Step Out And Thrive with Bethany Joy (Radical Care For Christian Counselors)

What if the people right in front of you are the ones you're seeing the least clearly? Welcome to a brand new series — Roots in the Storm — where we're going to get honest about what's holding us up when everything else is shaking.In this first episode, I'm talking about my new book cover (yes, the little plant pushing up through dry ground into a storm), why so many people had a hard time with that image, and the question underneath this whole series: when was the last time you felt loved for who you are — not for what you do?🔑 5 Takeaways from this episode:The hardest part of growth isn't always the digging in the dark — sometimes it's what waits for us once we break the surface.When we're stuck inside our own storm, it's easy to stop really seeing the people around us.So many of us — especially those of us with disabilities, in ministry, or in caregiving roles — have learned to earn love instead of receive it.Living to be loved for what you do instead of who you are doesn't just hurt you — it disconnects your roots from who God made you to be.This week's challenge: before you do the next thing, pause and tell yourself — "No matter what happens, I am loved."📚 Grab my book, Step Out & Thrive: Finding God in the Everyday When Nothing Makes Sense → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1🌱 Join the free Step Out & Thrive community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.comDare to do more than just survive. Step Out & Thrive.

What if God is moving in your life right now — and you're just looking in the wrong direction?We've arrived at the final letter of the THRIVE code. T is for Through. H is for Him. R is for Receive. I is for Impossible. V is for Victories. And now — the letter that pulls it all together.E is for EVERY DAY.Through Him. Receiving impossible victories. Every day.I know that might sound like too much to ask. Especially if you're in the middle of a hard season. And I want you to hear me — I'm not belittling what you're walking through. I've sat with people in grief, in shock, in seasons that felt completely impossible. And I still believe this: God shows up in the everyday moments. We just have to know what to look for.In this final episode I share what happened just days after my pacemaker procedure. I was depleted — emotionally, physically, spiritually — laying in bed on a Monday morning not wanting to move. Then the doorbell rang. A delivery driver. Flowers. From people in my coaching cohort who had barely met me in person. People who tracked down my address, ordered flowers, timed the delivery, and sent a card just to say — we see you. We're praying for you.That was God. In a doorbell. On a Monday.I didn't write this book because I figured it out. I wrote it because I'm still learning — and I wanted to take you with me.🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYSE is for Every Day — through Him, receiving impossible victories every single dayWe miss God moving because we're expecting the grand and missing the ordinaryThriving is doing less and receiving more — that's how we feel fully aliveCommunity helps us see the victories we overlook in ourselvesThis journey isn't about having it together — it's about learning to look for God in the everyday📣 YOUR NEXT STEPS📖 Grab Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1💬 Join the FREE community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com🎧 Follow the show — more podcasts are coming! → https://open.spotify.com/show/0FMfc7G1vbyBvBIIO5Nus6📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@bethanybjoyStep Out & Thrive is for faith-driven helpers, healers, and dreamers who are ready to find God in the everyday — even when nothing makes sense.

What if you've been winning all along — and just didn't know it?We've been going one letter at a time through the THRIVE code. T is for Through. H is for Him. R is for Receive. I is for Impossible. And now we're at the letter that might shift how you see your entire day.V is for VICTORIES.We've gotten it wrong. We've defined victory as the final result — the big win, the breakthrough, the moment everyone celebrates. But what if victory is actually every single step that leads there?In this episode I share a moment from 2020 — COVID, a park, a football, a basketball hoop, and a visually impaired mom who decided to go all in when her kids dared her to try. I asked them to point me toward the goal. First throw hit the backboard. Second throw — swish. They absolutely lost their minds.But the real victory wasn't that day. It was every single practice shot in a Kentucky driveway growing up that nobody saw, nobody cheered, nobody counted.Those small moments mattered. And yours do too.If you've been skipping past the small wins waiting for the big one — this episode is for you.🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYSVictory isn't the final win — it's every step that leads to the championshipThe small victories you overlook are the ones God wants you to stop and celebrateYou can only celebrate what you're willing to receive — the letters keep building on each otherLearning to notice victories in yourself and others is a practice, not a personality traitYou are winning in ways you haven't recognized yet — and that matters more than you know📣 YOUR NEXT STEPS📖 Grab Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1💬 Join the FREE community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com🎧 Follow the show for the final letter next week → https://open.spotify.com/show/0FMfc7G1vbyBvBIIO5Nus6📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@bethanybjoyStep Out & Thrive is for faith-driven helpers, healers, and dreamers who are ready to find God in the everyday — even when nothing makes sense.

