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What if the very thing you’re doing to protect your heart is the thing keeping God out of it? In this raw and surprisingly personal episode of Joy in the Journey, Shannon and Joy ask a question most of us avoid: why is it so hard to simply receive God’s love? Shannon confesses she was a Christian for over 40 years before she truly let it in, and both Joy and Shannon open up about the hidden places they’ve guarded from the Lord, including one moment in a Bible study when God called out something Shannon never saw coming. Scripture references: Psalm 51 and 139, Job 42, and 2 Timothy 3.

What if the very thing you’re doing to protect your heart is the thing keeping God out of it? In this raw and surprisingly personal episode of Joy in the Journey, Shannon and Joy ask a question most of us avoid: why is it so hard to simply receive God’s love? Shannon confesses she was a Christian for over 40 years before she truly let it in, and both Joy and Shannon open up about the hidden places they’ve guarded from the Lord, including one moment in a Bible study when God called out something Shannon never saw coming. Scripture references: Psalm 51 and 139, Job 42, and 2 Timothy 3.

What if the voice telling you “you’re not enough” is actually right? In this deeply honest conversation, Shannon and Joy tackle the lie so many of us carry, whether it came from a spouse who walked away, the endless scroll of social media, or the whisper that we’ll never measure up as a mom, a wife, or a believer. Shannon opens up about a recent day when fear gripped her so tightly she felt it in her chest, and she shares exactly what she did to fight back. Together, she and Joy explore why comparison is the bait that hides the enemy’s hook, why beating yourself up can be a hidden form of pride, and how a surprising list of Bible heroes (a stuttering murderer, a prostitute, a suicidal prophet, and a man who hunted down Christians) proves that God has always chosen the unqualified. Five loaves weren’t enough to feed the crowd. Five stones weren’t enough to topple a giant. Maybe you aren’t supposed to be enough either. If you’re bone tired, carrying shame, or convinced you’ve gone too far, this episode is your invitation to stop running and fall into the arms of the One who is. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28 (NIV) One thing to flag for your review: the episode touches on suicidal thoughts around the 5:30 mark. If your platform allows it, you might add a brief note at the end of the description pointing listeners to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, since the topic could resonate with someone who’s struggling. Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

Someone cuts you off in traffic. A friend says the wrong thing. A family member gives you that look. Before you know it, you’ve taken the bait. In this honest and convicting conversation, Shannon and Joy talk about how offense slips into our hearts, often starting as nothing more than a whisper. Shannon shares her story of being a self-described expert “drawbridge operator,” keeping people at a distance in the name of self-protection, and the humbling moment God showed her what was really behind those walls. Together they explore why unchecked offense can become a silent killer of the spirit, what Scripture says about loving those who hurt us, and the surprising connection between being offended and the story of Satan’s fall. This isn’t cotton-candy Christianity. But if you’ve been carrying a hurt you can’t seem to set down, you’ll walk away with real hope: the prison door was never locked, and you’ve held the key all along.

Months after losing her husband, Shannon sat alone on a Florida beach, surrounded by happy couples and feeling the full weight of her grief. Then the Lord told her to ask Him for anything. So she did. She asked Him to help her find a diamond in the sand. What happened next still gives her chills. In this episode, Shannon and Joy talk about the treasure hiding in plain sight that so many of us walk right past. They explore what it really means to seek God with your whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13), why the Bible was meant to be a mirror and not a pair of binoculars, and how a crowd standing at the Water Gate in Nehemiah 8 discovered that the joy of the Lord is our strength. You'll also hear what God whispered to Shannon on a tiny island in St. Lucia, and why so many believers know just enough about God to feel guilty but not enough to feel free. If you've been settling for the world's dollar-store substitutes, this conversation will make you thirsty for the real thing. Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

It's Throwback Tuesday! We're going to look back at an earlier episode where Joy and Shannon look at "heart posture," the quiet stance of the heart that shows in our words, our calendars, and our bank statements. From David's cry in Psalm 51, "Create in me a pure heart, O God," to Jesus' warning that no one can serve two masters, they ask some honest questions. Where is your treasure? Are you standing on the outside while sitting down on the inside? And what would you say if Jesus texted you today asking to spend time with you? It's a gentle but convicting conversation about distraction, grief, perspective, and the sweetness of simply sitting in His presence. Pull up a chair. It's time for a heart check. Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

Some seasons stretch us in ways we never asked for — and Shannon and Joy know that feeling firsthand. In this heart-to-heart, they open up about the hard, hidden work God does in us when life feels tight and uncertain, drawing from Joseph's own journey from pit to palace and a sweet picture from Psalm 4: "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress." Grab your coffee and settle in for a conversation that feels like sitting with a good friend, one that will remind you that whatever you're walking through right now, God is making room in you for more.

What if the thing robbing your joy isn't a big dramatic attack — but a quiet, sweet invitation to just... stay in bed, skip the Word, or avoid that person who gets on your nerves? Shannon and Joy unpack Isaiah 61 and the anointing God places on every believer. You'll hear Joy's personal story of choosing to trust God through deep grief, and why the church can leave you feeling emptier than when you walked in if you're only showing up to consume. This episode will challenge how you guard your time, your peace, and God's presence in your daily life. Because the anointing can't be bought or sold — it can only be received. Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

After the biggest spiritual win of your year, why does everything suddenly fall apart? Shannon and Joy sit with Elijah under the broom tree. Exhausted, afraid, and ready to quit, they uncover something the church rarely says out loud: sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap. From Elijah's angel-delivered meal to the pressing of the olive that produces anointing oil, this conversation walks through why painful trials often follow our greatest victories, why the enemy targets us hardest right after a breakthrough, and why rest isn't weakness — it's a weapon. If you've ever prayed "Lord, I've had enough," this episode is your reminder: don't find it strange, and don't fight the press. Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

