POSITIVELY JOY: Healing Hearts After Divorce

We're back with Amish-raised Sara Daigle in part two of her interview. In part one, we talked about her marriage and background, and today, we'll talk about the lessons she learned through her divorce and as a single mother. Stay with us until the end, as Sara drops some truth bombs you won't want to miss. Sara's blog Sara's books

This week, I want to unpack our stories about navigating relationships, faith, and the journey to rediscover joy. These are stories of resilience, heartbreak, and ultimately, transformation — not just for those who have faced trials in their relationships, but for anyone seeking hope and faith amid challenges. When we talk about difficult relationships, it's tempting to stay silent, but sharing ou...

Sara Daigle is our guest in the first episode of a NEW focus on Christian women, marriage and divorce. Sara was raised in an Amish community and when she married, her history of obedience caused her to put up with a marriage that tolerated pornography. Her husband asked her to consider engaging in an open marriage, and she said no. But these trials forced her to cling to the Lord, who delivered he...

In the 40th and last episode of Season 5, Mischelle Saunders-Gottsch is a God storyteller. But her own ability to tell other women's stories on her podcast ministry, Altered Stories, comes from her history of being in a cult with her mother. She is retelling it in a book she's writing, and the journey is difficult. Listen as Mischelle shared memories of that time in her family's life. THIS IS THE...

We’re pivoting here at the Positively Joy podcast to a topic that many women will find incredibly relevant. Relationships. The Lord has put on my heart to talk about my own difficult divorce and journey back to joy, a journey where God was my everything. I remember how hard it was, and in these upcoming seasons we’ll get real and talk about the hurt, the pain, the loss and freedom in Jesus. After...

Pamela D. Smith is a prayer warrior, who uses prayer not only to evangelize, and communicate and give glory to God, but to  help her self-confidence. Pamela shares her story today of being a teen mom, and all the insecurity and doubt that came with her journey. But she loves her children and is so proud of them. Today Pamela teaches us what prayer is and how to pray. Stay tuned for this important...

Tracey Glenn and her alter-ego character, Loretta, are a hoot. But don't be mistaken, they ARE strong Christians and love the Lord. She is an author, blogger, speaker, and searcher of biblical wisdom. Her book, "Gathering the Wayward Heart," is about what happens when life doesn’t turn out the way you planned. Listen to Tracey speak on joy and peace.   Visit Tracey Glenn's website Her books Coffee...

Carol Chisholm is a writer and singer who has kept her baldness a secret from the world and even from her family. She has an autoimmune disease called alopecia that took away her hair and her self-esteem. But she took to heart the words of Psalm 139 that says we are all fearfully and wonderfully made! Now she is proud of her baldness, and her book, "Breaking the Shadows," has just won a best memoi...

Jerry Dugan of the Beyond the Rut podcast and ministry visits the show today. A military veteran, Jerry has a great message about listening to God, being obedient and loving his family. It's about time we had him on the show, and his message of finding faith certainly is relevant following the Memorial Day weekend.

Recent graduate Allison England is starting a new career in ministry and media. The creative media production grad from the University of Oklahoma has joined a student ministry on campus to help disciple college students, a worthy vocation. But she needs your help. Tune in to this week's episode and learn directly from Allison why it's worth it. Student Mobilization website How to help Allison's m...

Couples aren't perfect and can have problems, so speaking to a marriage counselor can be a good idea. But what about incorporating your faith into exploring marital issues? Licensed Professional Counselor and Therapist Healey Ikerd says it's a natural, and that when picking a counselor who is Christian you should ask them to integrate their faith into the counseling.    Healey's website Her books...

Perfectionism, pride, imposter syndrome. It's something that Vivian Cumins has struggled with. Vivian is a writer, speaker, and podcast host. Her need to be perfect and in control led to an unbalanced lifestyle filled with work, stress, illness, and depression. Today, Vivian and I talk about how to rededicate our lives to the Lord and leave perfectionism behind. Go to Vivian's website Free resourc...

How can grief be about joy? Grief transforms when the death of a son turns into new lives for lots of other children. Beth Thorp, after the loss of her son, Mitchell, started a foundation with her husband. The foundation would go on to help other children with illnesses, diagnosed or not, find healing. Beth told me she was not ready to start down this path but realized it is what God wanted to tur...

