as God’s sons and daughters. What is it like to receive this family inheritance fully? Perhaps it starts with a childlike willingness to intertwine fingers with a brother or sister who is strikingly different than us. Maybe being clothed with Jesus means fully embracing our brand-new siblings.

Walk like Jesus, openly receiving people and valuing all they are.

Elizabeth Rhyno is a wife, mom, and pastor of relational arts at Waterline [Wesleyan] Church. Elizabeth chooses to pursue the Lord and lean into his heart for community.

© 2020 Wesleyan Publishing House.

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Elizabeth JOY

Posted in: Uncategorized
June 16, 2020

How My Business Helps Me Answer My Life Call

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In 2016 I had discovered my life call. God had told me to let JOY loose. But I was having such a difficult time figuring out how. After all, I was in a season of extreme sadness and overwhelm, so it felt kind of impossible. Thankfully, over the years I had discovered (by living it) that literally nothing is impossible for God, so at least I had the wherewithal to try to respond.

Ok…so now what?

This blog was my first step. I knew how to write and I enjoyed it, so it made sense. I just had to learn all the nuts and bolts of blogging and navigating that space. Since I wasn’t working yet, I became an Amazon affiliate, hoping to earn a bit of blogger kick-back for recommending products. Funny though, unless you go hard at that or have thousands of subscribers, that doesn’t seem to be overly lucrative. But that wasn’t the heart behind this blog anyway, so it didn’t really matter.

Clarification

Instead, I discovered I was certainly not alone in my quest to find JOY. Readers continually connected with me in the comments, through my Facebook group, DMs, and by downloading ebooks or subscribing to my prayer prompts and joy journeys. It was apparent that many, many people were discouraged by joylessness. So my life call was being clarified and confirmed. If I could be even just a small part of their journey back to JOY, I wanted it. I began to think in terms of meaning and legacy in each post and conversation. As God revealed things to my heart that I sensed were for more than just me, I shared them here.

Taking a next step

In 2017 I began in a part-time role as a Pastor of Worship. I had served in similar roles before, but the new lens of my life call clarified further how and why I was to minister. It shaped my questions and conversations. It informed my Bible study and my pastoral theology. It reminded me how important it is to be transparent, but to keep my confidence in Christ prominent in my writing and speech. It amplified my awareness of the need people have to be able to lament, but how crucial it is to help them express their faith and lean into the JOY of the Lord as their strength. In fact, my thinking was shaped to understand that sadness actually paves the way for JOY. What great news for me and all of my sad friends!

Getting healthy

I’m really thankful that the Lord whispered to me that my overall health was significant to my JOY journey, and not separate from it. For instance, I hadn’t realized before how inter-connected my emotional and mental health are with my physical wellness. I hadn’t known that gut health was pivotal for healthy serotonin levels, or that the products I use on my body or around my home could have a detrimental impact on my hormone levels.

In 2018, God started to lead me to resources about these kinds of things. I started out my joining a gym, and then adjusting my diet to eliminate sugar, wheat and dairy. Drastic, maybe. But my reading about inflammation fueled my desire to know if that was an underlying issue contributing to my symptoms. I was desperate enough by this point that I would try basically anything. I literally knew God was calling me to pursue JOY, and I would obey my life call at all costs.

A Fateful Conversation

By the time we moved to a new neighborhood, I realized something was still missing. Though I continued with clean eating, exercise, rest and everything else, I was still not combatting some of the most significant issues: poor mental health, brain fog, and extra weight. I was frustrated, and wanted an answer. I believe the Lord answered my frustration through a conversation over cookies. Our backyard neighbors arrived on our doorstep with a delicious gift on day #1 to welcome us. Very sweet! And in that initial conversation I learned that my new friend was a Young Living distributor. My interest was piqued, because I had heard heard of oils before, and wondered if perhaps they could help me. (Remember, I said I was ready to try anything at this point!) Although I didn’t ask about it immediately, I was curious to start to learn, and began to take notice of her posts on Facebook, and the healthy life she obviously led.

Fast forward a bit, and I decided to bite the bullet and grab a Starter Kit of awesomeness from Young Living. What did I have to lose? At least if it didn’t work, my house would still smell good and I’d have a kicky new diffuser. I didn’t know that I had just taken another step in my life call.

What do oils have to do with my life call?

Well, a lot actually. But I’ll paint it in a nutshell. It was like a lot of light switches suddenly went on:

  • My energy increased
  • I slept more deeply
  • The melancholy I had perpetually felt lifted
  • I was able to better manage anxiousness
  • I finally started to drop pounds
  • And I found a whole new tribe of friends who became a positive and encouraging force in my healing journey.

It was literally within that very first month of consistently using my oils that I knew I needed to make forever changes in my wellness routine, so I grabbed the subscription box to discipline myself to ditch toxins from my life and intentionally incorporate plants on the daily. Each month I made a few new changes, and learned new things from people’s stories on our education groups. I was soooo thankful to have friends help me, so it never felt overwhelming. Very naturally, I started to tell people about my successes too, and people were asking because some of them were very noticeable.

So, about selling stuff… how does that relate?

Something happened not too far in to my journey where I sensed God was developing my life call. It was kind of outrageous, but I thought He was asking me to start pursuing Young Living as a business. This was cray cray because a) I have never considered owning a business before and b) the one time I tried sales during college, I was fired after only one week. 🙂 But somehow, I sensed this was the next step I needed to take in pursuit of my life call to let JOY loose. The part that wasn’t crazy to me was the correlation between essential oils and JOY. I had already experienced incredible emotional wellness by using oils and oil infused products. If I could share that with others so they could pursue JOY, why wouldn’t I??

God was up to something more in me too. Because it was the first time in my life that I actually felt like choosing to pursue an income that had no ceilings was the right thing for me to do. And I knew it was because He placed a massive dream in my heart that would let JOY loose in people, and I needed significant finances to make it happen. He was showing me a path that would help me spread JOY while still pursuing another avenue to share it. How like God to give me what I needed to pursue HIS call. He is my Provider!

Letting JOY loose all along the way

And so here I sit. I’m healthier, I’m happier, my community has grown exponentially. I’m learning what it means to be a business owner and to be grateful for no ceilings. As I’ve learned more about my company and the way they lead in this industry with integrity, and standards like no other, I’m continually grateful! When I see the way they empower women, impact economies, and care for the people in the communities surrounding the farms they own worldwide, I’m amazed.

My team is growing. The culture within it is one of the healthiest I’ve ever worked with, full of prayer, encouragement, gratitude, shared resources, and glory given to the Lord for the transformations we see day after day. Within my team, I’m part of letting JOY loose. As I share about my wellness journey with others and walk alongside them in theirs, I see my life call being let loose. By helping others begin to realize their life call to stay home with their kiddos, help their husband feel freedom to find employment he enjoys, pay off debt or pursue missions work, my own JOY explodes. And as I strategically grow my own income, I can envision the fullness of my life call–that big dream God has birthed in me–poised to explode. I don’t know about you, but that makes life so hopeful!!

I never knew that God would call me to own a business to flesh out my life call of ministry. I didn’t really imagine how that might happen outside the walls of what I already knew. I’m grateful beyond measure for the relief and release I’ve found in my own physical and emotional wellness, so inspired by the stories of others who have opened themselves up to natural wellness, and I LOVE to walk this journey with them!

YOUR life call

Have you pursued the Lord yet about His great design for you? Have you started to explore how He might want to help you flesh out YOUR life call? Do you feel like the least likely candidate to be part of a network marketing company that helps people find holistic wellness? I’d really love to chat about that. What if the Lord might want to flesh out your dreams too, and fuel them as part of an incredible community? It’s one of my favorite conversations to have, and I’d love to have it with YOU.

If you’d be willing to share your life dreams with me, I’d be honored. I’d love to pray for you and explore it with you. Maybe we will one day run together!

Elizabeth Joy

Posted in: Essential Oils, Wellness
Tags: ,