Finding Joy in Life's Chaos: A Conversation with Yvette Walker

Have you ever heard these myths about finding joy in chaos? 
Myth 1: Joy is just about being happy all the time.
 Myth 2: Finding joy means avoiding sadness and dissatisfaction. 
Myth 3: Joy is only possible in perfect circumstances. 

I'll share the truth about finding joy in chaos, but first, let's unravel these myths together. Stay tuned for the surprising revelations!

My special guest is Yvette Walker.

Yvette Walker, a seasoned journalist and former educator, draws from her background in communication and ministry to empower individuals to embrace joy amidst life's challenges. Her journey, marked by doubt, grief, and revelation, has led her to a profound understanding of joy. Now, she guides others in finding fulfillment and resilience. With her podcast 'Positively Joy' as a platform, Yvette shares insightful perspectives on faith, peace, and the pursuit of joy, offering a compelling narrative that resonates with those seeking to navigate chaos with grace and optimism.

Your husband is not going to complete you. Your children, they don't complete you. The only completeness you need to receive is from God. - Yvette Walker

In this episode, you will be able to:

• Discover the art of finding joy in the midst of chaos and uncertainty.
• Break free from self-imposed barriers and unlock your true potential for happiness.
• Understand the subtle yet powerful difference between joy and happiness and how it impacts your life.
• Learn how to choose joy in every season of life, no matter the circumstances.
• Find peace and strength through faith, even in the face of adversity.

The resources mentioned in this episode are:

• Visit positivelyjoy.com to sign up for Yvette Walker's newsletter and access her resources.
• Tune in to the Positively Joy podcast, available on all podcast platforms, to hear more inspiring conversations and insights.
• Consider starting your day with quiet time, meditation, or prayer to find peace and guidance in your life.
• Explore the possibility of seeking religious training or education to deepen your spiritual understanding and connection.
• Share this podcast episode with friends or family members who may benefit from the valuable insights shared by Yvette Walker.

Chapters

• 0:18 Introduction to "Is Your Way, In Your Way" Podcast
• 3:23 Yvette's Journey to Finding Joy
• 5:37 Understanding Joy, Happiness, and Peace
• 11:43 Finding Peace and Trusting in God
• 15:27 Spiritual Lessons in Chaos
• 15:41 Finding Peace in Disruption
• 16:45 From Renting to Purchasing
• 19:13 Choosing Joy and Finding Peace
• 20:13 Finding God in Small Things
• 25:44 A "God Wink" Moment
• 29:02 Trusting God's Guidance
• 30:33 Being Different
• 32:46 Equally Yoked Marriage
• 35:29 Finding Joy in God
• 39:51 Quiet Time and Self-care
• 43:13 Finding Joy in Chaos
• 43:36 Sharing the Message
• 44:12 Signing Off
• 44:28 Final Blessings

Transcript

00:00:18
Good day to all my listeners out there. I'd like to welcome you to is your way in your way podcast. And I'm your host, Cassandra Crawley Mayo. And for my first time listeners, let me share with you what this podcast is about. It's about; it's actually for individuals who are ready to move forward in their lives, ready to do something different, but finding themselves stuck, those who need to really mitigate those self-imposed barriers that are preventing them from living their best life.

00:00:52
And we talk about topics related to personal and business development, personal and business improvement, or self-reflection. And today our topic is finding joy in chaos. And who better to share that? And for us to talk about that is Yvette Walker. She is also a host of a podcast as well called Positively Joy.

00:01:18
Welcome, Yvette. Thank you so much for having me on. It's good to see you. It's been a little while. Yeah, it's great to see you as well.

00:01:26
It's great. So, you know, one of the things that I do is read the bio—just a little something about you for my listeners before we start taking a deep dive into finding joy and chaos. And boy, am I looking forward to hearing that. And I know my listeners are, too.

00:01:44
Years ago, Yvette wasn't flourishing because she did not know what real joy was. Now she knows it. Not only does she not now know it, but more importantly, she can guide others to find it. Yvette combines her background in communication and ministry to empower women as they seek to choose joy in all seasons. In every season that you're in.

00:02:13
She shares stories of doubt, grief, and reevaluation. No, no, sorry. Doubt, grief and revelation to teach the true nature of God's joy. She is a journalist and a former educator. Welcome again, Yvette.

00:02:31
What a background. Wow. Can't wait to hear how we're going to empower women as they seek to choose joy in all seasons. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah.

