Spreading Joy at Escape Ministries

This past week I had an opportunity to facilitate a staff training with a Non-Profit organization called Escape, a ministry that intervenes in the lives of youth who fall through the cracks of society. Escape Ministry stands in the gap for many marginalized youth in Holland Michigan, and provide resources, opportunities, and relationships full of staff passionate about seeing these youth discover their worth and identity, together. Click here to learn more about what Escape does, it's a wonderful organization to support! 

During this staff training, we explored together what it could look like to increase the experience and spreading of Joy within Escape's work culture and how these Joy building skills could be implemented into the culture of Escape for the students, too! It's crucial for youth to experience large levels of Joy for healthy development and growth, and many youth who attend Escape, are coming from backgrounds lacking much needed Joy.

With that said, it was a real privilege to come alongside Escape staff and support them! I was thrilled with this opportunity and during the training, I felt energized, grateful, and motivated to continue gaining more understanding of the significance of Joy, so that I can also learn how to better pass it on and share with others. Are you part of an organization seeking support with building a more joy filled and healthier team culture? Reach out, I'd love to connect with you on group training opportunities. 

In addition to Joy being crucial for healthy development and growth, Trauma research and studies on healing and recovery are also recognizing how important the experience of Joy is for humans in order to flourish, recover from life's hardships, and to heal from trauma. I also continue to be so grateful learning about Joy from Chris with Thrive today and The Life Model way of being community, together.

I'm looking forward to seeing Joy Makers Project kick off with the online cohort community. You can click here to check this opportunity out. My plan is to make it affordable and accessible for anyone interested in growing their Joy levels and training their brain to experience and spread more Joy. More to come on this soon! 

Spreading Joy at the Grocery Store

I made goodie bags full of candy and notes off encouragement and handed them out to workers at Meijer on the way to my families thanksgiving get together. This is a simple, yet profound way to help others experience and spread Joy, too!

The smiles of people’s faces and verbal appreciation that was expressed when handing out treat bags to the workers at Meijer were priceless, a sign that Joy is being experienced and that Joy is being spread!

What can you do to go out and show grocery store workers on a Holiday that they are seen, loved, and cared about?

One way to experience more Joy in your own life is to actually go out and spread it to others. There is a mutual benefiting factor because when one person’s face lights up with Joy, it’s contagious, and usually spreads to the other person near them. Our brains are deigned to flourish of of Joy so let’s go spread that Joy, our brains will thank us for it!

Joy Makers in Guatemala

A couple months ago, I had an opportunity to go to Guatemala, exploring what it could look like to help Missionaries and Local Ministers experience and spread more Joy. I was thrilled with this opportunity and during the time in Guatemala felt energized, inspired, and excited about caring for individuals and communities who work so hard to care for others. 

While in Guatemala, I was able to have individual times of connecting with Missionaries and Local Ministers to hear about their experiences and needs. It was a delight to connect with many wonderful people, learn and hear their stories, and do my best to encourage them. At the end of the week there was an opportunity to provide a training that helps individuals and communities experience and spread more Joy. This training focused on education and practice of specific brain science skills rooted in biblical principles, that help build individual's relational and emotional capacities to stay their healthiest designed selves as they continue to minister to those around them. 

For as much as I hoped to contribute in someway to help others experience and spread Joy, I came back to the states with truckloads of it. Guatemala was beautiful and the individuals were so special. Even though I was physically exhausted and needed to work the next day (running off minimal sleep), the Joy I was experiencing from that time, energized my body the rest of my work week! Another beautiful thing about Joy, it strengthens us. Isn't it cool that God designed our brains and bodies to be fueled by Joy? 

To combine international missions, people of different cultures and backgrounds, care for the hearts of others, and talking with people about experiencing and spreading Joy all in the same week, felt like a gift wrapped up in the most beautiful bow. It was a thriving week! I'm excited to pursue Missionary Care wherever the opportunity may present itself and am grateful to be able to develop this partnership with those living in Guatemala, I can hardly wait to go back. 

