Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Alia Joy
When the Milestones of Motherhood Come Way Too Fast
Sometimes the cycles push us into seasons before we feel ready. Back to school supplies flood the aisles and the clearance floaties and sunscreen and coolers line the back end caps with red stickers and slashed prices. And then 5 subject notebooks, dorm room matching comforter sets, Crayolas, and boxes of number two pencils are clearanced to make room for pumpkins and costumes and bags of candy corn. And those kids with their summer-browned limbs fade away too.
Salmos 27:13 Sin embargo, yo confío en que veré la bondad del SEÑOR mientras estoy aquí, en la tierra de los vivientes. | Nueva Traducción Viviente (NTV) | Download The Bible App Now
Salmos 27:13 Salmos 27:13 NTV Sin embargo, yo confío en que veré la bondad del SEÑOR mientras estoy aquí, en la tierra de los vivientes. NTV: Nueva Traducción Viviente Free Reading Plans and Devotionals related to Salmos 27:13 YouVersion uses cookies to personalize your experience. By using our website, you accept our use of cookies as described in our Privacy Policy.
Let’s All Be Brave
I’m not one for tattoos that are paragraph in length, but if I was, it might be this. (But like, where? my hip? my wrist? It’s just not gonna happen, people.) There are two stories, two themes, two recurring sentences that run through my life and my brain and spill out into my conversations. God made you on purpose. God made you to be brave. I’m sure of it. I’m sure that you are one of a kind and your call to courage is that unique. So often we convince ourselves that we are average.
Guests
Guests Articles 819 Results ©2020 DaySpring Cards Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(Un)Adorned
It took one year for me to grow accustomed to it – life without makeup. Four years later I still have moments when I am tempted to hide the motherhood tiredness and too-many-long-winter-days-spent-inside-the-house pastiness. Going makeup-free began with the thought of my daughter, Brianna, as I mentally flashed ahead to the advent of her teen years and the inevitable question, “Mom, can I wear makeup?” And something in my heart broke.
Outward Aging, Inward Renewal
“…but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” ~2 Corinthians 4:16 I’ve always intended to age gracefully. I still feel about 25 on the inside, so I just imagined my outside would reflect it accordingly. Boy, was I wrong. My body—which managed to birth eight babies and maintain my high school weight—has turned traitor as the number on the scales creeps higher.
Made to Crave Summer Challenge
To purchase Made to Crave click here. For additional free resources on this topic visit the Made to Crave website by clicking here.
When waiting IS the plan...
Being a writer involves a lot of waiting. It is can be weeks–usually months–from the time you submit a manuscript to an editor until the time you hear back. As a not-so-naturally-patient person, this part of the writer’s life has taken some getting used to for me. Recently, when an editor was interested in one of my manuscripts and asked to see the whole thing, I eagerly sent it off.
Breathe Again
I’ve live with bated breath, sat rapt at attention, clinging to my last inhale, waiting for what’s to be. Anticipation has been my oxygen, its unreliable tank shooting spurts of air, giving me just enough to just be. This is a stilted life, never fully being and never fully feeling life. “Rhonda, why are you always so serious?” my party boy baby brother asked me almost 20 years ago at a family dinner. There was no heated talk, no refusal on my part to walk his walk, but he asked me this.
On Cultivating Heart Strings
THERE IS SOMETHING SPECIAL about real life. It’s not just the laughter you can see instead of just hear (or read). It’s not the twinkle in a friend’s eye. It’s more than the touch or the hug or the wiping away of tears. It’s that we were created for it. To mingle our spirits together and with Him. To be fully full of His love so we can give it away. And friends, those on the other end of those strings flung out from your heart? They are the very best way to be with God. Their prayers make yours better.
Musings From The Sandwich Generation
Sometimes the only sliver of peace in the midst of a busy life is right smack dab in the middle of the shower. Many a great revelation has come to me as I stood under the flow of hot, running water with the steam rising up to meet me.
Lessons in Hospitality from my Hairstylist
Every six weeks my hairstylist invites me to sit down as she offers me a cup of coffee. She carefully wraps a towel around my shoulders and we start talking about what is new since we last spoke. We chat about everyday life at home. We share the challenges of picking paint colors, creating art for the walls and arranging our home to work for our families. We laugh about being the type who would probably clean the house for a housekeeper, if we had one.
Recommended Reads: Love The Home You Have (and a giveaway!)