00:02:43
So the first question that I have for you is tell us about your backstory before you started this ministry that you have. Absolutely. So, I am a journalist. I am a communicator. I went to college for journalism and worked at newspapers and websites through most of my career.

00:03:03
And so that has always been a vocation. But I'm also a Christian. I have been a believer since I was a little girl. I write about it in my devotional, whispering in his ear about feeling very close to God when I was little. But then you know what happens?

00:03:23
We grow up, we get busy, we start finding jobs, we start finding our way into the world. And even though I was very happy in my profession, very happy, I just felt something was missing. I felt something. I felt a little empty inside. I felt numb.

00:03:38
I was a believer still, but I felt like there was something missing. And so after I, after really, I went to a retreat. I heard a woman speak, Rita Springer. She is a singer songwriter, a song, just a wonderful woman. I heard her speak, and I went to a retreat.

00:03:59
And during this retreat, there was an exercise that I kind of had a breakthrough. And ever since that time, I have turned in what I called a believer to becoming a seeker because I wanted to seek more. And during this time, I have found that there is real joy in the Lord. And joy is not what people think it is. It's not just being happy all the time or just being content, because there's no way that's going to happen.

00:04:28
We're going to be sad in life sometimes. We're going to be unsatisfied sometimes. But the kind of joy I'm talking about always completes you and fills you. And that's what I covered and that's what I talk about. Okay, that was interesting.

00:04:44
You know, for many of us who have that relationship with God, there are times when we just do feel stuck, burnout, and it's kind of like, well, God, where are you? Hello? Are you there? Are you there? And he is there.

00:05:00
He's always there. It's just that he could be quiet, or we just don't have that. Or either it's for a reason that we feel that he's not there. Perhaps for us to get closer and closer and closer to him. You know, get to know him by reading his word and studying and things of that nature.

00:05:19
So I get it. My other question to you is, what's the difference between joy versus happiness versus peace? So, Joy, I have a little catchphrase. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is not a feeling.

00:05:37
It's faith. Joy is having the faith to know that no matter what circumstance you're in, what season you're in, he is faithful. He is always with you, and he will bring you through and having a real understanding of that and choosing to believe in him and choosing to believe that he is there with you, working behind the scenes, sometimes it will bring you a satisfaction. It will fill you in a way that's hard to describe, except exactly what I'm saying. Happiness, a feeling, but finding true joy, it all that means is, I mean, you're happy sometimes you're happy quite a bit of the time, but you are not.

00:06:25
You are. You have a full feeling. You feel complete. Now, peace comes from that sense of completeness. Mm hmm.

00:06:34
Mm hmm. So, when we talk about finding joy and chaos, explain to my listeners, you know, let's say, you know, they lost the job. They, you know, just have different things happening in their lives. They are not at peace. They are worried all the time, just like my listeners, you know, is your way, in your way.

00:07:03
And that's also the title of my book. And I talk about how we get in our way, even though we may have this relationship with God. How, what do you tell a person? How do you close the gap with that individual to find joy in their chaos? So, you know, there are many things that people can do and should do when they are trying to, like you say, maybe find a new job and things like that.

00:07:33
But sometimes. And I had a guest on my show who was one of my students at a journalism school I used to work at. He was very talented, was doing very well at school. But when he began to look for jobs, he just kept getting closed doors, and he couldn't understand why. 

00:07:53
He was doing everything right. His teachers couldn't understand why. He was one of the most talented students there. And after a little while, he was able to get a job at a church where he is in ministry, and he's flourishing. And he told me that.

00:08:12
I'm not even saying this. He told me that God shut all those doors because he wasn't supposed to go into traditional journalism. He was supposed to be right where he is now as a pastor at a church that I used to go to in Oklahoma. And so. But during the process, it was tough.

00:08:32
I mean, he began to doubt himself. He wondered, you know. Why is this happening? I'm graduating from a very prestigious journalism school. I've got all this experience.

00:08:42
Everyone told me that getting a job would be no problem, but now that I'm doing it, I'm getting all these blockages. So that's one example.

00:08:57
It could be that God is working well, he's always working behind the scenes. But in this case, he was preparing this young man until he could get the ministry job. And he's very happy there. And I always like to say, you know, you're using your communication skills now, even in this. In this position, you're just using it to lead people to the Lord.

00:09:17
But I have a story that I shared kind of in two parts. And now there's a third part about a move I had. And it was just, when I tell you the story, it's unbelievable. But God. Right.

