I’m so glad you’re here. I’ll go first with the introductions…

My name is Joy. I’m a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mama of three girls, and a lover of the mountains. I live an outdoorsy active lifestyle in western Wyoming with my family, and I am continually blown away by the beauty that surrounds me.

I have been a hopeless romantic my entire life—I read books by flashlight late into the night as a child, I acted out my dream of becoming a teacher by regularly educating my stuffed animals, I dreamt about reading poetry aloud on a dinghy boat like Anne of Green Gables, I wanted a library of books with a rolling ladder like Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and when I went to college, I majored in writing so I could become a published children’s book author. After college I spent two years in Japan getting back to my ethnic roots and teaching English, and when I came back, I became an upper-school grammar, language arts, and writing teacher. When I started having kids, I pivoted to become a freelance editor so I could work from home. And only in the last couple of years, I finally became a writer. (I realize there are hints of writing in everything I’ve done for the last couple of decades, but a writing teacher once told me plainly, “You’re not a writer if you don’t write—daily.”)

So while my dream is still to write books for children, my first writing project has been focused on my personal journey instead. I’m a recovering control freak, and the book I’m working on is all about the nitty gritty parts of living a life of surrender. And while I know I still have so much to learn, I also know that healing happens in community, so it is time to start putting myself out there and gather a community of readers and learners like myself.

This is where you come in. Welcome. 💛