Today, our show is about forgiveness of the unforgiveable. I spoke to Mark and Jen Sowersby last year about their amazing marriage and his amazing testimony. Mark was abused for years by his mother's boyfriend. He grew up damaged and afraid. But as, he says, a perfect God helped him forgive his abuser, find a loving wife and forgive the nightmare. He created a ministry and book, "Forgiving the Nig...

I'm a career woman and a Christian creative, and there have been times when the two felt at odds. When I talked to our guest this week, author and leader Peggy Bodde, it seemed she felt my pain. Peggy has written a new book, titled "Sacred Work: A Christian Woman's Guide to Leadership in the Marketplace" and it was meant for me, and for many of you, too. Let's hear from Peggy. "Sacred Work" is out...

Jen Hardy quotes St. Catherine of Siena when speaking about women over 50: “What is it you want to change? Your hair, your face, your body? Why? For God is in love with all those things and he might weep when they are gone.” Jen's Fabulous Over 50 podcast ranks high among aging and retirement podcasts. If you're almost 50 or over 50, listen and let Jen help you feel better about yourself. 

It's Women's History Month and International Women's Day, so it's fitting to have Anna McLaughlin on the show! Anna is the founder of She Considers A Field, a women's ministry centered around the Proverbs 31 verse on what a good woman is. You can find Anna on her podcast, YouTube channel, and Facebook group of the same name. Anna talks about making the sacrifice to leave a full-time job to become...

Clint Hatton has experienced as much pain as most people. But God has given him the task of sharing a message of being strong and courageous even in the darkest of times. "The pain in some form will be with us for the rest of our lives," Clint said. But that pain represents the love he has for his son, Gabriel, a pilot who died a tragic death. After Gabriel's death, he and his family started livin...

I'm concerned about using AI to write Christian teachings, and I'm not the only one. In this two-part episode, I'll talk with experts about whether we should use technology's latest tool to teach the Bible. In part one, Bible Storyteller Sharon Wilharm of All God's Women weighs in.  The Gospel Coalition: "Should We Embrace or Evict AI in Churches?" All God's Women podcast Sharon Wilharm website

Non-religious people as well as Christians, can suffer from depression and suicide ideation. So everyone, listen up! Today's episode with Author D. Neil Elliott takes us down a path that might be different for regular listeners. We talk about depression and suicide,  using language that some people, not necessarily Christian, can recognize and relate to. But what's the same is that our Creator's i...

It's early in 2024 and we've been talking about life plans. Life coaches can help us get clarity. Last week we talked with coach Ann Visser about marriage, and this week we spend the episode with Karin Freeland, who coaches women about the workplace and when to exit. Karin and I have a lot in common, especially that unfulfilled feeling that you can't define. Karin calls herself a recovered corpora...

Ann Visser co-founded 4 Better 4 Ever with her beloved husband of 42 years. She has trained couples, young people, students, addicts in recovery, Christian women and professionals ... in the areas of communication, leadership, relationship, mindset and personal growth. We had such a good conversation on marriage and relationships that we ran a little long this week!  Ann's website: https://4better...

Going back into the archives, I promised to focus more on prayer in 2022 in this throwback episode. Did I do it? Well, I can say for sure I brought God into my daily life, but I still have some work to do on my prayer life. Talking to God is so important, and you - and I - should do it more often. I hope this inspires you! Some ways to put prayer front and center: Practice daily journaling and spe...

Years ago, Positively Joy featured the angelic voice of Angel McCoy from the podcast, Angel Reads the Bible. Angel has a beautiful family now and has been pretty busy. But I coaxed her to come back and do a reading from Luke, chapters 1 and 2 in these days leading up to Christmas.  There is never a wrong time to hear the Christmas story, but now is just right. It's not too late to jump into my Chr...

This week, our conversation is about forgiveness, and it's a really unique episode. Could you forgive your grandmother's killer? Today's guest is Sarah Gregory, and her story is hard to fathom. She has forgiven the man who murdered her grandmother, but not only that, spent hours with him on death row the day he was executed. Her forgiveness wasn't automatic, though, and she had a long, hard road t...