00:09:35
And in the process where I didn't have my own understanding, there was a moment when I just had to say, there's nothing I can do, Lord, I have to give this to you. And that is where I chose to find my joy and my peace. So, I had an opportunity to move for a job from Oklahoma to Kansas City, where I am now. When this position came open, you know how, you know how everything seems to be perfect? Yeah.

00:10:04
And I always said that God was just greasing his kids. I mean, every interview went perfectly. Everything was great. I got the job offer, I got the salary I wanted, everything's fine.

00:10:16
So now comes moving, right? Yes. And you know how moving is difficult, but we've all done it. So I rented a house at first here in Kansas City. I always do that before you come to a new place, you know.

00:10:29
I rented a house and we are moving. So moving day has come. My husband is about 2 hours behind me on the highway. I get to this house first. It's 08:00 at night on a Monday.

00:10:40
I'm tired. I got a dog in the car, the cat in the car. My car is filled with stuff. And I pull up to my house and there's a car in the driveway. Oh.

00:10:49
So I get out, I am tired and a little irritable. Yeah. I go to walk up toward the door and before I could even get to the door, it opens. A woman opens my door. Can I help you?

00:11:07
Yeah, you can help me. What are you doing in my house? And she said, no, this is not your house. This is my house. I've leased this house.

00:11:16
So you have to, you have to imagine it's late at night, all the offices are closed. There's nowhere I can call. So the first thing I realized is I have to find a hotel that's going to take animals. Right? Yeah.

00:11:28
So then I do that. I call my husband to tell him what happened. He's had a blowout, which can be very dangerous. Yeah. So after all this, and I get up into the room and I'm sitting on the bed and I said, lord, what is happening?

00:11:43
Is this. Was that not your voice that I heard when you called me to this place? Was that not you? Did you not make this way easy for me? I mean, what is happening?

00:11:56
But at that moment, literally there was nothing I could do. My husband gets there just fine. A trooper helped him on the highway, so he wasn't injured, which is a blessing in itself. He gets there, and we literally are sitting on the beds looking at each other and realizing, I've just got to be at peace with this tonight and give this to God. Yes.

00:12:18
All right. Somehow I go to sleep. I don't even know how that happened. Yeah. Because in my mind, I'm thinking a million things that I'm going to have to do to make this right somehow.

00:12:27
But you know what? And sometimes you can't do anything. There was nothing I could make right at that moment and maybe even the next day. Right. I had to rely on my father.

00:12:41
So I get up the next morning, offices open. I call my landlord. She tells me, call the police, which I do. Sometimes the police can be an issue. But I get there, the police come.

00:12:56
They're very prompt. And my neighbors come out. They had already met my husband. Neighbors are rallying around us. They're telling the police officers, no, no, these are the right people.

00:13:06
We don't know who those other people are. We wondered what they were doing here. And then I said, here, I have a key. Long story short, I can't really say why they were in there. They could have been squatting, or they could have been, as they told me, a victim of a scam that is happening around the country where they saw it.

00:13:29
They saw a duplicate application for this home and someone ripped them off of their money. And I felt very, you know, now I don't know which story is true. I felt bad about it, but the police came. My next door neighbor gave me a lawyer to call. Long story short, it was all taken care of in like an hour and a half, 2 hours.

00:13:57
I mean, God was all over that. They did not complain. They said, well, they said, we think that we've been scammed. We'll move out. Oh, wow.

00:14:05
So they moved out immediately without incident. The police officers were on our side. They told us to just put their stuff on the street, which I felt bad if I didn't want to do that. Our moving truck pulled up as they were moving out. I mean, all the pieces just moved in.

00:14:23
Yes. Like a puzzle that the Lord was moving because there was literally nothing I could do in that moment right now. I don't want to make this a long story, but I wrote about that, not knowing what would happen on the end. Yeah. I'm in this house for eight months.

00:14:40
This is where I've been living. And suddenly I get an email saying that we're not renewing your lease. You have to be out by, you know, the end, like, may 29. And I said, what is happening? We're selling the house.

00:14:54
Again, very. Just disruptive. Right? So I immediately went online. I found a house in a weekend.

00:15:05
I was approved of a mortgage. We closed in three weeks. The Lord has been. I mean

00:15:15
It's been a mess. It has been disruptive, but there have been spiritual things happening. I mean, when have you heard of someone closing on a house in three weeks? That's almost impossible, right? So I don't know.

