Episode 40 :: Dawn Barton :: Fighting for Joy in Suffering

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Today we have one incredible woman on with us: the one and only Dawn Barton. Dawn is a self proclaimed joyologist who believes about fighting for joy in the most unlikely places. Dawn has a Job-like story of experiences of loss piled on loss, but still has learned how to experience the miracle of joy no matter the outcome.

Today we have one incredible woman on with us: the one and only Dawn Barton. Dawn is a self proclaimed joyologist who believes about fighting for joy in the most unlikely places. Dawn has a Job-like story of experiences of loss piled on loss, but still has learned how to experience the miracle of joy no matter the outcome. Dawn is not a person who proclaims that life isn’t hard and you just need to be happy, she stands firm on the promises of God as we walk through seasons of unbelievable loss and grief and confusion and how He can and will make Himself known in it through joy. Her book Laughing Through The Ugly Cry: And Finding Unstoppable Joy details her life experiences and how the Lord met her in it in such an authentic and hilarious way, and she shares much of that in our conversation today as well as how we can walk out fighting for our mental health, our sanity and our joy during this unbelievable year that is 2020.

Dawn never could have imagined that her book, which released about a month ago, would come out during a time of global grief, but as my friend Katie says “aint that like the Lord.” We talk about what it looks like for people to rally around you when you are in the depths, what happens when you believe in that season you don’t have the resources, and practical thoughts about how to take care of yourself during hard seasons and crisis to make way for joy.

Radical obedience is following after God, even when it feels crazy. We get to decide what we put out during this time, and what we allow into our heart for out of the heart the mouth speaks. Fighting for joy is an act of radical obedience. Dawn isn’t encouraging us to gloss over what the Lord has for us in the low seasons, she is encouraging us to not be where we drown because we buy into the lie that joy is impossible. It's not, dear ones. Let’s take care of one another friends. The grace we could share with one another could be day/experience changing for someone that we encounter along the way. Let’s make space for the sad and the hard and the grief, and then let’s remind one another it is OK to laugh, and then do it. It's good for the soul to hold both. You matter, your story matters.

Resources:

Mental Health resource, and a way to find a counselor in your area

Mary Kay Cosmetics

My conversation with Lauren Ruth Martin, licensed therapist on Simply Stories. You can also find A LOT of additional mental health resources in the show notes of this episode

Interview with Steven Furtick and T.D. Jakes about Soar

Adjustment disorder

Scripture References:

The story of Job

Nehemiah 8:10- The joy of the Lord is your strength

Galatians 3:26- You are a child of God

Romans 12:18- You are responsible for your response

Lamentations 3:23- New mercies and new day tomorrow

John 10:10- We are called to an abundant life

Ezekiel 36:26- To transform you from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh

Isaiah 43:16-19- He makes a way

Luke 16:10- To who is faithful in little is faithful in much