Step Out And Thrive with Bethany B. Joy

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:

1. 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.
2. When we're stuck inside our own storm, it's easy to stop really seeing the people around us.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.com

Dare 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 TAKEAWAYS

• E is for Every Day — through Him, receiving impossible victories every single day
• We miss God moving because we're expecting the grand and missing the ordinary
• Thriving is doing less and receiving more — that's how we feel fully alive
• Community helps us see the victories we overlook in ourselves
• This 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/@bethanybjoy

Step 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 TAKEAWAYS

• Victory isn't the final win — it's every step that leads to the championship
• The small victories you overlook are the ones God wants you to stop and celebrate
• You can only celebrate what you're willing to receive — the letters keep building on each other
• Learning to notice victories in yourself and others is a practice, not a personality trait
• You 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/@bethanybjoy

Step 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 TAKEAWAYS

• Our world demands things add up — but God specializes in what doesn't
• We've often settled for a God who just is instead of the God who does the impossible
• Philippians 4:13 is about His strength working through us — not our own effort
• When we release control, we make room for God to do what only He can do
• The 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/@bethanybjoy

Step 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 TAKEAWAYS

• Thriving is about receiving more and doing less — not pushing harder
• Those who pour out the most are often the worst at receiving — and that's not a coincidence
• There's a profound difference between taking and receiving — one grabs, one surrenders
• To receive, you have to open your hand and release control
• Becoming 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/@bethanybjoy

Step 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 the one you've been looking for has been with you all along?

Last week we unpacked T — the choice to go through the storm instead of around it. But through is so much harder when you feel completely alone. This week we're talking about H.

H is for HIM.

I share one of the most personal stories in my book — the day my doctors told me I would likely keep losing my vision and my hearing, possibly everything. I was standing outside an orthodontist office while my son was inside getting his braces off, completely falling apart on the inside. Then I literally tripped. My knee hit the concrete. And when I looked up there was a rainbow stretched wide across the sky in front of me.

That was God. That was Him showing up in the most ordinary, unexpected, painful moment of my life.

Freedom isn't the absence of something. It's the presence of Someone. And whether you can feel it right now or not — He sees you. He knows you. And He wants to walk through every storm with you.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS

• H is for Him — you were never meant to go through alone
• Freedom is not the absence of something — it's the presence of Someone
• God shows up in the most unexpected moments — even when we're falling apart on a sidewalk
• El Roi means "the God who sees me" — He sees you right now, exactly where you are
• Your identity isn't in what you do — it's in who God created you to be

📣 YOUR NEXT STEPS

📖 Grab Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1

💬 Join the FREE community & share who God is to you → 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/@bethanybjoy

Step 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 the storm you've been avoiding is actually the path God is calling you through?

In this first episode of Unlocking the THRIVE Code, Bethany B. Joy opens up the pages of her brand-new book — Step Out & Thrive: Finding God in the Everyday When Nothing Makes Sense — and starts where every great journey begins: with a choice.

T is for THROUGH.

Bethany shares the story of John, a gifted counselor who hit a wall, walked away from his calling, and found himself handing out fries at McDonald's. Sound familiar? Maybe the details are different, but the feeling isn't. The feeling of "I just can't do this anymore." The feeling of wanting to go around instead of through.

But here's what God keeps showing us: through is the only way. Not around. Not under. Not by pretending it isn't there. Through.

And the good news? You were never meant to go through alone.

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Avoidance feels like relief — but it's just a detour that leads you back to the same storm
• Going through doesn't always mean dry feet — faith means stepping in before you know the outcome
• You can only pour out what you've been poured into — community isn't optional, it's essential
• God shows up in the hard places, not just on the other side of them
• Your through story matters — and someone needs to hear it

📣 YOUR NEXT STEPS

📖 Grab Step Out & Thrive on Amazon → https://a.co/d/0bEoBuU1

💬 Join the FREE community & share your THROUGH moment → 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/@bethanybjoy

Step Out & Thrive is for faith-driven helpers, healers, and dreamers who are ready to find God in the everyday — even when nothing makes sense

Curious Questions – Episode 8 (Finale): Where Will You Be in Five Years?