00:15:27
There's something about that house. Yeah. There's something about me moving into that house that was going to give me a testimony. And I will tell you this because of what happened on the front end of that. And all I can.

00:15:41
I can. All I can ask you and your listeners to think about is just imagine the stress that would be when you uproot your, you know, our home. We feel at peace in our home. Right? We feel at peace where we live.

00:15:54
It's our haven. So imagine when you're disrupted and uprooted like that. That can cause all kind of stress. But I will tell you this, because of what happened on the front end, when I got this email saying that we were. They were basically evicting me through no fault of our own, just because they decided they wanted to sell the house.

00:16:13
You know what? I did not feel. I did not feel stressed. Right? Because at the front end, the Lord took care of it.

00:16:19
So I said, you know what? We're just gonna. We're gonna find a house, right? We're gonna start looking. And for some reason, he'd had me looking a week earlier, just kind of, you know how you just, like, look around, look at houses?

00:16:29
So I wasn't even stressed out about, again, having to move in less than a year, twice now, because I knew he was going to take care of it, and he did. Wow. So that. That house you were going to rent. Mm hmm.

00:16:45
That was. Somebody was in the house. But then you ended up purchasing. Well, I ended up purchasing the house I'm in now. Exactly.

00:16:54
Because they kicked me. They were kicking me out of that same house that I had rented. Right. So therefore, you purchased what you. And you were going to rent, but now you purchased.

00:17:04
Exactly. Wow. Wow. And the funny thing is, is that the land source said, oh, we'll be able to. We'll be happy to find you a new rent house.

00:17:11
And I said, no, thank you. Right. No, we're not doing this again right now. The house that you purchased, how do you feel about that house? Is it the perfect house or.

00:17:23
I mean, you know, I have stopped saying forever house because in my industry, we move around a lot, and so in journalism, and you know, I mean, I thought I was going to be at my university in Oklahoma until I retired.

00:17:39
Yeah. So, you know, the Lord was just calling me back to industry, and I believe it's for such a time as this because there's a lot happening in the world. Yeah. And I think we need to have more voices that believe who are. Who are, you know, in this industry.

00:17:57
Right. So. And I. And I believe that fully, which is why I said yes. Okay, lord, you prevent.

00:18:02
You've presented this opportunity, and I'll take it. But I decided to buy and not rent again because, you know, that whole thing about not being in control of your own destiny when you're in this rent house, and I understand people need to rent. That's fine. I've rented for a long time. Yes, but there's something about that house.

00:18:21
Yeah, exactly. The Lord was showing me something. He was definitely providing me a testimony because I have used that and told people. And my husband was the same way. When he got home, I told him, we're gonna have to move.

00:18:36
He was not flustered. He's a strong believer. And we just went about our business to find the next house. And you're right. I normally look for months to find the right house, but I found this house in two days.

00:18:51
The Lord put it in front of me on day two of the search, and I said, yeah, this is it. Like I said, is it my forever house? I don't know. Maybe, you know, maybe when we retire, maybe we'll decide to go somewhere else. But is it the perfect house for now?

00:19:06
Yeah. Yeah, it is. So that's interesting. So what you experienced was peace. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

00:19:13
I experienced peace because I have learned to choose joy. Right, exactly. Wow, what a story. Thanks for sharing that story. I mean, it's unbelievable, but it is true, right?

00:19:26
I'm certain it is. I'm certain it is. And for my listeners who have been trying to move or do something different and they're not able to do it, you know, there could be a reason God may want them in a certain place, or if it's like a fire in their belly, like, I know I'm supposed to do this, I know I'm supposed to do this, then maybe that's God pulling them to do something different so that they can serve and do whatever God has ordained them to do. Now, that, that. That was a big, what I call a big thing, look for God.

00:20:00
And the big thing, that was huge. Now, you talked about looking for God in the small things. Like, what are some of the small things? Are you able to give an example of that statement? Absolutely.

00:20:13
So some of the small things, they seem big at the moment, don't they? But here's a couple of small things. I don't know why this happened, but there were two instances of me accidentally leaving my phone on my car roof and driving off, and I don't exactly know what that was for, except, again, maybe God showing me something. So it happened this one time, and I heard something like a little bump or something fall. And in my mind, I knew that's what.

00:20:42
That I was like, oh, my. I think that was my phone. I had just turned the corner from the house, so I parked the. I went back, parked the car, and I decided to walk the route. I hadn't gotten that far, right.

