Trail Marker #1: Starting the Walk Towards Restoration

Welcome to Embrace Joy - Walking the Road to Restoration

My name is Joy LoPiccolo. I am a life coach, teacher, lay counselor, speaker, and daughter of the Mighty King. You are the reason that this podcast has come to be. You see no one should live a life of fear; held back by failures and frustrations. You deserve to walk in Freedom. Every time I meet someone like you, who has been hurt, it is my passion to guide you to find the truth that God loves you so much and he restores the brokenhearted. He gives Beauty for Ashes. If you look at Jeremiah 30:17 He states very clearly, “I will restore your health and heal your wounds.” He doesn't just do that physically but mentally and spiritually.

I have received freedom over the years. I have watched God give me Beauty for Ashes. Just as Joseph said to his brothers: what Satan meant for evil - God will make for good. No matter the trauma that I have experienced I have watched that restoration over and over again. As a young child, I spent a year dealing with sexual abuse from a man who lived in the attic of our home. Later when I was 16 unfortunately I was raped. I started to feel worthless. I started to feel dirty, feeling shame wondering if God really loved me. I asked the question of where God was when all of this was happening to me. I pulled back from God. I pulled back from others. I certainly did not trust authority. In my early twenties, I finally asked God to show me who he was and show me who I was. I joined a support group, of course I didn't know it was a support group I thought it was just a Bible study. In that support group I met so many women who had experienced similar trauma as myself. One of the ladies that I met was in her 80’s. She had never talked about the trauma she had experienced as a child. It was so evident that her health had been affected. You could see the lines of bitterness on her face which revealed really the deep scars that she had on the inside. I sat there listening to her share her story with tears running down my face. I asked the Lord to use my trauma to help women never have to live in that type of bondage.

As I went through the counseling journey, I wondered how God was going to use me. I spoke those words that I wanted him to use me but then I kind of thought maybe I shouldn't have said that to him. Over the years God made it very clear that he was going to use my trauma as part of my testimony. At times I thought maybe I would be the next Beth Moore or Joyce Meyer speaking around the country. Instead God was bringing me women one-on-one and I watched their lives transform. He definitely uses you where you're, with what you have, at the exact right time and it doesn't look at all like the expectations that you think. Over and over individuals told me that I should share my testimony through writing a book or maybe a blog to reach even more women. Oh, my friend, I tried to run away from those words because you see I didn't think I was good enough or was healed enough. God continued to reveal to me the words of other people, through sermons, and through scripture that this is what he wanted me to do. It was kind of like Moses in Exodus where God tells him very clearly what his purpose is supposed to be. He was to lead the people out of slavery. Moses says God I don't have the words to say. I can't be that person that you want me to be. God clearly responds. “I am with you.” Sure enough God gave Moses the words to say and I am praying that God will give me the words to say through this podcast.

You know that sexual abuse and sexual assault was not the only trauma I experienced. In 1995, my dear brother died suddenly in a drowning accident at the age of 27. I was also dealing with a rare genetic disorder that I had been born with and it was progressing to the point where it scared me. Many people with this disease don't live past five years old and here I was already in my late 20s. It was in 2004, I was in the midst of extreme physical pain. I was enduring mental anguish when the medical community could not help me. On top of that, I was enduring an emotionally abusive marriage. You see my husband at the time never physically abused me but his words, breaking things in the house, and punching holes in the walls I was walking on eggshells. It made my physical health even more extreme and I really wanted God to take me home. Oh, I asked him daily if he would remove the pain; not only my physical pain but mentally and spiritually. In that year, he spoke very clearly the word restoration. He spoke very clearly that he had a joy filled life for me. I certainly did not want to have the name Joy because I did not know what a joy filled life really was. Praise God his healing balm touched every area of my life. Now let me tell you listener, please understand that I am still walking this road to restoration. I am by no means perfect and neither will this podcast be perfect especially since I've never done this before. I will tell you that there is Joy available to you; we just have to choose to embrace it.

The word restored is the reason for the name of this podcast. We are walking that road to restoration. Now sometimes that road has boulders on it. It is rocky. You have to go straight up hill. Sometimes you fall but I'll tell you that this hike to the top of the mountain is worth it. We just have to take one step at a time and God is going to be there with us. I have seen it happen year after year, minute by minute. Yes I have faced other traumas. There has been betrayal. There has been the loss of jobs. Unfortunately my second marriage was also emotionally abusive, full of gaslighting. I am to share with you my trauma in hopes that it will be used for your transformation. My prayer is that the words you hear will truly reveal God's amazing power and love.

We will be talking about everything from boundaries, your identity in Christ, inner healing, forgiveness, how you can live out the purpose God has for you. We are going to talk a great deal about replacing the lies with truth so that you can step into freedom. Other women will be joining me at times to share with you their journey to restoration and how they are living a life of victory. If you would like to walk this road to restoration with me and find the joy that God promises for you, subscribe to this podcast and share it with others you know who are also looking for freedom.

To learn more about receiving one on one coaching follow the link in the description or you can follow me on Instagram @joy.embracejoycoaching. As your Trail Guide, we are on a journey that will bring you truly to freedom.