I've been so blessed to learn about Joy from my good friend Chris with Thrive today. It's changed my life and understanding of how important Joy is to our emotional, relational, spiritual development and maturity. I can't help but want to share it with others so, let the Joy Making and Joy Spreading Mission, continue! 

Returning to Joy from Anxiety at night

Last night I had trouble falling asleep, as my mind was flooding with the stressors you’d expect when in the midst of purchasing a home for the first time, transitioning work places, working full time as a Mental Health Therapist, and struggling to say “no” when it comes to social engagements, good causes, and fun. This pace of life is making my head spin!

So, while in bed last night, I found my body tossing and turning, my mind was racing with different logistics needed to navigate in order to keep up with the commitments and current life transitions in process. I felt frustrated, “can’t I just sleep already?”

I felt stressed, a bit anxious, and burdened, I had high hopes for a good night’s rest and was starting to become discouraged. Then in the midst of the discouragement, a thought occurred to me “We are a people who practice gratitude before bed. It’s like us to practice gratitude as a way to calm our minds. We are a people who return to Joy and act like ourselves during big emotions.”

I spoke that process of thoughts out loud and a smile slid on my face, a sense of Joy overcame me, and I knew what I needed to do. I needed to practice my 3x3 gratitude exercises that my community and I know how to practice.

So there I went while laying in bed, mumbling with a big grin on my face…

3 things I’m grateful for today

3 things I’m grateful for about God

3 things I’m grateful for about someone else

No longer did I feel alone in my anxious thoughts, I remembered I am part of a community, a people who practice gratitude before bed, who act like ourselves, and know how to return to Joy from big emotions. Before I could finish the 3 things I was grateful for about God, I must have fallen asleep. Wow, that exercise worked wonders! I am grateful to say, I slept peacefully the rest of the night.

It was like me to remember I’m part of a community of people that practices acting like ourselves and knows how to return to Joy during big emotions. It was like me to practice gratitude like my community does too. Remembering who my community is and practicing what we do, is how I returned to Joy from the big emotion of anxiety I was experiencing when trying to fall asleep the other night.

How about you, friend? What’s it like for you to act like yourself, and to return to Joy from big emotions? Who is your community? Curious about the community I am part of? Reach out, i’d love to share with you more or click here to see where I’ve been getting all kinds of training on growing Joy!

Returning to Joy from a Hazardous sip of water

Last night I filled up my water bottle and was walking through the living room on the way to my room to get a good night’s rest. I decided to take a big gulp out of my water bottle, the straw on the cap makes it so seamless to sip out of…usually.

I took a big gulp and all the sudden I had this jolting sensation in my body, almost like a unexpected hiccup that sounded a bit disgusting. my lungs felt a startling sensation as if water was tricking in, my eyes went wide, and i suddenly felt a mixture of surprise, fear, and remembrance of another recent time sipping on water went wrong…I was choking on yes, water..

So splish splash, on the floor the water inhaled went, splattering an impressive amount. “Did I really just sip that much water?” “Wow it’s hard to breathe right now, it kinda hurts” I thought to myself. I hear my housemate’s concerned voice, “are you okay?” I hear the movie stop upstairs, “is everyone okay down there?”

Within a moment, my housemates are standing by me, comforting me, one of them cleaning up my water projectile with a dish towel. In that time, my body went from feeling out of control and watered down, to slightly embarrassed and joyful, we laughed, and were glad to be together, it was like my housemates to come to the rescue and it was like me to laugh it off. This is how we all returned to joy from a time I choked on water.

Joy Makers on Social Media

There are endless ways to spread Joy within your relationships and communities and one creative way to do that to the masses is through social media.

I knew social media was lacking some Joy because when I would scroll I’d often see discouraging status’s, fighting in the comments, and what appeared to be lot of relational hurt through the screens. When I would see this my body would become heavy, my heart would sink, and I would feel sad, disappointed, and discouraged.