00:20:54
So I'm walking, looking for my phone. You know how the phone is necessary in our lives these days. I say, this is a small thing, but it's a big thing. Right, exactly. And so I'm looking.

00:21:04
I don't see it. I go a couple times the same route. I hadn't gotten very far. I'm looking in the street, mind you, right next to the street, there's. There's a.

00:21:14
There's a great. There's grass, but with, like, a little. Slight dip. I won't call it a ditch, but, like a mini ditch. Right.

00:21:22
And I said, I'm going to go walk it one more time, and I'm going to look over here. And that's where I found it, because I was beginning to panic just a little bit. And, you know, a voice I heard and something in my spirit say, go walk it one more time, and look in the grassy area. Right? And that's where it fell.

00:21:46
And fortunately, was not damaged at all. So, I mean, that's a small thing. But again, our phones are such a big part of our lives, it could have been a big disruption. The other thing, which was small in the moment, but also was big, was my mother in law, who has passed on. She was a beautiful, kind woman.

00:22:06
I really, really liked her. I mean, some people have problems with their in laws. I loved my mother in law, but she developed dementia. Yeah. And so one weekend, we just wanted to give Tim's sister a rest, and so we took her for the day.

00:22:19
And I was. I was afraid of something. My father had experienced dementia. And there's something called sundowners. It doesn't necessarily have to happen in the evening, but it can happen sometime during the day where you just can't settle them, you just can't comfort them.

00:22:37
And I had this fear that was going to happen. This is actually a chapter in my devotional when I talk about not making something an idol. And in this case, I was making that fear an idol because I just knew this was going to happen. Right. So we.

00:22:52
And she came over. We did some coloring. She was watching her favorite movies. Everything was fine. And then that moment came where she just was very fussy, crying.

00:23:01
She just wanted to go home. You know, the whole thing. If you've experienced a parent or a family member, you know what I'm talking about. And this fear just, again, you know, it was very present. It's like, here it is.

00:23:12
I can't do anything. Oh, my goodness. You know, my husband comes over and of course, it's his mom. Right. So he comes over and he says, why are you crying?

00:23:22
Why are you upset, mom? And she really couldn't say why. And then he said, let's pray. Do you want to pray? She says, okay.

00:23:30
So they prayed together and she settled down. Right. And just watching that interaction, first of all, mother and son. Yeah. And watching something I could not do, I was trying to, you know, do everything that might settle her, but watching this very simple act of prayer settled her right down.

00:23:52
Wow. Was just so amazing to me. Yeah. And in that moment, I realized that I had made this fear that was going to happen in idle, instead of turning to the Lord, which he did so naturally in that moment. And so that's just a couple of small, small things.

00:24:12
You know, something can disrupt your day and make your day less peaceful. Yes. But if you. If you demand to choose the joy, look for the joy of God, you know, look for talking to him, praying to him, reading his word psalms is great because he speaks to us in those ways. Because if it's something that we don't understand, and I'm not a Bible scholar, so I can't quote scripture like some.

00:24:47
But we, you know, but lean not on your own understanding. Is. Is a verse. Yes. And I have found that to be so true.

00:24:56
So throughout my entire life, lean not on your own understanding, because a lot of times it is not for our own human understanding. Right. Exactly. It is the will of the creator. Yes.

00:25:11
And we must be obedient and understand that he's got this. Yeah. Even though it's difficult. But when you make that decision to choose joy, to demand it, it changes you. You find peace, and it fills you with that peace in a way that you weren't before.

00:25:31
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. And I always said, you have to be. Have that faith and believe, you know, because I want to share something that happened to me the other day.

00:25:44
I could not find my home keys. And on my home keys, I have my parents keys on there. My. The mailbox. I have some of everything on there except the car keys.

00:25:54
And I've been looking for those keys for days. And. And one thing someone had shared with me, never say you lost something. Say you misplaced it. And I know that God's going to help me find where those keys are.

00:26:09
So in my mind, I was thinking, oh, I'm gonna have to get this key made. This key made. But I'm like, I didn't lose them. I just misplaced them. I looked everywhere.

00:26:18
I looked in my coat, back in my car. You can imagine, you know, just looking through everything. And then all of a sudden, I went into my bedroom and went into the closet, and something says, look in your orange jacket. And I said, I already did. You know, I already looked in the jacket.

00:26:34
It wasn't there. And something said, look in the jacket. And I looked in there, and there were the keys. And I was like, now I know. You can't tell me.

