Tell Your Whole Story

Social media is a pretty fun place. You can connect with your closest friends or strangers from across the world. But there's one thing about social media that isn't so fun: the fact that it has conditioned everyone to only post the very best times of life.

Seeing other people's best moments can easily make us start the comparison game. That's not fair to ourselves! We're only getting half of their story, yet we're comparing ourselves as if it's their whole story.

Let's reverse this trend. Let's start a movement to encourage people to share their whole story. Encouraging each picture to capture what real life is like. The messy kitchens, the mismatched socks and the no-makeup faces.

The next time you think about straightening all the pillows on your couch JUST so it looks good in a picture, think again. Instead, can you post a picture of your perfectly-out-of-place pillows? It might also inspire someone else to share things that are a little more real. 

Tag your Instagram photos with #TellYourWholeStory to get the movement going.

~ joie team

For the Good.

~*~

"We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

Write this verse on a slip of paper and hide it somewhere you'll remember. When the worry creeps up or the storm clouds gather, take it out and pray this prayer.

~*~

Thank you so much for the continuing support as we continue to collect and research for the inaugural issue of Joie! We can't wait to share all the goodness we have found.

Resting from Busy

Sometimes we idolize the idea of being busy. And not even just the silent idea of being busy, but the "broadcast it to the whole world" idea of being busy. Almost like by making our constant busyness public, it somehow confirms we are achieving more great things than that other person who CLEARLY isn't as busy as WE are. 

Yeah. 

I've been there, I've done that. I've been that person.  

God took a break. Yes, He worked really hard and put a lot of His energy into His big project, but then, he took a break.

Genesis 2:3

Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, 

because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

~*~

This is your cue (mine too!). To take a break from "catching up on work" on a Saturday morning and instead, cuddle on the couch with your spouse and watch House Hunters and dream together about the day when you will buy your first house. (Or are my husband and I the only ones who do that? :) )

Our lives will always be full of things to do. Work, get-togethers, groceries, laundry, fix-it's, errands, weekend trips... It's stuff that we have to get done, but let's stop broadcasting all that. Let's make a pact to stop glorifying the idea of busyness. To take a rest day and actually use it to rest!

~Stephanie 

Getting Deeper.

This song has rocked my world for about a year now. Each time I listen to it (which is usually about twice a day), my soul wants more Jesus. My heart wants to love people better. People I know and people I don't. My best friends and the old lady at church whose name I always forget. Do you know that feeling?

This year one of my goals is to be more intentional with my relationships. First and foremost my relationship with God. To dig into His word each day, with no to-do list or time constraint to guide me. But it doesn't stop there. I want to be more intentional with my husband, who works hard for our family. I want to make sure he comes home to a yummy dinner and me, his wife, not stuck in her computer. With my best friends, that I can always be encouraging to them, even though most live in different states. And even the old lady at church, because, really, I should know her name by now. I bet she has an awesome story, and this year I want to listen to it.

~Stephanie