What if nothing changed? Where would you be in five years? And what if you finally gave yourself permission to leap?

This is the finale of the Curious Questions series, and we’re ending with a powerful future-focused question:

“If this stayed the same… where would I be in five years?”

Sometimes we get so stuck in the present moment that we forget to zoom out. We wrestle with hard decisions, delay bold moves, or cling to security — but what would your life look like five years from now if nothing changed?

In this episode, Bethany B. Joy shares the moment a coach asked her that very question when she was deciding whether to step into full-time coaching. That question changed everything.

This episode will help you:

• Gain perspective on current struggles
• Make decisions with long-term clarity
• Move from hesitation to courageous action
• Give yourself permission to dream again

Take one area of your life — a decision, a habit, a calling — and ask:

If nothing changes, where will I be in five years?

Then ask:

If I made the leap today, what could be possible?

You don’t have to process these big decisions alone.

👉 community.stepoutandthrive.com
👉 https://stepoutandthrive.com
👉 https://bethanyjoy.com

Dare to do more than just survive.
Step out and thrive.

Curious Questions – Episode 7: If You Trusted Yourself, What Would Change?

We often ask, “Do you trust them?” But today’s question turns inward. What if the real breakthrough begins when you trust yourself?

In Episode 7 of the Curious Questions series, Bethany B. Joy invites you into a deeply personal and transformative question:

“If you trusted yourself, what would change?”

So many of us keep collecting certifications, seeking validation, or waiting for one more green light before we move forward. But what if the hesitation isn’t about readiness… it’s about trust?

Bethany shares a powerful moment when a friend gently asked her this question while she was considering yet another certification. That question exposed something deeper — not a lack of training, but a lack of trust in herself.

This episode will help you:

• Recognize when you’re over-preparing instead of stepping forward
• Notice where fear is disguising itself as “responsibility”
• Identify when you’re trying to earn space instead of take it
• Move forward in faith and confidence instead of perfectionism

In one area where you feel stuck or hesitant, pause and ask yourself:

If I truly trusted myself right now, what would I do differently?

And then notice what rises up.

If you want a place where you are believed in, encouraged, and supported as you step forward:

👉 community.stepoutandthrive.com
👉 https://stepoutandthrive.com
👉 https://bethanyjoy.com

As always, dare to do more than just survive.
Trust yourself… and Step Out & Thrive.

Curious Questions – Episode 6: What Would Love Do?

It sounds simple. It sounds spiritual. But it’s far more powerful than you think. Today’s curious question invites you to respond—not react.

In Episode 6 of the Curious Questions series, Bethany B. Joy explores one simple yet transformative question:

“What would love do?”

Not what would keep the peace.
Not what would make this go away.
Not what would protect my pride.

But what would love do here?

Through two powerful stories—one with Bob Goff (author of Love Does) and another in a Walmart aisle with a spilled container of potato salad—Bethany shows how love often looks different than control, correction, or conflict avoidance.

Love doesn’t always avoid discomfort.
Love sometimes steps into awkward moments.
Love invites dignity, joy, and shared responsibility.

• Why “What would love do?” is deeper than “What would Jesus do?”
• How love can invite courage instead of comfort
• Why love doesn’t always keep the peace—but honors integrity
• How love transforms parenting, leadership, and hard conversations
• The difference between reacting and responding

In one difficult moment this week—at work, at home, or inside your own thoughts—pause and ask:

What would love do here?

And then listen.

If you want a safe place to grow in emotional awareness, faith, and real connection:

👉 community.stepoutandthrive.com
👉 https://stepoutandthrive.com
👉 https://bethanyjoy.com

As always, dare to do more than just survive.
Ask what love would do… and Step Out & Thrive.