00:26:44
I did not look at that jacket. And all of a sudden, those were the keys. And I said, God, you are something else. And I always call it a God wink. Like, you know, you do.

00:26:55
What is a God wink? Exactly? There are people who, even if they believe that there's a God, a creator, a higher power, they think that he doesn't get involved with us in these small and mundane things. Right. But also.

00:27:10
But I just would say this. What I'm saying, to choose joy, it's like exercising a muscle. You just have to get into a mindset where you are being fully present in the way he would direct you. Mm hmm. Like something told you to look in that.

00:27:37
I have another. I have another small, small example. Again, this is from my devotional whispering in his ear. I was. I had.

00:27:45
I had a full morning, and this was back again. I'm a journalist, and this was a few years ago when there were the terrible wildfires in Australia. And so there were journalists who said, let's write letters to the journalists in Australia, encouraging them during this time. Yeah, like, that's excellent. Let's do that.

00:28:05
So I wrote two letters, and I put some spiritual stuff in there because that's who I am. Right. And I said, I don't know who's going to get this, but hopefully they can be encouraged today because, you know, they're living through the wildfires. They're having to cover it for the, for the various media organizations. I know it must be difficult and journalists sometimes, you know, help each other out that way.

00:28:26
So I did this, but I had not mailed those letters all week. I've been meaning to go to the post office. Right. Anyway, this full morning happened. I had it planned down to the t.

00:28:34
I was going to have my clothes here. I'm going to go here first, blah, blah, blah. Right. So I get going and I realize about halfway there that I've left something at home. I have to go get it.

00:28:45
Yeah. That's going to disrupt the morning and make me miss one of the things. But I made the decision. So as I'm, as I'm like, you know, thinking about this and getting frustrated, I look over, just happened to glance over to the seat and I see the letters there that I have not mailed. Yeah.

00:29:02
And I said, if I go now, I can just get to the post office in time to mail these letters, which is what I think was what was supposed to happen. Because again, who knows who received it? Who knows, guys? Who knows who maybe who got some encouragement that day or maybe some encouragement to trust and turn to the Lord. Yeah.

00:29:24
As they were going through their trouble, I went, got what I needed from the house, had time to go to the post office, and made my second event. But I felt like God was, you know, how you're in your car using GPS? Yeah. And then you go, you know, re-navigate.

00:29:42
Re navigate or whatever it says. Yeah. I felt like he was my navigator that day, saying, you need to go to the post office, you need to mail these letters to those journalists that you tried to encourage. And I'm going to disrupt your day a little bit, but you'll be able to get to the second one. You know what I mean?

00:29:58
So again, it's a small thing, but who knows what might have happened if I had not mailed the letters? I mean, I don't know. So. Exactly. And God is a redeemer of time.

00:30:10
You know, you think you're behind and. But yet he'll make time. You'll be like, where did this time come from? I accomplished all of this, Yvette, because you are a believer and a woman of God. Has anybody ever shared with you that there's something about you that's different, or do you find yourself at times getting favor?

00:30:33
You know, they say, well, favor is not fair, but it sure feels fabulous, you know? Do you ever, in your moment, have people just say, it's something about you. That, yes, that has happened, and I. And do I feel blessed? 100%.

00:30:49
Have I had troubles in life? Of course, we all do, but, yes, I would say yes. And it happens at work sometimes. Yeah. You know, I'm a manager, and at a previous job, there was a difficult employee, and my, my.

00:31:04
The person who reported to me, we had to have this very difficult meeting with someone who ended up leaving. And after the meeting, the woman turned to me and said, I don't know how you just did that. You were so calm. You were so pleasant. I mean, I have heard that before, and, you know, yes.

00:31:24
I mean, that's just. Well, first of all, that's how my mother raised me. My mother was a good Christian woman as well. Yeah. But, yeah, I try not to.

00:31:34
My husband and I both. He always tells me not to worry, and I'm like, I'm not worrying. I'm just thinking. Right. Yeah, we try not to worry.

00:31:41
We try not to stress, because there's no reason to. Right. We fully both believe that. So we have a very kind of cool and calm household. Yeah, that's great, because we don't.

00:31:56
We don't do a lot of worrying. And when things do happen, I'm a solution oriented person, so I do. I try to find the solution. Right. Sometimes there is no solution, and you just have to give that over, which is what has happened in some of the examples.