Instead of sitting in the heaviness, disappointment, and discouragement, I took it upon myself to make a change by spreading some Joy on social media and doing my best to model something different.

One day I set aside a 1/2 hour out of my day to scroll through social media with one mission in mind, “spread Joy” through my comments over other people’s news feeds and status’s, do whatever I could to help others experience and spread Joy.

So that’s what I did. As I sat on my computer for that half hour, purely looking for ways to spread Joy online, I found my body relaxing, my heart felt warm, a smile appeared on my face, and tears formed in my eyes. I felt peace, Joy, passion, and love for those I was interacting with online.

I commented on the status of someone who was sharing their insecurities about their body image and told them they were beautiful, I reached out to an old Highschool classmate who expressed online they were struggling with their mental health and took time to share with them what I appreciated about them, I commented affirmations on people’s profile pictures that didn’t have a lot of comments or likes, those sorts of things, are what I took time to do in that half an hour, that mission to spread Joy online.

It was like me to take a discouraging situation and to model something different, it was like me to spread Joy online. It’s like us, you, me, whoever is made in God’s image to experience Joy, Spread Joy, and live out being Joy Makers, together.

How do you spread Joy online?

With love,

Kailey with Joy Makers Project

Joy Makers at Michigan Adventures

Let me tell you a story about how I remained myself during Michigan Adventures today while feeling unwell and exhausted.

We were in line for a rollercoaster and in my body I felt weary, clogged in my sinuses, and drowsy. I felt a bit sad and shame as I was processing some minor regrets from the week (I live in a lot of shame and working in new pathways for joy).

I was also feeling sad for how unwell I was feeling congestion wise. But then I got on the rollercoaster and off we went. The first turn and drop literally made my stomach drop and from there the thoughts of thinking my sinuses would explode, the shame I felt, the weariness, turned into laughter, lightness in my body, and joy.

And even though that jerky rollercoaster provided an immediate headache and lasted the rest of the day, it was like me to see the rollercoaster rides also provided space for me to just simply have fun, enjoy my younger friend Naomi and connect with her friends, and take a break from working through shame, and learning how to be resilient amidst not feeling well.

And that’s how I acted like myself today and that’s how I returned to joy, dwelling in the things that were going good instead of the things that were going wrong (sickness)

Joy Makers at the Post Office

The other day my younger friend and I decided to run a few errands, one of them being dropping off a return at the post office. A perfect opportunity to spread some Joy.

We pulled into the post office parking lot, grabbed a blank Joy Makers card to write a note of encouragement with, and got writing!

We did our return like usual and right after we thanked the post office worker, my younger friend handed her a note of encouragement saying something along the lines of “this is for you and we are just out here trying to spread some love and joy”

The worker smiled, looked at us and said something along the lines of, “Thank you, in all my years working here I’ve never received anything like this, this is my first, you just made my day!”

Spreading Joy is more simple than we think. What if individuals and communities looked for opportunities to spread Joy to one another, can you imagine what that would do for our culture?

Let’s spread the good stuff, friend :)

Joy Makers on Mothers Day

The night before Mothers day I was pondering to myself, “how could I spread some joy tomorrow, who might need some joy in their day?” I thought some Joy could be spread to a working mother at one of the open stores, perhaps working on Mother’s day wasn’t so much a preference but a nessecity. So I wrote a note of encouragement the evening before stating, “Dear Mother” and so on, and was planning to purchase a small bouquet and randomly give it to someone the following day, Mother’s day.

Fast forward to the morning of Mother’s day, I woke up and one mother in particular was heavy on my heart. I felt weight on my shoulders, burdened, and concerned for this person. I was able to connect with this person in the afternoon over the phone and soon found out for various reasons, she was having a challenging and overwhelming day. My heart hurt for her, I didn’t know how to lift her spirit. As I started to pray, and idea popped in my head. Maybe the bouquet and note of encouragement is for THIS mother!

So the adventure began. I grabbed a small bouquet and strawberries from the local grocery store (I know this person loves strawberries), grabbed that note of encouragement, dropped it off at that mother’s door step, knocked quickly, and zipped away!