Some questions you answer in a second. This one sits there. In this episode of Joy in The Journey, Shannon opens with the question she uses in life coaching and marriage rescue retreats, the one that leaves a room in what Joy calls holy silence. Are you okay with that? Okay with a marriage that has quietly gone cold. Okay with the health you keep meaning to deal with. Okay with the bank account, the cluttered house, the friendships that faded while you weren't looking. Nobody falls off a cliff. We slide. Shannon and Joy talk honestly about the slow fade that turns a life lukewarm one small compromise at a time, and about the verse Shannon says haunts her more than any other: "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5).Then comes the question underneath all the others. If Jesus came back today and you didn't go with Him, would you be okay with that?This isn't an episode about shame. It's an episode about honesty, and about what becomes possible the moment you finally say out loud, "No. I'm not okay with that." Because that's when the better question shows up: Lord, what's my next step? Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

Be honest: if everything you're working for went through the fire today, what would survive? Shannon and Joy are not playing around in this one! They're digging into Matthew 6:33 and calling out the lie so many of us have believed for years: that performance equals love. From people-pleasing to ministry burnout to chasing likes, follows, and parking spots with our name on them, this conversation is the loving heart check we all need. If you've ever felt guilty because you can't drag yourself out of bed for a 4:30 a.m. quiet time after being up all night with littles, get ready to exhale. God sees your season, and He's not asking for a two-hour war room. Sometimes "seek Him first" is a whispered thank-you over a warming bottle at 3 a.m. So grab your coffee and lean in. This episode will free you, refocus you, and remind you what's actually worth your one beautiful life. Because when it's all said and done, the only thing going to heaven with you... is each other. Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

It's so easy to look at someone else's life — her marriage, her ministry, her bank account — and wonder why your hands feel so empty. But Shannon and Joy want you to look again. In this warm, honest conversation, they talk about the exhaustion of comparison, the danger of expecting a spouse, a friend, or even a pastor to be your savior, and the fear that keeps so many of us burying the gifts God has already given us. Walking through the parable of the talents in Matthew 25 — with a detour through a half-marathon, a frozen hip flexor, and a friend who refused to leave anyone behind — they land on a challenge that will stay with you all week: "You can be pitiful or you can be powerful, but you can't be both." If you've ever felt too old, too ordinary, or too far behind to matter, this episode is God's gentle reminder that what He placed in your hands is exactly what He intends to use. Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

Some days the loudest voice in your head isn't yours — and it isn't God's. It's the one insisting nothing will ever change, and you're not enough. So how do you tell the difference? In this episode of Joy in The Journey, Joy and Shannon get honest about the thoughts that torment us and the God who offers perfect peace instead. They share the simple, steadying practice that has carried them through grief and despair: three questions to hold every thought up against — "God, is this You? What do You want me to know? What do You want me to do?" Because the enemy is the father of lies, and anything that sounds like condemnation, hopelessness, or shame did not come from the One who is Life. They talk about taking every thought captive to the cross, why "getting consumed by Jesus" is a daily choice and not a Sunday one. Scripture references: Isaiah 26:3 • 2 Corinthians 10:5 • 2 Corinthians 11:14 • John 8:44 • Deuteronomy 30:19 • John 3:16 Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

"It's a comparison kind of day." If we're honest, most of us have days like that too. One scroll and suddenly your body, your marriage, your house, and your ministry all feel like they came up short. In this raw episode, Joy and Shannon pull the comparison trap into the light. They talk about why social media — and now AI-perfect faces that never wrinkle — is the number one fuel for it, how grief made the scroll unbearable, and why comparison is really rooted in the oldest sin there is: pride. Even Lucifer, the most beautiful angel of all, decided it still wasn't enough. The freedom comes in one shift: stop measuring your hand against someone else's. You may walk into a room and feel outdone — but you can still hear "well done" by being faithful with exactly what God put in your hands (Matthew 25). They dig into contentment, the difference between admiring people and envying them, and why the two who finally reached the Promised Land got there on attitude, not comparison. Be faithful with your one. Cheer on everybody else's five. You are fearfully and wonderfully made — so quit picking on what God called good. Scriptures references: Psalm 139:14 • Matthew 25:14–30 • Philippians 4:11–13 • Numbers 13–14 • Luke 24:13–35 Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations

A retired first responder stopped Shannon at a kids' ballgame just to say the show had been meeting him right where he was. That's the whole heart of this episode: however you found it, God knew you'd need it. Joy and Shannon get honest about a quiet danger of modern life — we've made everything so instant (DoorDash, one-click, answers on demand) that we can go days without ever feeling our need for God. "I've got this." "I don't need Him — I already have everything I want." It's one of the enemy's most subtle schemes: keep life so convenient and comfortable that you forget Who you're actually depending on. With a lot of laughter and a few grandkids' stories (carry me, carry me…), they talk about why God sometimes lets us wait — not because He's distant, but because He loves us too much to cripple us. They land in Psalm 23 ("I shall not want"), the Israelites' manna and murmuring, and the courage of Caleb and Joshua — two out of two million who believed God. The charge: be one of the two. Lord, we need You — every hour. Scripture references: Psalm 23:1–3 • Psalm 8:4 • Galatians 5:22–23 • Numbers 13–14 • Matthew 18:12–14 Ways to Connect: Website: JourneyLivingMinistries.com Email: [email protected] Facebook: Journey Living Ministries Instagram: Journey Living Ministries YouTube: @Journeyliving2911 Also on Spotify Apple Music iHeart Radio Find Joy: Website: BootCampForTheBlues.com Facebook: JoyWareMiller - iJoyInspirations