00:32:11
I've told you. But. But, yes, I have been told that. Okay. Okay.

00:32:17
Well, another thing, God says, don't be unequally yoked. You know, so I can see where that word is. I've never known his word to go void, you know? So there's another reason, you know, not that you all don't have friction. You know, I understand that I'm married, too, and we have it, but yet we are equally yoked and can somewhat speak the same language, and we both get it, you know, when we have to get it.

00:32:46
Yeah, we are very equally yoked. And I will say, for those of you who, you know, want to be married and maybe aren't married yet or having some difficulties, this was actually a later marriage. I did have a first marriage that, where I was unequally yoked, that marriage ended, and I felt, you know, I felt really sad about that for a long time. So this, this marriage that I'm in now, it's only, it's a, it's a relatively young marriage. It's seven years this year.

00:33:18
We got married on Good Friday and so we celebrated every good Friday. And people say, you got married on Good Friday. That was the day the Lord was killed. That's not a very positive day to get married. I'm like, no.

00:33:29
Do you know how much love was on that day where he loved us and he sacrificed himself for us? There's a lot of love on that day. So we got married on Good Friday purposefully, because also we met on Good Friday. I will say this, I've never written a book on marriage, but I've been thinking about it because one of the things that we believe is that, and this is biblical, it's in scripture that you have to love God first. And my signature scripture for the positively joy ministry and for the positively Joy podcast is in the gospel of John, chapter 15, underneath the vine and the branches.

00:34:11
That's first. But if you keep going, Jesus tells you how to find joy and he tells you how to find that joy. That will complete you, that completes you. I like to tell people, your husband is not going to complete you. Your children, they don't complete you.

00:34:28
The only completeness you need to receive is from God. Now, do my husband and I love each other? 100%. Do we love each other first? No.

00:34:38
I know that doesn't sound very romantic, especially to a young person. Yeah. People of a certain age, we get it, right? Yeah, absolutely. We love God first.

00:34:47
That is. That is the person that we have our first allegiance to, our first love and then each other, because we know that he brought us together. That's right. Absolutely. We are yoked in that way.

00:35:02
Exactly. Exactly. That used to be one of my favorite scriptures. I have quite a few, but I used to take this and even put it on my wall at work or at home. And it says, to love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, my mind, my body and soul.

00:35:18
And then he would guide me in the direction, the path that I should be going. So that's his commandment, to love him first. So. Yeah. And you have a.

00:35:29
You talked about John 15 811. Is that one of your favorite scriptures? Yes. So that's the signature scripture where the Lord says abide in the father's love and do his will. And that word abide is interesting because in a couple of different translations you'll see different words.

00:35:52
Abide means to remain in or dwell. Right. And so sometimes you'll see remain. Sometimes you'll see something else. But abide in father's love.

00:36:04
Do his will, and you will be filled with a joy that completes you. So that is John, chapter 15, verse. Actually, I think it's nine through eleven. I always like to say it's funny. It's you.

00:36:20
Sometimes when you're reading the Bible and you read, you know, one of these really famous quotations, famous verses like the vine and the branches. Right. If you just keep reading, like, just a couple verses down, you will just find some gems. And I had never read that before. When the Lord told me to start a podcast on joy, I'm like, okay, lord, I don't know what to what you're talking about, but okay, I'm gonna be obedience.

00:36:49
I'm gonna do it. And at some point, he revealed that scripture to me. I had never read that scripture before. Had I read the vine and the branches? Of course, we've all.

00:36:58
We all know the vine and the branches, but I had never read that. And it's just a couple of steps down, right? What a revelation, right? Yes. Joy of the Lord is my strength.

00:37:09
Wow. Wow. As we wrap up, you know, one of the things now, what's going on now is I'm like something that's trying to be distracting to us because we are talking about the Lord and don't want our listeners to hear what we have to say, but we're going to say it anyway, regardless. I believe for my listeners that are out there, I don't know what your. Your thing is, so to speak, who's your God?

00:37:43
Or you may call it the universe or whatever, but I'm. I know that. I know that. I know that he's been great to me in my life, and it's obvious he's been the same with Yvette. And.

00:37:55
And I share that because even this podcast, even the book that I wrote, all of that was out of my comfort zone, you know, yet God pulled on me and he pulled, and he would not let it go. And until I made the move, my thing was just to write a book. And I was done. When I was done with the book, I'm like, okay, that's it. Thank you, Jesus.

