Why Do I Blog?

For all my new readers, I wanted to share the reason why I blog. My name is Joy Skarka and I am the founder of Joy Skarka Ministries. I grew up in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, a town slightly east of Pittsburgh. In 2011, I moved to Tampa, Florida to attend the University of South Florida. My story is one of failure and redemption.

Growing up, I had great friends and parents who loved me, but I felt there had to be something more. I thought the approval of friends would make me feel whole, but this left me searching. I thought having a boyfriend would complete me, but that love was not enough. Finally, I thought religion would satisfy me. I went to church and tried to be a good perfect person, but I still felt empty. I was doing it all wrong. Nothing satisfied me.

I entered college still looking for fulfillment. My third day of college, I was date raped and my world hit rock bottom. Lost, broken, depressed, and full of shame, I cried out to God, “Why me?” Most nights I curled up in a ball and cried, angry at God, angry at myself, and hoping the pain would go away. God saw the situation differently. He continued pursuing me. God knew he would use this situation for good, even though I could only see the bad.

Jesus never gave up on me. He used my broken heart to turn me to him so that he could repair it. God brought me to the point of utter dependency. I was a freshman in college, in a different state, without close friends, and God used all of this to get me to reach out to him. I needed healing and answers, so I decided to give Jesus another chance. My lonely nights were replaced by spending time reading my Bible. Slowly, I began to see a different side of God. My whole life I went to church, but I lacked the heart of Christianity, a personal relationship with Jesus. I believed in God, but I did not know he wanted to know me. I did not know his love could satisfy me. Growing up, I saw God as a judge of right and wrong, but now I started to see him as my lover, protector, healer, redeemer, and king. I was not living a fulfilled and satisfied life because I was looking for love in all the wrong places instead of looking to Jesus.

Before college, everything was about me and my desires. I was the king in charge of my life. Realizing that nothing on this planet completely satisfied me, I made the decision to surrender my life to Jesus and make him king during my freshman year of college. This decision was huge because it meant I no longer lived for myself and my desires. I now was following God’s plan for my life. Now, I no longer only give God my Sunday mornings; I give him my whole life.

After experiencing the life-changing love that Jesus gives, I knew I wanted to spend my life sharing this with other women. In September 2013, I started a blog for my honors senior thesis project. My goal was to market and brand myself as a Christian blogger, writer, and speaker. The project became more than an assignment; it became my passion. Through my ministry, I am helping young women find fulfillment in Jesus. All of my blog posts are written for an audience of young women, but I have readers of all ages.

Why do I blog? I blog for you, my readers. I blog for the girl who feels alone in her struggle, for the college freshman who lacks hope, and for the ministry leader who needs guidance. I blog for the women who know they need Jesus and the women who don’t know Jesus is the answer.

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