How to Have Joy Even When Life is Hard with Jenna Griffith

Hey Friend!

I am so excited to bring you this amazing conversation with one of my prior students, Jenna Griffith. Jenna now has a top-ranking podcast – The Joy Filled Podcast. Jenna is here to teach about being joy-filled.

Motherhood is hard. Being a Christian woman is hard. Life is hard. Jenna wants to talk through this searching and seeking for joy. We talk about finding joy in the mundane because there is such beauty in the little blessings. Sometimes we’re so fixated on what’s next and where we’re going, that we miss them.

I hope this conversation gives you the confidence to show up, no matter the season, no matter the struggles, to allow God’s presence to become a bigger joy in your life.

Who is Jenna Griffith and How Did She Get Started?

Stef: Hey Jenna! Thank you for joining me; so glad to have you here.

Jenna: Hi! Thanks for having me; it’s such an honor to be here.

Stef: You said in your email that this is a full-circle moment for you. Tell us a little about your journey with podcasting and how you got started.

Jenna: I started podcasting in October 2020. My husband and I were talking about something and he said, “Maybe you should start a podcast.” I tried blogging and other things, but nothing really stuck. I have second-guessed everything in my life, but when he said that, I knew he was right. It was one of those things where I had no doubts.

It took me a little while to land on what I wanted to talk about and what I wanted to do. I started searching Apple Podcasts for things like “How do I start a podcast?” and “Can a random person start a podcast?” When I started in 2020, celebrities and other big names had podcasts. I was just some random person in Washington State.

In my searching, I found the Mompreneur Mastermind and it was exactly what I needed. I needed the clarity coaching. I went through PPU before I launched anything. The success I’ve seen is directly from the coaching I received in that course. I refer people to you and your show all the time. It’s such an honor to be here and to chat with you.

Stef: Jenna, that means so much. When we pitched you to be on the show, we didn’t know that.

What Successes Has Jenna Experienced in Her Business?

Stef: You were a student when we first launched the course. You have 500 reviews and you’re a top podcast in parenting, right?

Jenna: Yes, we’re in the top 30, with around 350,000 downloads.

Stef: That’s amazing. When you consider 350,000 sets of ears, that’s wow.

Did you have a brand in mind when you started the podcast? Was there a business strategy?

Jenna: I knew I had stuff I wanted to say. I dabbled in network marketing and knew I wanted an online presence. From the beginning, I wanted to be home with my kids, so having an online business was a priority.

With podcasting, I didn’t know what the opportunity was until I went through PPU and learned the business opportunities. It’s a business, but also a ministry. I wanted to speak to people and this was the easiest way to get my message out there.

Stef: And it gives people permission to not know what the business will be. Often, when we’re called to do something, we don’t know the outcome. We wonder if it will make money. That’s the wrong question.

“How do I step out in faith to say things I know will bless people?”

God’s had His hand on your podcast and you’ve grown beautifully. When you want to take it to the next level, you already have the audience. It’s beautiful and you’re doing it in the right order. 

Jenna: I tried to focus on monetization and found myself floundering, second-guessing myself. There was no clarity when I was focused on monetization. The clarity didn’t come until I put that piece to the side and focused on the ministry and the people. 

God has provided in all ways. I’ve created resources and worked with brand sponsorships. Clarity comes when we take the steps.

Jenna Griffith: Joy Girl

Stef: Jenna, you’re the Joy Girl.

When I think of Jenna, I think of joy. That’s who you are and what you stand behind. Tell us about how you landed in this pocket. Can you start by defining joy?

Jenna: I honestly don’t know how I landed in this pocket. It was truly God. When I set out to start a podcast, it started with having moms come on and tell their birth stories. 

Then I felt God telling me no; saying He needed me to speak my voice.

When I started the podcast, I was coming out of a season of really hard post-partum depression and anxiety after my firstborn. What’s the opposite of depression? Joy!

Once I began to dive into what joy actually is – we frequently get it wrong – in Scripture, joy is a Fruit of the Spirit. When we break down what a Fruit of the Spirit is, it’s evidence of being rooted. Fruit is evidence of the plant’s healthy roots.

When we look at joy in that sense, it’s a promise. It’s not something we have to chase. There’s a lot of messaging about chasing or finding joy. But joy is about Jesus; being rooted in the Spirit. Joy is Jesus! Jesus is joy!

Jesus says, “Seek Me and you will find Me.” We don’t have to chase joy, we just have to seek Jesus.

When I dove into that for myself, in trying to answer my own questions: Am I just seeking happiness? No. I’m seeking something deeper than that. As I began to find these answers, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of, ‘this is it’ – it’s the key. This is what so many moms, women, people, and Christians are missing. Joy is waiting for us because it’s found in Him.

What Was Life Without Joy Like for Jenna?

Stef: I love that joy is a Fruit of the Spirit and a promise.

Knowing you’re in this seat of teaching joy, I’m 127 million percent sure there was a season you didn’t have joy. We go through the trenches of the thing we’re ultimately landing in.

Can you share a time when you didn’t have joy? What did that look and feel like?