00:38:17
I appreciate it. Then it was like, you're not done, you know, much is given, much is required. And so I just wanted to share that with my listeners to try him, you know, what do you have to lose, you know? Same. Same for me.

00:38:34
He told me to start the podcast, and I started the podcast. And then in my mind, in my mind's eye in my spirit. I saw the words positively joy podcast. I saw the word podcast, turned to ministry, and I said, okay, what else you want me to do now? And so now I've started my book ministry, my newsletter, which you can, would love for you to go to positivelyjoyed.com, and you can sign up for some of my resources and you'll get the newsletter that way.

00:39:05
To do is more right. Just like you were just gonna do the book, I was just gonna do the podcast. But nope, it was more to do. That's right. That's right.

00:39:14
Exactly right. Is there any, you shared a lot of gems, and I wanna call them diamonds, you know, no longer nuggets that you could share with my listeners who are being challenged. There's certain things they want to do. They, even when I say, to live your best life on your terms, many of them are not quite sure what their best life is, you know. So any words of you'd like to impart, to give them maybe a revelation or something that could help them get out of their way and do what they ordained to do.

00:39:51
And I guarantee when they do, they'll feel like so much better. It's amazing when you, when you're working in your purpose, it's just so much better. And it's no big purpose. There's no little purpose, you know, it's not, you know, to have your own talk show. That could be it, too.

00:40:08
But just any words that could encourage my listeners to continue to work on and start what I'm calling unlocking their full potential so they can start living their best life. If you're like me, you're probably in your way too much. My mind is always filled, busy, busy, busy. Sometimes it's hard to go to sleep because my mind is just going, yes. You will not make a good, peaceful decision unless you can get some quiet.

00:40:46
Now, that could look a lot of different ways for your listeners. It could mean getting up in the morning before everybody else, having a cup of coffee and reading your Bible, or it could mean meditation. Or, of course, I'm Christian, so you know what I. But just get into a, find a quiet space, empty your mind when, you know, some people say these things have things come to them in the shower. Yeah, but it has to, you have to allow yourself.

00:41:19
And I think, I think it's very holistic. I think you need to eat right. I think you need to give yourself lots of sleep. If you're not sleeping well, you won't make good decisions. So I think you need to do that.

00:41:30
But I think you need to find some quiet and just do some breathing exercises. Read the word. And if you pray, and if you don't pray, I suggest that you try it, because just like cassandra said. What? But, you know, lord, I come to you with, you know, with a.

00:41:51
With a problem. I know I can't find the solution by myself. I ask, you know, for your guidance. Yeah. And, you know, the Lord is not a lottery.

00:42:04
We only. We don't just go to him just to win stuff. Yeah, but. But we need to open ourselves to him, to the universe, whatever you're gonna call it, because otherwise you've got too much busyness, too much stress for you to figure out what you're going to do. Right now, for myself, I've decided to get some more religious training because I'm not a Bible scholar, and I would like to be a little bit more comfortable in that way.

00:42:31
So I've decided to go back, and I've been accepted into a seminary, but this year is a very busy one. My sister's very ill. She's doing pretty good right now, but she's been really ill. These whole move, these two moves has happened. It's kind of busy.

00:42:47
Yeah. And I decided that I'm going to defer for a year. And I was able to defer. Okay. It's okay.

00:42:53
I know it's coming. I know the Lord has that for me, but I've made a conscious decision to defer my admission for one year. Okay. And I knew, and I. And I know that's the right way because I'm at peace about it.

00:43:05
Right. Exactly. I wouldn't get there. I wouldn't get to that piece without, again, finding your space. Right.

00:43:13
And talking with him and letting him give you the answer. Right. Well, what a way to disperse all those diamonds. You said something that's really, really great. And for my listeners to know that you can find joy in the chaos, you can find joy in the unjoyful things, but you have to ask for it, and you have to make a decision.

00:43:36
And once you make that decision, he'll help you be consistent with that. So, Yvette, I want to thank you. I know my listeners have enjoyed this conversation, and I always ask them if there's something that they heard of value, and they have friends that they believe this would be of value to them to please share it. I also let them know that my podcast goes live every Wednesday at 01:00 and then afterwards, you can see the podcast on every platform. Every platform podcast are on and I never say goodbye.

00:44:12
I always say bye for now. And I also say God bless you all. And I will see you on one of my podcasts. You'll hear my voice. And again, Yvette, thank you so much, and God bless you.

00:44:28
God bless.