We are thrilled to introduce you to a new book from one of our own (in)courage authors today! Melissa Michaels has recently released Love the Home You Have, and we adore her heart for hospitality and the fun, practical steps she shares in her book to take your “right now” house and turn it into your “dream” house! Oh, and we’re giving away 5 copies of her amazing book PLUS 5 Everlasting Light Starburst Mirrors, so be sure to read all the way to the end! [linebreak] A Place That Is Warm My...
5 Things to Do Now to Embrace Fall
I love fall. I love everything about it. Yes, I know in some parts of the country the arrival of Fall also signals that a long cold winter is near. But I don’t like to think that way. I don’t want to live in dread of a cold dark season when I can enjoy the gifts in front of me right at this moment. I like to embrace Fall as something special that happens just once a year, from September through November.
6 Habits for Happiness at Home
I’m not always diligent in keeping up with all the good habits and routines I should practice every day. Sometimes I just have a hard time getting started with a new habit, but more often I seem to have a hard time keeping up with them. But there are some things I do that I know for sure change my outlook on my day. No, I’m not talking about running five miles a day or going to the gym (although those would be great habits).
Celebrating (in)courage Turning FIVE with Thanks and Giveaways Galore
Five years. Five years and thousands of women across the globe gathering here each new day with their words. Five years of (in)courage; five years of you and your sister and your mom and your BFF and that neighbor down the road that you just discovered has a job or a four-year-old or a runaway teen or a new business or a diagnosis in common. This is where we all gather. This is the shelter from the storm.
Finding Balance
My girls are now young women, but I still love to talk with them about their life goals and offer advice now and then. A mother is always a mom, right? One thing we’ve been talking about quite a bit is living life on purpose. By that I mean, do we just let life happen to us? Or do we make deliberate choices for our home and life based on our priorities and purpose? There are only so many hours in the day. How do we decide what to do with those hours?
Pin This to Your Christmas Pinterest Board
With Christmas just a week away, many of us are running around wrapping gifts (or let’s be honest, still buying gifts), baking cookies, planning Christmas dinner and just trying our best to keep the housework from swallowing us up whole so we can appear to have our act together for when our guests arrive (or just to keep our own sanity!).
5 Ways to Love the Home You Have
Do you ever find yourself discouraged or even overwhelmed by the state of your home? I know I have found myself in that place more than I would like to admit! The messy rooms, the imperfect decor, the never-ending dirty dishes, and the repairs I couldn’t seem to keep up with threatened my sanity at times. My expectations for my home were often too high and my ability to maintain it all seemed to be lacking. I’d get one room pulled together and another area would fall apart. Can you relate?
{The Courage to Face Our Insecurities} Week 4: It’s Risky, But Do It Anyway
No one can make us feel quite as unsure about ourselves as another woman. And nothing can wound as much as the words that sometimes come from a friend or from inside our own head. That’s why (in)courage exists as an online community committed to making safe spaces for women to connect. Each Wednesday this month we’ve shared some of our stories of overcoming insecurity in order to choose friendship on purpose.
Recommended Reads: Love The Home You Have {Part 2}
Wasn’t Melissa’s post on Monday wonderful? We’re loving how her practical tips are making us feel brave about hosting our Girlfriend Gatherings! Melissa is sharing another wonderful post with us today, and we can’t wait to hear from you.
Authenticity: A Very Good Thing
Sometimes life hands us incredibly full seasons, and our own Melissa Michaels is in the midst of one of those right now. We hope you’ll join us in praying for her and her family as she dedicates time to finishing some beautiful projects, co-hosting a small blogging conference, moving to a new house, and all the other wonderfully, gloriously ordinary tasks that fill her days.
Recommended Reads: Make Room for What You Love
Tell me something. When a neighbor rings the doorbell in the middle of a day to ask for a cup of sugar, do you gracefully open the door, warmly smiling because you feel totally poised, pulled together, fully dressed (yes, pants on) and teeth brushed? Or is it your first instinct to slip quietly around the corner and hide, hoping they will give up and go away?
5 Ways to Create Your Summer House
Do you have a summer house? This is the time of year when we might be scrolling through Facebook and notice that many so many people seem to be heading off to their vacation homes or are traveling to exotic destinations for their summer vacation. That’s so fun! But even if you aren’t heading off to either place, take heart. The home you’re in is one of the best destinations of all. I’ll actually be spending most of the next few months in my summer home.