Jenna: Motherhood was always my dream. I wanted to be a mom when I grew up and had this idea of what motherhood would be like. It’s wonderful but I had a traumatic delivery experience. I planned a natural birth, which I technically had, but it didn’t go as planned. I didn’t have the support I should have; I was left on my own to figure everything out.

This had a ripple effect. The birth trauma was a health thing so I was physically weak which affected my emotions and hormones.  I had undiagnosed and untreated post-partum depression. I didn’t realize that’s what I was experiencing until my second child,  16 months later. That pregnancy was redeeming in many ways, but it wasn’t until that experience that I realized this was how it should be and the first experience was not normal. 

I was very detached from my baby. I would go days without showering or changing clothes. There was anxiety too. I wouldn’t go places because I would overthink everything and was worried.

There was no joy in my life. It was hard because this was what I had looked forward to, but I was so desperate for any kind of feeling. 

Why was this happening to me? Why was it so hard?

There was a little pride in there. I thought this was supposed to be easy, so why was it my struggle?

Jenna’s Radical Healing and Redemption

Stef: Okay, so now you have a newborn and a baby and you’re feeling hopeless in a way? I can imagine your husband is worried and you’re feeling like you’re missing all these emotions. What happened?

For me, there was a literal ‘come to Jesus’ moment when things had to change. Did you have a moment like that, Jenna, or was it more of an evolution? What were the steps you took to recapture your joy?

Jenna: When I was pregnant with my second, a couple of months before my due date, on the way home from a church event, I got a text from a friend. She said, “I just want you to know you’re not going to experience post-partum depression again.”

It was very prophetic. This was a friend I trusted that God would use her to speak that over me. My second pregnancy was healing for me. It was when I finally started feeling the clouds opening up over me. 

My daughter was born on a November morning in the Pacific Northwest. It should not have been sunny, but when she was born, there was such sunlight throughout that room. It felt like Jesus was just flooding me; shining light into the nooks and crannies that held darkness and emptiness. From the minute she was born, I no longer experienced post-partum depression. It was a radical healing; God delivered me. I knew that I was healed and that I would not walk through what I had walked through before.

As I walked through my second post-partum experience, He was showing me the things that I was doing differently. He had me remember what I was doing that was different.

What Lessons Did God Want Jenna to Learn?

Stef: You went through this difficult season and then radical healing to experience a new level of joy. I believe He allows things to happen so we can learn. What do you think those lessons were for you?

Jenna: He taught me what joy really is: staying connected to our Savior and the Holy Spirit. When we read the Fruits of the Spirit passage, the next verse talks about walking in step with the Spirit. The fruits come when we walk in step with the Spirit. 

I decided to learn what it meant to walk in step with Him daily as a mom. In motherhood, it doesn’t always look like reading my Bible at the same time every day. It’s not always a routine. Jesus says to seek Him, so how can I seek Him in the mundane, simple things? There had to be a way. He’s not just in my Bible. He is all around me. 

I began to make my life worship and learned to have an active relationship with Jesus for the first time.  I was seeking Him in every moment; praying as I’m rocking babies to sleep. 

Practically: I began loving myself enough to take care of myself: taking showers, getting dressed, proper nutrition. These things do matter and are important.

I was staying connected to Him, caring for my spiritual and physical self. I allowed Him to speak to me in every little thing; remembering that my purpose is where my feet are. If He’s placed something in my life, He’s called me to it. There are no accidents. I need to be faithful whether it’s podcasting to a couple hundred thousand people or making lunch for my kids. 

The joy comes in doing His work; the work He’s called us to do.

What Practical Things Does Jenna Suggest?

Stef: What if someone’s sitting where you sat; feeling emptiness, not experiencing joy? What are some tactical things they can start?

Jenna: If you are in that season, I know God feels far away. It feels like there’s emptiness all around. But He is near; keep seeking Him. Pursuing Jesus doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be simple, “God, I need You. Show me You today. I’m desperate for You.” Then have eyes to see when He shows you.

Practically: Do the things you don’t want to do.  I talk about self-care; not in a frilly way, but truly taking care of yourself. Shower. Change your clothes. I always say, “Dress like you’re here on purpose.”

Live your life on a joy hunt. Jesus is the joy we’re seeking. When we ask God to give us eyes to see Him, His goodness, faithfulness, and His hand in our lives, we will find it. We will begin to see things with a new perspective. 

Our lives start to feel different. Our circumstances might not change, but the way we see things will. Joy is not dependent on our circumstances. Joy is what we get to experience inside through the Holy Spirit.

The Bible says, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” It’s what carries us. It’s what Jesus did on the cross. The promise of eternity with Him is joy. When we live with that at the forefront of our minds and we live in the hunt for the beauty Jesus has available for us, His mercies are still new every morning. Jesus is still Jesus. 

I’ve seen this in my life and in those women in my community. Just try. Try going on a joy hunt and see if your perspective doesn’t change.

Where Can You Find Jenna Griffith?

Stef: That was so powerful! Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing your story with us. I know so many people can relate. They can find value and gold in the wisdom you shared.

Jenna, where can everyone come and hang with you?

Jenna: My podcast is the Joy Filled Podcast. If you’re a mama, or if you’re not a mam, there’s a seat for you. I’m on Instagram @JennaGriffithCo

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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