Have we lost the God of the impossible — or have we just stopped looking for Him?We've been going one letter at a time through the THRIVE code. T is for Through. H is for Him. R is for Receive. And now we're at the letter that honestly should change everything about how we see God moving in our everyday lives.I is for IMPOSSIBLE.We love things that add up. Equations that make sense. Outcomes we can predict and control. But miracles — the real kind — don't add up. And somewhere along the way a lot of us stopped expecting them.In this episode I share the story of my boys randomly deciding at the dinner table that they wanted to go to Texas. No reason. No connection. Just Texas. I quietly tried to save money for the trip. It never added up financially. I let it go.Then everything fell apart — and then God put it all back together in a way I never could have scripted. A microphone in my mailbox on the exact day I needed it. A speaking competition I hadn't prepared for where I took second place. And an invitation — to speak in Texas — with expenses covered by near strangers.I wasn't making any of this happen. I was just taking the next best step forward.When we take our hands off, we give God permission to do the impossible.🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYSOur world demands things add up — but God specializes in what doesn'tWe've often settled for a God who just is instead of the God who does the impossiblePhilippians 4:13 is about His strength working through us — not our own effortWhen we release control, we make room for God to do what only He can doThe impossible rarely looks like a big moment — it usually starts with one small next step📣 YOUR NEXT STEPS📖 Grab Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1💬 Join the FREE community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com🎧 Follow the show so you don't miss the next letter → https://open.spotify.com/show/0FMfc7G1vbyBvBIIO5Nus6📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@bethanybjoyStep Out & Thrive is for faith-driven helpers, healers, and dreamers who are ready to find God in the everyday — even when nothing makes sense.

What if thriving isn't about pushing harder — but about opening your hands?We've been going letter by letter through the THRIVE code. T is for Through — deciding to walk through the storm instead of around it. H is for Him — going through with God, not alone. And now we've hit the letter that honestly stopped me cold when I first sat with it.R is for RECEIVE.For those of us who pour out constantly — the counselors, the coaches, the pastors, the caregivers, the entrepreneurs — receiving might be the single hardest thing on this list. We love the Rocky soundtrack version of thriving. Push harder. Do more. Grind through.But here's what God kept showing me: thriving is about receiving more and doing less.I share the moment it clicked — watching America's Funniest Home Videos with my boys, a ring bearer, a lost ring, and a pastor who said one word that rewired something in me. Not take. Receive. Because in order to receive, you have to open your hand. And to open your hand, you have to let go of something first.That's why this word is so hard. And that's exactly why it's in the code.🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYSThriving is about receiving more and doing less — not pushing harderThose who pour out the most are often the worst at receiving — and that's not a coincidenceThere's a profound difference between taking and receiving — one grabs, one surrendersTo receive, you have to open your hand and release controlBecoming more alive in the middle of the unknown is possible — and it starts here📣 YOUR NEXT STEPS📖 Grab Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1💬 Join the FREE community → https://community.stepoutandthrive.com🎧 Follow the show so you don't miss the next letter → https://open.spotify.com/show/0FMfc7G1vbyBvBIIO5Nus6📺 Watch on YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@bethanybjoyStep Out & Thrive is for faith-driven helpers, healers, and dreamers who are ready to find God in the everyday — even when nothing makes sense.