Sometimes we can’t fix a big problem at hand, but we can help others know, they’re not alone in the midst of the trials. Joy builds resilience. Let’s help each other build resilience through spreading Joy.

Joy Makers Joy Texts

This is a Joy Makers tip, tried and tested

Grab a group of folks together, think of someone you all know, think of why you appreciate them. Write it out in a text to that person you all know. Send that text all at the same time. The more people, the better.

Joy Makers in the Highschool Cafeteria

I remember in Highschool there were many times I felt lonely, isolated, and discouraged. My body would often times be fatigued and weighed down by the brokenness amongst peer interactions and hurting individuals. I so badly wanted to help show people they were loved by God and spread Joy, at times it felt overwhelming on where to start. 

I remember a thought came to mind one day, "Kailey, it's about one person at a time, be My light, one person at a time." I wondered if that was God speaking to me. It brought peace, hope, and lifted the weight off my shoulders. "One person at a time, I can do that!" I thought to myself, feeling encouraged.

One day, I noticed a student in the lunch cafeteria sitting alone. I also noticed some students close by picking on him. I felt protective and hated what I was seeing, it was wrong. I may or may not of given a stern look at the student's being bullies and simultaneously thought to myself, "I'd like to sit with that student sitting alone and see if he'd like to be friends." So, I went and sat with this individual. From time to time after that first lunch, I'd find this new friend at lunch and sit with him. I deeply enjoyed that time of connecting with him and wondered how those lunch times were for him, too. I know for me, it was refreshing and life giving to sit with him, it brought so much Joy to my heart. I remember each time we ate together, feeling like something simple but profound was happening, but I wasn't sure.

Fast forward to about 6+ years after that interaction, I get a message over Facebook from that very individual I spent occasional lunch times with. With this friend's permission and hopes to encourage you, this is what they wrote: 

"This was several years ago. I was a sophomore in high school and Kailey was a senior. I was eating lunch by myself, messing around with 3D imaging on my computer when Kailey came over and sat with me. It was the first time we had met and it was really awesome to be accepted by someone who was a complete stranger to me. Everyone who I (air quotes) “hung out with” would not treat me as part of the group or at lunch time when I would show up and sit with them they would immediately get up and leave all at once with full trays of food. I felt like an outsider and that no one wanted to be around me. When Kailey sat with me at lunch that day I had a different outlook on things. That I am not an outsider I just need to find the right people to be around. I still struggled with finding acceptance from people for a couple of years but that was due to things in my personal life that I thought would be a deterrent for people to be around me."

Upon receiving this message, I was surprised and humbled. This message came to me at a time I was struggling myself. This friend who took time to write out a message to me, lifted my spirits and spread Joy to me, too.

May we never underestimate what one act of spreading Joy can do to impact someone's life, whether that be making a new friend at lunch or sending an encouraging message, Joy is worth spreading. 

Joy Challenge: What does spreading Joy, "one person at a time" look like for you?

Joy Makers at the School Parking lot

As I was reflecting on Joy Makers Project today and God’s hand in it all, I was reminded of a time when I was questioning if starting Joy Makers Project was ever a good idea and how God answered my wondering within that same hour of wonder.

It was about 2 years ago, I was in rough shape emotionally and had felt like my world flipped upside down after some painful breakages in relationships with important people in my life at that time. My body was weary, fatigued, and worn down, I felt depressed, confused, and anxious.

Someone, knowing I was in rough shape, wanted to help encourage me and suggested I went out and did a Joy Makers walk, they knew in the past I found great purpose in pursuing Joy Makers Project and thought it might life my spirit and encourage me.

So I decided to do just that, go for a Joy Makers walk. But instead of pursuing a random act of kindness, I just asked God to confirm to me on this walk or give me some sort of sign I should keep pursuing Joy Makers Project, because I was struggling, and struggling to know if I, a depressed individual at that time, should be pursuing something like Joy Makers Project, when I wasn’t experiencing much Joy myself at all.