Small Is a Gift, Not a Punishment
Somewhere along the way, I picked up the idea that bigger is always better. I picked it up and carried it with me, spending more time than I’d care to admit reaching for rungs. We climb ladders and hear applause. We build platforms and receive praise. We joke about doing “all the things,” we hope for hearts and likes, we care about pixelated numbers.
Psalms 27:13-14 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I sa | New King James Version (NKJV) | Down
Psalms 27:13-14 NKJV I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD! NKJV: New King James Version
Job 13:15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. | New King James Version (NKJV) | Download The Bible App Now
Job 13:15 NKJV Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. NKJV: New King James Version
The Fluency of Hope
June 15, 2020 June 15, 2020 By Alia Joy Part 1: Do the Best You Can When my daughter was three, I bought her an Indian costume from Old Navy. That year, she toddled around on her quest to fill her plastic pumpkin pail with candy in a thick brown fringed dress complete with headband and felt feathers. I thought she was adorable. I had never heard the term cultural appropriation. People around me didn’t use terms like Indigenous or Native.
When You Know Better, Do Better.
Part 1: Do the Best You Can When my daughter was three, I bought her an Indian costume from Old Navy. That year, she toddled around on her quest to fill her plastic pumpkin pail with candy in a thick brown fringed dress complete with headband and felt feathers. I thought she was adorable. I had never heard the term cultural appropriation. People around me didn’t use terms like Indigenous or Native.
Why I Don't Want to Say, "Let's Get Together Sometime!" Again
I found out on Facebook. Needing a break from my work, I clicked over to Facebook and scrolled. Scrolled and scrolled, stopping occasionally to click, but mostly scrolling. Then my eyes latched onto a short post from an old friend, and I froze. Well, my scrolling finger froze, but my brain began spinning. What? How could this be? Was she sick? What happened? And then . . . I guess we’re never going to get together to catch up. One of my best childhood friends died last month.
I Just Can't Anymore
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14 (NIV) Here’s the promise for us today: God will fight for me when I just can’t anymore. As the social distancing continues, we’re becoming more weary. We were made for human connection through presence, and the lack of it has caused grief and anxiety and anger for the loss of what was supposed to be this year.
Peace in the Midst of the Storm
I thought I was fine. Sure, the whole world seems to have turned upside down on itself over the past month. And yes, having four kids home all day, every day, while two grown-ups try to work and manage homework isn’t ideal. And, yes, I’ve been a little under the weather — likely a random virus, nothing serious. But I’m holed up at home to be on the safe side. I was fine, totally fine. So I thought.
Being Asian American in the Midst of COVID-19
I can feel my voice getting louder as the white family passes us by, my words coming out more crisply and clearly than I normally would talk. I can’t control the instinctual reaction of my body when there’s even the slightest chance I might be perceived as “one of them.” I’m not other or foreign (I was born here in California), but with the way Asian Americans are being treated in light of COVID-19, I can’t help but feel labeled as dirty, sick, a virus — the virus.
All Dogs Go To Heaven: A Reflection On Common Things
Some days writing saves my life, others reading does the trick and I hoard stories inked by other souls that breathe in me- the stuff of life, the wonder or heartbreak, or mystery, or rage. I sigh and sink in to ponder the degrees of separation between lives lived with fathomless individuality and yet even still, such limitations to our emotions. The human experience is, after all, so very human. A woman I know lost her dearest friend.
Why I'm Having an Identity Crisis
Most nights I lay awake in bed rehearsing different conversations I had throughout the day. I worry if I said or did the right thing. I calculate and rethink what I should or could have done. I wonder why someone didn’t text back. I toss and turn making plans to fix things tomorrow. Most mornings, my mind is running even before I open my eyes. My lists grow. I mentally rummage through the fridge trying to figure out breakfast. The kids fight. Anger comes up and at me from every direction.
An Easter Prayer
Lord, Thank You for the gift of HOPE You gave us on Easter morning. Because of You we know That no problem is too difficult And even death does not have power over us. Thank You for the gift of JOY You gave us when You were resurrected. Because of You we know That no matter how challenging life may be, In the end we will rejoice again. Thank You for the gift of LOVE You gave us when You laid down Your life.
How Single Women Help New Moms Make It Through
It’s no secret that married couples in local churches need to reach out to the singles in their midst. “Doing life alone” can be exhausting, says Holly Stallcup. But the Scriptures “consistently paint a picture of interconnected community … where we find ourselves in day-in and day-out partnership with others.” Bridging this single-married divide is particularly important for women.
