Joy Let Loose

October 17, 2021

Your True North Is Your Joyful Direction

Do you have a guide to help you find your true north? Or are you batting at the chaos of life without an intentional plan to build your joyful legacy? I’d love to help you write your purposeful story.

By

Have you ever studied the skies? Wondered how the North Star always points north? Have you ever longed for stability like that and a clearly charted course when the world all around you feels like a swirling chaos?

I have. For a really long time, if I’m honest.

And I’ve found out that my true north is ultimately my joyful direction.

Your true north is your joyful direction

I’ve been on a journey, kind of like an astronomer actually. I initially was looking way up and seeing thousands of stars in the darkest of nights. I couldn’t perceive any sort of rhyme or reason, pattern or perspective other than that I felt V-E-R-Y small and the universe seemed I-M-M-E-N-S-E-L-Y large.

No, I’m not actually an astronomer. I’m just a regular person with my feet planted on the earth.

But for many years, it felt to me like life was swirling around me. It seemed as though I couldn’t really make sense of what was coming at me, and I didn’t have the ability to focus on what mattered most and how I could be the most effective human I could.

I didn’t know much about myself and I got myself involved in a thousand things, hoping that eventually something would stick and be important.

I was navigating the stars without any concept of direction, constellations, or galaxies.

I didn’t have a telescope to help me find my true north. So my life was hectic, exhausting, joyless, and discouraging.

Sound familiar?

Joy Let Loose: My True North

I’ve written quite a bit about discovering deeper purpose, and I’ve told you a lot about how Joy Let Loose came to be.

My personal mission statement is:

I exist to let joy loose in the people around me by helping them find holistic wellness and uncover their life purpose so they can leave a joyful legacy.

That mission statement took a long journey for me to craft, through seasons of self-discovery and prayer, tears and determination. I didn’t have a roadmap for it, but the Lord was a gentle guide.

I didn’t have a roadmap, so I’ve constructed one to help others through their own process with greater ease.

Your Purposeful Story

I’ve realized that I can be a more intentional participant in the authorship of my story on earth when I uncover what God created me for. It’s only when I’m truly open to who I was made to be that I can take purposeful steps to lean into His intentions for me. And when I live that way I find greater joy and I see more fruit grow.

And I’m here at launch week.

I’m nervous. Will anyone come?

Will anyone decide it’s worth their time to spend 90 minutes with me to walk through my signature roadmap so they can also uncover their purpose and craft their own mission statement?

I honestly don’t know how this will go.

I just know it’s the next step that I’m supposed to take. And I believe it could be powerful for others to take courage to join me.

My true north / Your true north

What about you? I

  • If you’ve been a faithful reader of this blog, has God been stirring anything in you?
  • Has He whispered into your heart that you were made for more?
  • If you have trusted my words on these pages, would you trust my words even more directly into your journey?

It’s my invitation to you, dear reader, to take courage and take another step with me deeper into your legacy. I know that legacy I want to leave – it’s reflected in my personal mission statement.

And part of that fleshes itself out in helping people like you take your next steps toward building yours.

Because building a legacy produces the fruit of joy both now and long after we are gone.

Would you check out my life coaching this week so we can begin to uncover your personal mission statement and start writing your purposeful story?

Let’s pick up the telescope together and find your true north.

https://elizabethrhyno.com/purpose-coachin

I hope to see you really soon!

Elizabeth Joy

Posted in: Journey, Purpose
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
February 18, 2021

How to be Intentional With God: The Busy Woman’s Guide

By

A Guest post from Kaitlyn Fiedler

How can we be intentional with God in an age of busyness? Life is demanding. Especially as a wife or momma, right? Every day, we are pulled in a million different directions.

House needs tending, food needs cooking, babies need holding, and clothes need folding. There are groceries to buy, there are weeds to pick, and there is mail to sort. Maybe a friend needs a visit, or parents need caring for. All this and so much more take up our days as women. And this doesn’t even cover the added time spent working a job either inside or outside the home.

So, in all this, how can we, as busy women, be intentional with God to open our hearts and minds to the Father? How do we hear his voice among the noise? How do we prioritize time with him, when daily tasks close in on us from the time our eyes open in the mornings?

Three Ways to be Intentional with God

Three practical ways come to mind:

Don’t wait for everything to be ‘just so.’

If we wait for everything to be ‘just so’ before we commit to spending time with God, we may never get around to doing it. I used to think that time with God had to look the exact same every single day: a big comfy chair with a nice soft blanket, a coffee in hand, soft music playing, and no interruptions- haha! If I couldn’t find that time in my schedule every day, I just wouldn’t spend any time with God. This is such a lie that is so easy to believe as women!

We see all the Instagram pictures of women having their quiet time every day in the most beautifully decorated spaces with the prettiest mug in hand and zero disruptions.

But if we want to get real, who actually has that kind of quiet time? I don’t know about you, but for me, many days, it doesn’t happen until after my little one goes down for their morning nap. After we’ve spent about an hour playing and feeding, he finally falls asleep and I get to finally sit down, ready for another nap myself.

Instead, I pour some coffee and rub my eyes, forcing myself to stay awake while I sit with hair a mess in a room filled with baby toys. If I’m lucky to read a couple of chapters straight through with no disturbances, it typically takes about 15 minutes, but most of the time it ends up taking about an hour due to interruptions from my little one waking up or my husband (working from home) having a question or wanting to talk about something.

So, to sum it up, everything will NEVER be ‘just so,’ but we’ve got to be disciplined in getting that time and making it work in our day, even if it’s not picture-perfect.

God is always with us, so we can be always with him.

Never stop praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and meditate on God’s word day and night (Psalm 1:2).

These verses teach us to constantly be in communication with God all throughout our day. God is always available to be reached. We are never without him. He is with us and desiring to be our helper at all times.

Yes, there is a time for distancing ourselves (like Jesus did in Mark 1:35) in order to have uninterrupted quiet time talking with our Lord. But when we can’t do that, we are invited to talk to him and be with him at any point in our day, wherever we are.

Find God in every little thing.

The Lord never abandons us. He never leaves us to walk this life alone. He is everywhere, if we just look.

He can be found in the quiet of the night as we close our eyes and close out our thoughts, thanking him for every good thing He brought that day. God can be found in the early morning rise, as we ask him to guide us and show us his presence that day.

He can be found around the breakfast table with our family, as we thank him for his provision. God can be found in the car ride to school, as we love on our kiddos before sending them out for the day.

He can be found in the breeze on an afternoon walk… in the sunshine… in the rainfall. For He is the great Artist of creation. He can even be found in the messy and long afternoons as we work hard to take care of our home and our families.

Choose to be intentional with God

By the end of the day, we are weary, yet we have the opportunity to thank God for another day He’s given us. As we lay our heads down, we ask him for the strength to face another day and for his eyes (Matthew 13:16) to see him in every little thing.

Kaitlyn Fiedler lives near Greenville, SC with her husband and baby boy. She spends her days studying for her seminary classes and simply enjoying her days being a wife, a biological mom, and a new foster mom. She writes regularly about faith and womanhood on her blog: abeautifulbelonging.com. You can also find her on Instagram @kaitlyn_fiedler.

Thank you so much to Kaitlyn for joining us today at Joy Let Loose! I love your perspective and your encouragement to busy women, and the reminder to be intentional with God. There is such significance and beauty in cultivating our relationships with the Lord each day.

Elizabeth Joy

Posted in: Journey, Soul care
Tags: , , , , , ,
October 3, 2020

Worship through tears and when there is no stage

By

We love to lead worship

Our family has always enjoyed our calling to be worship leaders. We are grateful to have the privilege of using skills we’ve worked hard to develop as a vehicle to help others connect with each other and with God through singing, Scripture and prayer, silence, story. The kind of intimate community that forms as hearts open up to each other is beautiful.

We’ve been privileged to get to lead worship in small churches and large, campgrounds and conference centers, on beaches and cruise ships too. And wherever Jesus’ name is lifted up, we’ve encountered His presence.

Worship when there is no stage

But it’s in the quiet rooms with no stages, lights, livestream, or applause where worship leading is sweetest. The deepest wells of joy are discovered in living rooms and hospital rooms, together with people in hardship and dependence. And joy means a lot to us.

From the moment we are born, joy shapes the chemistry, structure and growth of our brain. Joy lays the foundation for how well we will handle relationships, emotions, pain and pleasure throughout our lifetime. Joy creates an identity that is stable and consistent over time. Joy gives us the freedom to share our hearts with God and others. Expressing our joyful identity creates space for others to belong. Joy gives us the freedom to live without masks because, in spite of our weaknesses, we know we are loved. We are not afraid of our vulnerabilities or exposure. Joy gives us the freedom from fear to live from the heart Jesus gave us. We discover increasing delight in becoming the people God knew we could be.

Joy Starts Here: The Transformation Zone

Worship through tears

You won’t get to hear these moments of ours. These are private moments of worship through tears – just for us and the Lord, as we build one another up. But I pray you have your own moments like these. Times where song bubbles up out of sadness as you declare dependence on the Joy-Giver, where the melody that carries the name of Jesus from your heart to His soothes your wounds and binds your hearts with trusted people. I pray sweetness surprises you and you are shaped for hope again.

Because you’re designed to let your difficult life experiences rest on a foundation of joy.

Elizabeth JOY

Posted in: Journey, Worship
Tags: , , ,
September 13, 2020

To “My Dearest”: A Precious Glimpse into the Past

By

A glimpse into the past

I had a special moment yesterday when I caught a glimpse into the past. This letter was written on my birthday, but thirty-one years prior to my birth. And it was written just six days after my mother was born, by her father, stationed away from his family during WWII.

December 8, 1943

“My Dearest”

How precious to read his handwriting to his “dearest” about his happiness to receive the telegram about the birth of their second baby girl. While he gave some news of the goings-on about him, he more mused about how his family was doing. He so wanted her to be well and happily settled back at home. He must have been so anxious to hold his new daughter!

I can’t imagine being apart at birth and yet I know it happens regularly, families separated by wars, external or internal.

I am so grateful for the examples all of my grandparents, parents, and in-laws have set by demonstrating steadfastness and faithfulness in their marriages, even when external forces made that so hard. We will strive to do the same.

I can imagine my sweet “Poppy”, young and in uniform, pouring out his love on paper. and imagining his wife and new baby so far away and still in hospital. I picture his heart welling up to be with them. He let his JOY loose!

“Your Loving Husband”

My grandfather signed his letter “your loving husband”, and he remained most definitely so for the duration of his long life. I’m so thankful I got to have this glimpse into his heart this week. What a treasure for my mom to still have his letter, and to know how happy he was about her arrival all those years ago!

Have you enjoyed any glimpse into the past that have touched your heart and caused you to be grateful? Tell me about it in the comments!

Elizabeth JOY

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

There is Wonderful Joy Ahead

By

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: , , ,