Fighting For Joy

Jodi Blick
  • 5.0 (77)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED SEMIMONTHLY

Life in this broken world is hard, but there is joy and hope to be found.

  1. 12/22/2025

    Episode 105: The Joy Report: December

    I share some pretty heavy stories on the Fighting for Joy Podcast, so once a month I thought it would be fun to add a lighter episode where I give a quick "report" about a few of the things that are bringing me joy in my daily life. Here's my December "Joy Report"!! Digital Frame: https://amzn.to/3Y9OSUR My LTK Page: https://www.shopltk.com/explore/Jodiblick?tab=posts *The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Better Help, an online counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Christian counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

    17 min

  2. 12/15/2025

    Episode 104: Marriage Q & A

    I have another encore episode for you today and I recorded a brand new intro, sharing some of my current thoughts as I relistened to our conversation. This Q & A was the 3rd part of a 3-part series that Eric and I did together in 2021. I decided to use Part 3 (which was episode 39) as the encore episode because its a great summary of what we covered as a whole on this topic. So as you listen today, you’ll hear us talk about things like conflict, communication, friendship in marriage, principle vs. preference, how we change as individuals over decades of marriage, and how grief has affected our relationship. One of the biggest take aways that I heard as I re-listened, is that while there IS so much joy to be found in marriage and family, our joy can’t be rooted and ultimately dependent on it. Our deepest satisfaction, hope, and joy needs to be grounded in something bigger. In someONE bigger - in God and in our relationship with Him...this is the key to a lasting, thriving, godly marriage! I’m excited for you to relisten (or maybe listen for the first time!) and I hope there is something in our conversation that brings you encouragement today and helps your own fight for joy in marriage! Marriage by Paul David Tripp: https://amzn.to/4aNZ4K0 The Meaning of Marriage: https://amzn.to/48XuSK1 The Meaning of Marriage Devotional: https://amzn.to/3L2uWjH *The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Better Help, an online counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Christian counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

    1h 10m

  3. 11/18/2025

    Episode 103: The Joy Report: November

    Well, surprise! I wasn't planning to release an episode with ALL new content until after the holidays, but last week I had an idea to start a monthly "Joy Report"...sharing some of the things that are bringing me joy right now! I share some pretty heavy stories on this podcast so I thought it would be fun to add a shorter, lighter episode once a month. Today, on my first "Joy Report", you'll hear me share a list of 5 things that are bringing me joy here in November! A few links from the episode: OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder - https://amzn.to/43D92tz Ninja Hot and Cold Brewed System - https://amzn.to/4r5QImT My ESV Journaling Bible - https://amzn.to/4oVBD5R *The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Better Help, an online counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Christian counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

    23 min

  4. 11/03/2025

    Episode 102: Facing the Untimely Death of your Mom (Encore Episode with Cathy Brown)

    On this encore episode with my dear friend of 36 years, Cathy Brown, you’ll get a glimpse into the difficulty of losing your mom too soon. Shortly after graduating from college, Cathy was at work waitressing when she got the awful news that her mom had died while traveling home from Paris. Cathy was my very first guest on the podcast and I’ve pointed quite a few people to this episode over the years as they’ve shared their own stories of losing their moms too soon. I’ve heard over and over how helpful Cathy’s insight and encouragement is around fighting for joy not just in this particular kind of grief, but grief in general. Cathy shares good insight about the "both/and" of healing and grieving - how healing doesn’t mean that you won’t still have pain...and how pain doesn't mean you aren't healing. You'll appreciate her encouragement around experiencing healing, progress, and joy, even with a hurting heart. We also spend some time reflecting on how grief changes and affects so many different aspects of your life, including faith and relationships. Since we recorded this episode 7 years ago, Cathy has become a Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist, trained in EMDR Therapy, and sees clients as a Licensed Professional Counselor (I need to have her on again!). If you are struggling with the aftereffects of losing a loved one, especially if it was an untimely death, I encourage you to listen to Cathy's story of losing her mom and beginning her fight for joy. *The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Better Help, an online counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Christian counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

    42 min

  5. 10/06/2025

    Episode 101: Friendship in Grief (Encore Episode with New Intro)

    On this encore episode, you’ll hear a conversation that I recorded with my friend Leanne Ballinger almost 7 years ago! Listening to us share, still early in our grief, I can hear the tears remaining right at the surface for both of us throughout our conversation. Its a little hard for me to go back to where we were then, but at the same time, I’m just so in awe of all that God was already doing - and so proud of those versions of us! Brave Leanne and Brave Jodi trying our best to keep running towards God, not from Him. Trying our best to be grateful. Looking for God’s goodness in it all. Wanting to share in hopes of helping someone else. And working so hard to care for our living children and our hurting husbands, all while trying to figure out how to press forward in hope ourselves. And learning how to fight for joy! In this episode you’ll hear us talk about Christian counseling, intentional gratitude, grieving differently than our spouse, the difference between internal and external processing, the downward spiral of comparison, and how to deal with real feelings of disappointment with God - knowing he is able to heal, but doesn’t. Eric and I met Leanne and her husband Mike at a grief retreat. Their son Drew passed away the same summer that our son Jackson did. Their sweet Drew had some complications and was given a 25% chance of survival after birth, and after enduring 7 and 1/2 months of traumatic ups and downs, he went to be with the Lord. Our stories are different and our sons died at different ages and through different circumstances, but God gave us such a strong connection from the start. It has been such a help to have a kindred spirit to walk through grief with. For almost 12 years now we have walked with each other through death days, birthdays, and special days that our boys should’ve been a part of. We've also celebrated the times that life felt brighter - helping each other accept happiness again, and clinging to hope as sisters in Christ. As we chatted this week about the episode and putting it out there for you again, one of the comments we both made had to do with the TREASURE our friendship has been in grief…and the absolute blessing that finding some sort of grief community, some other grieving friends, can be when you have had to bury a loved one. That's why I decided to rename this episode "Friendship in Grief". Maybe you aren’t grieving the loss of a loved one but have other struggles and burdens. We hope that our friendship gives you inspiration to keep working to make meaningful connections yourself - we need each other!! It’s so tempting to pull inward and put up walls up when we are hurting! But letting people in, reaching out to others, and walking together through the dark days will help your progress! It will build your hope. And it will help your fight for joy! Here are some links for a few of the grief resources we mentioned: What Grieving People Wish You Knew by Nancy Guthrie https://amzn.to/46BG8vJ Suffering: Gospel Hope when Life Doesn't Make Sense by Paul Tripp https://amzn.to/4gSJNbQ Holding on to Hope: A Pathway through Suffering to the Heart of God by Nancy Guthrie https://amzn.to/3IyKbQl I Will Carry You: The Sacred Dance of Grief and Joy by Angie Smith https://amzn.to/4mScqYm Shattered Dreams: God's Unexpected Path to Joy by Larry Crabb https://amzn.to/47bVYNO *The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Better Help, an online counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

    51 min

  6. 09/22/2025

    Episode 100: Can Laughter Return in Grief? (Encore Episode with New Intro)

    I believed from the start of our grief journey that our faith would allow us to fight for joy in the midst of our sorrow. But happiness? Laughter? It sure didn't seem possible, or even appropriate, for a long time. But today we share a little bit about how laughter HAS returned, even though our grief continues. And, because of all of the tears and darker days, our laughter feels especially sweet now. Richer. More meaningful. More hope-filled. If you are in the midst of difficult circumstances and feel like genuine laughter is unattainable, we understand - and we want this episode to bring you hope. We have a big God who restores, helps, heals, comforts, and redeems. Wait upon Him. In the meantime, let the tears flow. Keep pressing forward. Take one day at a time. Work to fight bitterness and despondency. And keep fighting for joy, asking God to eventually bring some laughter along with it. *The Fighting for Joy Podcast is sponsored by Better Help, an online counseling service that pairs you with a professional licensed therapist who will combine Biblical wisdom with their clinical expertise in mental health to help you address your unique situation. As a Fighting for Joy listener, you can receive 10% off at: betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Quality counseling is a worthy investment and can be such a powerful tool in the fight for joy!

    40 min

  7. 09/13/2025

    Episode 99: Season 8 Kick Off and Update

    I'm so excited to be back for Season 8! Listen in for a quick update and what you can expect to hear on the podcast this fall. Have you tried Better Help yet? Don't forget that as a Fighting for Joy listener you can receive 10% off of your first month of counseling. Check out my Fighting for Joy link at betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Counseling can be such a huge help in this broken world and a major tool in the fight for joy.

    10 min

  8. 06/23/2025

    Episode 98: Fighting for Joy 12 Years into Grief - Some Personal Reflections

    A couple of weeks ago we hit the 12 year mark in our grief. 12 years without Jackson. Without Tyler and Trey. 12 years since we got “the phone call” and so many lives were forever changed. 12 years on this painful journey. And, it still hurts. It’s still hard. Sometimes I think, “of course our hearts still hurt”, and other times I’m completely surprised by it. As I’ve said before, these set apart dates on the calendar that bring our heartache and grief right back up to the surface, and mark the passing of time without our son, are daunting - the lead up to the day, fumbling through the actual day, and then the weariness of soul in the days and weeks to follow…it’s all just plain exhausting, even now in the second decade of our loss. In light of this, and as a way to bring Season 7 of the podcast to an official close, I wanted to come on and share a little bit from my heart - a grief update, of sorts. Proof of life. Testimony of God’s continued care and healing. Things we continue to learn. And more insight into what is helpful during these tougher times of the year. I’m so glad you found this episode. Thank you for taking the time to listen. In many ways, it’s like we are sitting down for coffee today. Or out on a walk…and you ask, “What’s your grief been like lately?” An unscripted hour of hearing me share about what my personal fight for joy feels like now in hopes of encouraging you to keep pressing forward in your own journey, or to continue walking with your grieving friends. Also, don't forget that as a Fighting for Joy listener you can receive 10% off of your first month of counseling services from BetterHelp, my podcast sponsor. Check out my link at betterhelp.com/fightingforjoy. Counseling can be such a huge help in this broken world and a major tool in the fight for joy.

    1h 7m
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5
out of 5
77 Ratings

About

Life in this broken world is hard, but there is joy and hope to be found.

Information

  • Creator
    Jodi Blick
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    106
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Jodi Blick
  • Show Website
    Fighting For Joy

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