SPEAKING JOYFULLY
Thanksgiving – Serving Up Gratitude
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com They were conversations long forgotten. Words spoken that left my mouth and mind many years ago. By God’s grace and through His power, the words had implanted in others in such a way that impacted them for good. I gathered that fall...
Veterans – Do We Know Their Stories?
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com As far as I know, I’d never heard his name before, or maybe I'd forgotten it. That’s not so unusual. The stories of many of the nation’s veterans who served to protect and defend our freedoms aren’t remembered except to those closest...
Pumpkin Pie and the Promised Land
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com If you plan on baking or eating a pumpkin pie this fall, you might be interested to know the original is thought to be far different from today’s recipes. The pie was in the pumpkin! It’s believed the Pilgrims did bake “pumpkin pie”...
Giant Pumpkin Trek Delivers Life Lessons
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com I thought 787 pounds was huge. As it turns out, the world record-holder as of October 2021 weighs 2,702.8 pounds. Grown by Stefano Cutrupi in the Italian region of Tuscany, that award-winning gourd (and squash) secured that title...
7 Strategies to Move Forward in Life – Top-Level Perspective
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com The view was much different from up high. Recently, a good friend asked my husband and me to join her and her husband in their football suite. While we do have season tickets, ours are closer to the field in the regular stands....
Hearts Hit by Hail
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com The sky darkened and hail began to rain down on our home, clattering against the roof and deck. The unexpected storm caused pebbles of ice to puncture the perfectly formed heart-shaped leaves in my garden. I was shocked to see the...
Steps to Find Strength in the Storms of Life
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com When the storms of life slam into us like lightning, and the roar in our minds takes on thunderous levels, it can be difficult to find strength. My first experience in a wave pool was something I’d looked forward to for weeks, then I...
When the World Seems Wobbly
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com I tilted to the left and then to the right, unsteady as the wobbly rope ladder bridge beneath me shifted. My arm stretched forward and upward for the next rung as I tried to stay balanced. The wood and rope ladder my dad created...
What You are not, I AM
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com In reaction to God’s call, a challenge or circumstance in our lives, we often react with a but… I am not. Jeremiah’s self-confidence (or lack of it, I should say), showed in how he answered God’s call to be a prophet. “Alas,...
Pool (of Life) Rules
©Joy Dunlap https://joydunlap.com Doing lap after lap of monotony without getting anywhere? Treading water trying to stay afloat? Drowning in despair? Whatever our state in the pool of life, whether swimming strong or barely floating, we can benefit from some key...