God Saved Me From Suicide
I grew up with idealistic missionary parents who wanted more than punch-a-clock and pay-the-mortgage normalcy. They pursued a ministry life abroad, but after I was diagnosed with leukemia as a child, we were left stateside and struggling financially. We moved a lot—Hawaii, then Nepal, then back to Hawaii, then New Mexico. For most of my teen years, we lived in Albuquerque, and during that time, I began to resent the ways God allowed us to suffer.
When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams By Jill Eileen Smith
7 Days Life is full of twists and turns, and the roads we travel don’t always lead to where we intended to go. Our faith is tested in those moments when we must face choices we never wanted to make or grapple with circumstances we never expected. But when we can’t see the dreams anymore, when life is more trial than triumph, that’s when we can grow stronger. Publisher We would like to thank Baker Publishing for providing this plan.
Writing Tips: Do What Works
Photo by Thomas Martinsen on Unsplash I was talking to a friend this morning and we were discussing our favorite books on the craft of writing. I told her I think I’ve read ’em all. What was glaringly missing, though, are mainstream published books on the craft of writing, written by POC. I can think of one. Amy Tan’s, Where The Past Begins. That’s it. Now there may be more, but if there are, I don’t hear them talked about in writing circles or classes or online. So maybe it’s time one of us wrote one?
To Feel Again: The Tedium of Surviving
Photo by Alexander Possingham on Unsplash More than anything, surviving is tedious. It is a million small breaths strung together. It is a million neurons and synapses and chemical reactions trying to rearrange themselves and play nice. It is day after day of in-between spaces. Somewhere between the living and the dead is where the tedium of surviving resides. It is the upside-down. The shadow world. The shadow’s body and mind. I got out of bed for a couple hours today.
Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit For They Will Lead the Way
Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash Advent is here. We are straining forward each day with anticipation. But still, this season of darkness and yearning is upon me. The early day’s sun retreats leaving a smattering of white twinkling lights strung in rows across the tree like fingerprints. The candle’s flesh is melting down its sides like shedding skin and it flickers a great hope in the darkness.
Maybe Someday: On Deserts and Dreams Deferred
Photo by Sasha • Stories on Unsplash Every year when the sun climbs into the horizon and sets over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, a gathering of poets and prophets, writers and artists gather. I have always wanted to go. My browser sits open to their website, and I skim over the details. It claims to be equal parts spiritual retreat, artist workshop, and festival.
Tasked With Wonder
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash It’s true. Sometimes I tire of the poets and I want plain words. Unhurried, slow words with lazy syllables. Maybe even stilted words that fall like heavy bricks and land with a singular purpose. But even then, we’re building. I just fed you a simile, even if filled with clay and dust. Words are busy little things, so much more than the feel in your mouth as you roll the letters down your tongue or march them through your teeth.
God Must Have a Purpose for Your Life
Standing in my boyfriend’s kitchen, I looked to see what time it was. Panic rushed over me when I realized I had five minutes to get home for curfew, and two many miles between his house and mine to make it. Mom had said if I missed curfew again, she would ground me for a month. I ran to my car and raced the clock to get home. Hands gripping the steering wheel, I came to a familiar curve going a little too fast.
For When You Need To Remember
Somewhere in my memory, I have known that I still had them. But actually finding them there in the game closet was still surprising and caused me this weird sense of thrill and embarrassment. Because before there was texting, there were notes. And all of the heartache and drama of middle and high school was recorded in them–passed quietly, secretly through the hands of trusted classmates; slipped discreetly through the locker vents; left in books to be found after school.
How to Fight the Lies of Perfectionism
I used to tell myself, “I have to stop being a perfectionist!” Can anyone else hear the irony of those words? One of the biggest traps I often fall into is the notion that I can get rid of perfectionism. If only I had more confidence in myself . . . If only I could let go of the past . . . If only I trusted God more . . . If only . . . All this if only talk doesn’t help me. I criticize myself, spiraling into feeling frozen and discouraged, whenever I feel inspired to try something new.
Looking for Beauty in the Broken
It was Christmas. Lights were sparkling. Stores were bright. And there was my family, rushing downtown to get a good look. That’s how we managed. Life gave hurts and hard knocks. Yet if something was gorgeous to see, we took a gold minute to look past the problem and gaze at the pretty. Freezing weather? It didn’t matter. “Wear your big scarves,” Mama told my sister and me.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Alia
Contact Alia, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack