Archive of ‘Your Story’ category

How to Stay Married for 50 Years

How to Stay Married for 50 Years

 Unsurprisingly, many marriages end in divorce. When we hear about a couple that has been married for fifty years, we are shocked. What if this changed? What if divorce surprised us? What if being married fifty years was the norm?

Meet Dale and Carol. Dale and Carol recently celebrated fifty years of marriage. Send them some congratulations in the comments below! (more…)

Married and Experiencing Pain During Sexual Intercourse?

Having Painful Sex Emotional healing from naïve expectations

Experiencing sexual pain during intercourse? You are not alone.  Nearly three out of four women have pain during intercourse at some time during their lives. For some women, the pain lasts only for a time; for twenty to fifty percent of these women, the pain remains over time.

My story includes sexual pain. I share my story FIRST to give women the gift of going SECOND. I share my story to bring women FREEDOM.

Check out my new article on Fathom Mag, “Having Painful Sex: Emotional healing from naïve expectations.”

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When God Uses Broken People

When God uses broken people Is there hope that God will use broken people for his glory? Matthew West believes God uses broken people. Do you? Do you believe God will use you and your brokenness for His glory?

What does it mean to bring God glory? When God uses your brokenness, other people will see God through your life story and you get to give God the credit for your life change. Would I have ever been able to find freedom from sexual abuse without God? No. Would I have found freedom from sexual addiction? No. This freedom is from God. My story of freedom only exists because of God’s work in my life. When I share my brokenness, when I share my story with others, God gets the glory. God gets the credit. He is the one that did the good work in me. (more…)

Joy & Zack’s Love Story

Our Wedding Love Story If you’ve wondered where I’ve been these last few months, I was planning a wedding and marrying this godly man! Now, I’m trying to figure out how to manage work, blogging, seminary, friends and family. My heart continues to desire for women to find freedom in Christ, thus the blog will continue.

My dear blogging friends, I wanted to share with you two videos. The first video is our personal testimonies and our love story and the second is from our wedding. Enjoy!

Thank you for all your support in this journey. God gets all the glory. I will continue writing for Him and for you, my readers.

Love,  JoyPedrow.com Do you want to know God personally_

To the Girl Addicted to Porn — A Man’s Perspective

To the girl addicted to porn - a man's perspective

Meet Sam: Sam Eaton writes at RecklesslyAlive.com and is a monthly contributor of JP Ministries. Sam’s heart for Jesus is contagious. He’s a music teacher by day, and a youth ministry and worship musician by night. You can friend him on twitter @aliverecklessly. Enjoy today’s guest post! (more…)

Will God use my story in a powerful way?

Our stories are powerful _ JoyPedrow.com

Do you believe that your story is powerful?

Maybe you were saved at a young age and you fear your story isn’t as powerful as others. Or maybe just like me, you struggle believing that God could use your broken past for his good. I want to share with you that no matter your story, it’s powerful.

My story began in college when Christ softened my heart through a horrible experience. God had been pursuing me all my life, but it wasn’t until college that I finally realized my need for a Savior.

During my freshman year of college, on day three, I was date raped. I became depressed, I lived in shame, and I hated my life. But God pursued me. God used rape to bring me to my knees and allow me to see my need for a Savior. That year I was beginning to experience a love that I had never felt. My freshman year of college I became a follower of Christ, but it would take years for me to start sharing my story with other women.

At the end of this post, I will share with you one example of how God used my story in a powerful way. For now, I want to dive into a passage that talks about how our stories are powerful. (more…)

Dating Is Not Fully Satisfying

Dating is not fully satisfying. Yes, dating is amazing and fun. Yes I love it. But it’s not fully satisfying. We can’t live life hoping to find our satisfaction in our relationship status.

You’re single – you want to be dating. You’re dating – you want to be married. You’re married – you want kids. You have kids – you want more free time. You have free time – you want more to do.

Do you get what I’m saying?

I’ve met countless women in all stages of relationships and none have told me that the status she is in has left her fully satisfied. I have a married friend who has struggled with infertility. She tells me she often cries out to God in pain. Her husband tries to be there for her and comfort her, but she said his comfort is never enough. (more…)

Singleness: When Patience Seems Impossible

Singleness: Lacking Patience “What if I lack patience and want a guy now?” asked a reader. Girl, I understand. I’m impatient. I don’t like waiting. I’m a planner and I have a beautiful plan for how I want my life to go. In my mind, this plan is perfect. We have to remember, our plans may not be God’s plans. We cannot let our marital status dominate our thinking and focus.

When our lives aren’t going according to our plans – we ask God, “Why won’t you do things our way for a change?” I thought I would find my husband in college and get married after graduation. God’s plans did not align with my plans. We expect God to love our plan even when we reject his. Have you rejected God’s plan and decided that your plan is better? (more…)

A Letter To Any Woman Who Has Been Sexually Assaulted – A Man’s Perspective

As a woman who has been sexually abused, I’m thankful for men like Sam Eaton. Men that proclaim the message that we are not forgotten, not damaged and loved more than we can comprehend.

If this post touched your heart, make sure to send him a Tweet or Facebook message and thank him for his guest post. JP Ministries loves you Sam!

Love, Joy


I was a painfully stupid 19 year-old.

I was insecure and made a lot of stupid jokes. It was a cold Iowa winter’s night, the type of night where normal people hibernate indoors. Not us. We were young and invincible as we made our way back from the sketchiest of bars. All you could see in the 2am sky was the cloud of smoke rising from the warm breath of our huddled, slightly intoxicated pack.

The group went their separate ways as I hung in the hallway with a girl I was proud to call my friend. As we stood chatting, somehow as a drunk guy and girl passed us in the hallway, an inexcusable joke escaped from my lips; a joke about rape. (more…)

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