*This episode contains content that may be triggering for some listeners.*

Have you ever had a moment where you plastered on a smile, carried on through your day as if everything was perfectly okay, but really on the inside you were hurting? It’s okay to have sorrow, and it doesn’t mean we are cut off from joy in the midst of it. In the Psalms, David reminds us that God reveals joy during all the ups and downs of our lives. “You make known to me the path of life,” David prays, “in Your presence there is fullness of joy.” [Psalm 16:11] 

Molly Stillman is an author, speaker, blogger, and podcast host who leans toward the brighter side of life and wants to bring that joy to others. The daughter of a nurse who served in Vietnam, Molly’s mother championed for the rights of women veterans all while battling alcoholism and addiction. Molly witnessed her mother’s powerful influence, despite her afflictions, and would come to know what it was like to hold both joy and grief in her heart as she navigated life after her mother’s death. Jeanine Amapola is a speaker and influencer who battled alcohol addiction and toxic relationships. At her lowest point, she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel joy again, but the healing began as she connected with a community of women who had experienced some of her same hardships. 

Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:

Jesus Calling Podcast

Jesus Calling

Jesus Always

Jesus Listens

Past interview: Jen Lilley

Upcoming interview: Andre Ward

Psalm 16:11 NIV

Molly Stillman 

Vietnam veteran

Alcoholics Anonymous

Sharon Ann Lane

PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Vietnam Veterans Association

Home Before Morning

pulmonary edema

collagen vascular autoimmune disease

Proverbs 17:22 NIV

If I Don’t Laugh, I’ll Cry

Jeanine Amapola

Ecclesiastes 4:9 NIV

Becoming Happy and Healthy

Interview Quotes:

“A lot of veterans today say that women veterans have access to a lot of the things that they have access to because of the advocacy and trail that my mom blazed. And I got to be a front row witness to all of this.” - Molly Stillman

“I wasn't walking with Jesus in any way, shape, or form, so I had no solid foundation on which to place anything in my life. And so everything I had built and was continuing to build, was just on very, very loose sand that had no firm foundation.” - Molly Stillman 

“The shame and the embarrassment, the guilt, that washed over me felt like I had a ton of bricks on my chest and my shoulders. It was devastating to find myself in this position and to just feel that level of condemnation towards myself.” - Molly Stillman 

“I walked through the doors of a church and I heard that there was a God in heaven who created me on purpose, with a purpose, for a purpose, that He loved me