The walk began and about a 1/2 hour in I was walking by a local school. As I was walking by I heard a voice saying something along the lines of, “Hey you! It’s you! Remember me from Joy Makers Project, the mom of the child you gave the basketball too? I’m picking my daughter up right now, the one you gave that basketball to, she’s on varsity basketball you know!” As she finished sharing that, her daughter walked up to the car and her and I smiled with Joy, me saying “wow, it’s really good to see you and you’ve grown up so much.” I was shocked with this unexpected interaction. In that moment my body went from weary and worn down to feeling light, energized, and hopeful.

This person’s daughter was one of the first Joy Makers gifts I had given away when I initially started going out and spreading Joy. I gave away that basketball when I was on a walk to a park nearby, on my way to go hand out other Joy Gifts in the form of a couple sports equipment such as a soccer ball and maybe a jump rope at the time. This person went on to share how much that act of kindness to her daughter had meant and over the years how she had been following along with Joy Makers Project. I hadn’t seen that person in over 4 years.

God answered my wondering through that small interaction that day. I am thankful for His reminder that yes, it was a good idea to have started Joy Makers Project several years ago and it still is a good idea to continue pursuing Joy Makers Project today. After all, this idea, really started as a God idea, and I hope it continues to become something that spreads the Joy of God to those around.

With gratitude,

Kailey

Joy Makers in Cambodia

I recently had an opportunity to visit some friends in Cambodia and I learned something about Joy while there. The power of a smile can produce transferable joy. At times I felt sad, wishing I could speak the language more easily, I wanted to relationally connect with the locals. Yet while I did not speak the native language in Cambodia, there were plenty of opportunities to genuinely smile to those I interacted with. There was one moment in particular, I had just got off a small "tuk tuk" vehicle (look it up if you haven't heard of one, they're cool!) with some friends, was walking into a market and saw an individual reading a book quietly. We made eye contact and a big smile came to my face and I noticed a big smile on theirs too. In that moment I experienced peace, lightness, and happiness. I wanted that person to know they were loved and am hoping that smile interaction communicated just that, they're loved. I know for me, their smile communicated I was loved, just that small, little interaction, and it was beautiful. 

May we never underestimate experiencing and spreading joy through a smile, wherever you are. 

Joy Makers at Goodwill

Today a couple Joy Makers and I were running a couple errands, one being to drop some donations off at Good Will Thrift Store here in West Michigan. Of course, we decided to bop in and peruse the isles of the store looking for treasures and as we were doing that, an idea came to mind. What if we were to place notes of encouragement around the store, hiding in the nooks and cranny's where soon to be thrifted treasures would be found? So that is what we did. We grabbed a couple of Joy Makers note cards, filled them out with whatever encouragement came to mind, and then the adventure began. We placed a card or two in a show box, behind a kitchen appliance, next to a pantry item, and much more. We felt excited, happy, and filled with Joy to take an ordinary moment at the Goodwill Thrift store, becoming something extraordinary.

Joy Makers at the Gas Station

The other day a Joy Maker and I went out to run some errands. As we were filling up gas in the car, we decided to stop in the gas station to spread Joy via gifting the cashier with a gift card to a local coffee shop nearby, just because. As we were waiting in line, the Joy Maker with me felt a little nervous, excited, and maybe experienced some butterflies in the stomach, adrenaline rushing, “how will the recipient of this gift card respond? Will they like it, will they think it’s weird?” She thought. As the line got smaller and it became our turn, I realized to my surprise, I already knew the cashier, it was a friend of mine and she had just happened to start her work shift! The other Joy Maker with me was able to hand the gift card to the cashier (my friend) and said something along the lines of “this is for you, we are just trying to spread Joy and wanted to spread Joy to you!” And off we went, back at it with running errands, walking away all three of us, myself, the other Joy Maker, and my cashier friend. The other Joy Maker and I felt joy, and gratitude for having that opportunity to spread Joy and we hope it brought Joy to my cashier friend, too.