The Support I Needed Between Sundays: Joy’s Story
When Joy first downloaded The Encounter app, she did what so many parents do—she shared it with her sisters.
“We all live close. We all have kids the same age. We all downloaded the app. My sister would take a walk and listen to the daily prayers—morning prayers—before any other podcast or audiobook. We all thought, ‘This is wonderful.’ We shared it with our kids, and we shared it with our friends.”
So when the “Orthodox Christian Parenting” podcast launched, Joy was immediately drawn in.
“When the podcast came out, we got to hear these unbelievably wise guests passing along some really good info. And the tone was so warm and relatable.”
Joy and her sisters regularly talked about what they were learning, often sharing insights from episodes with each other. But one moment, the day before Thanksgiving, stood out to her in a meaningful way.
“I think this was meant for me right at this moment.”
Joy was running errands—rushing, planning, trying to make her full to-do list fit into the few hours she had.
“It was a very busy day, and I was trying to make sure I was as efficient as possible. I’d planned it out, and if everything went according to plan, I was going to be in good shape.”
But at her very first stop, the plan fell apart.
“I pull up to my destination, and my keychain doesn’t have the right key on it. I’m fiddling, trying all my keys, getting so frustrated. My plan was perfect, and now this first stop is totally going to throw me off.”
She got back in her car. The podcast episode with Bishop Anthony resumed after a commercial break.
“He comes back on and says, in his soft, gentle way: ‘Isn’t it funny how you can plan all you want, and it’s not going to go the way you thought it would? And what do you do in those moments when life’s frustrations get in the way?’”
She stopped.
“I said to myself, ‘Well, I think this was meant for me right at this moment.’ I had been about to totally spin out, and just at the right time—to have those words spoken in my ear—was very reassuring. I’m grateful this good work is being done, these messages are being shared, and that someone like me got to hear them at just the right time.
And for Joy, that wasn’t the only time the podcast met her in the middle of real life.
“Sometimes I’m folding laundry with the phone next to me. Sometimes I’m driving in the car. It could be anytime. And to be able to hear from people who really understand, right in the middle of my day . . . it’s such a gift.”
“It keeps taking me back to who I am and what really matters.”
Joy listens to a lot of podcasts, from Mel Robbins to Brené Brown, but she says Faithtree’s podcast is unique.
“What I love about this program is that the focus is so much on our inner lives. Every time I’m looking for wisdom on how to be a better parent or how to make sure my kids feel loved and secure, the message keeps going back to: How are you modeling kindness and patience and humility and love? And what do you need as a parent to connect with your spirituality and the kingdom of God inside you?”
“It takes the pressure off. Instead of focusing on what’s outward, it reminds me to look inward. By doing that, we give our kids a gift—an example to follow.”
After many episodes, she walks away with the same feeling:
“I leave with the feeling that everything's going to be okay. It reminds me not to let the world come at me.”
Reaching parents far beyond the Orthodox world
Joy shared a clip from an episode with George Papageorge on her Instagram story thinking her Orthodox friends would be the most likely to respond.
But something unexpected happened.
“A woman from the neighborhood sent me a message and said, ‘I’m so glad you shared that. I really enjoyed listening to it.’ And then I was at a school function a couple days later, and another mom came up to me and said, ‘So-and-so shared that podcast with me. I loved it so much.’”
“These are women who have never been to an Orthodox church, and they still loved it.”
“It helps us between Sundays.”
For Joy, the podcast has become something that supports her throughout the week.
“An hour and a half on Sunday mornings fills us so much, but then there’s a lot coming at us all week. To be able to hear from people who have studied, who have lived the Faith, who can share with us ways to make life a little more manageable—it’s such a gift.”
She especially values the spiritual framing woven into every episode.
“So many podcasts I listen to are secular, and they don’t remind us about things like morning prayers. To hear a podcast that speaks in the same language we speak with our church friends is very refreshing. It makes me a little less shy to speak that way in normal life.”
“I appreciate that Michelle is guiding it. Every show I listen to, I feel like I leave without superficial chatter. I leave with joy.”
“I’m so grateful there is a focus on Orthodox families.”
As we closed the conversation, Joy shared one final reflection:
“I am so grateful there is a focus on Orthodox Christian families, and that Faithtree is guiding us through some of the big questions and the unknowns. Through Faithtree—through the prayers, the app, the podcast—we’re reminded that God is with us always, and that we’re not alone.
Help Make More Stories Like Joy’s Possible
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