The Weekly (Joy)Cap
Week of June 14th - June 28th (24') | Increasing Resilience in Apathetic & Hard Seasons, Microblogging, and Getting Your Strength Back
This is the (Joy)Cap where I share a weekly reflection or lesson and a roundup of links, recommendations, and everything that’s bringing me joy, inviting you to do the same. Think of this as a weekly coffee date with my close friends. ☕️💕🫶🏾 Join me on a weekly joy hunt and start receiving the (Joy)Cap by subscribing today! ✨
Happy Sunday, friends!
I hope everyone had a great week! I ended up getting sick at the tail end of last weekend, so I missed last week’s (Joy)Cap, but this week, I’m back with a recap of the last two weeks.
Has anyone else been feeling a little bit apathetic lately? 🙋🏾♀️
I had shared in a Note on here the other week, that lately, I’ve been relating with King Solomon more than I liked to admit.
Life, in its messiness and uncertainty, has left me a little depleted and these days have left me drained. You know that fatigue you get from making daily decisions, fighting daily battles, and just praying and hoping you will experience a win?
That’s where I am right now.
Life is life-ing, as it always does, but I’m grateful that even on the most exhausting of days, the Lord always gives me moments of peace and glimmers of joy and hope.
The other day, I was encouraged reading
’s words on cultivating resilience in difficult seasons:I don’t know about you, but when all is said and done, I’ve learned the truest, sturdiest resilience during the hard times. Yep, right in the midst of those fragile seasons that drain us dry and have us scraping bottom, seemingly forever.
When we least expect it, God is working behind the scenes building perseverance and resilience into our spiritual and emotional DNA for His glory and our benefit.
Yes, He can boost our limited energy and waning spirits as we add simple common sense practices into our daily routines. These choices can create space for His healing presence to be known. God offers comfort and hope as these daily rhythms bend and stretch us into wholeness, nudging us toward restoration and maturity and a broader view of our place in the world and His call on our lives.
Although I am drained, I know I’m not being left empty. As I shared in my Note the other day, I feel the restoration and maturity — the refining that the Lord is doing within me during this season.
I know this refining is building my resilience and redeeming my reactions and responses, bringing that wholeness and restoration into both difficult and mundane moments. It’s also creating opportunities for me to stretch my faith and pull my strength from a much more solid and sure Source.
While life is full of futilities, hardships, and questions, we don’t always have to debate them. I am learning that strength, joy, and resilience come when we stop fighting but surrender and enjoy life to our best ability.
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:11-12
What Brought Me Joy ✨
Jamaican food. My brother-in-law surprised my husband and me on Thursday and brought us plates from our favorite Jamaican restaurant. I have been craving that place for a few months, so it was the most perfect and timely gesture.
Sharing on Notes. If you’re not familiar with the Substack platform, Notes is Substack’s social media hub where you can share and connect with other readers and writers. While I don’t have the capacity to write full posts in this season, I’ve been enjoying using Notes as sort of a microblog to share and connect with others.
Instagram and other social media platforms aren’t what they used to be, and I love how Substack is bringing back true community, conversations, and connection.
Coffee and quiet. I was able to make it out of the house again for a few hours to go to my favorite coffee shop. The kids’ routine has been thrown off for the last few weeks, therefore naptime and bedtime have been a nightmare lately, leaving me to be on all day and a good chunk of the night 🫠. I needed this quiet reprieve.
Currently Reading 📚
I am in my summer reading bag right now. Over the past few weeks I’ve finished:
Summer Reading by Jenn McKinlay
The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
Beach Read by Emily Henry
A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Scarcity Brain by Michael Easter
I’m also slowly reading through Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Sacazzero, and I found this short and fun cozy mystery, Stars, Stripes, and Secrets by Kathleen Suzette, right in time for the Fourth. Let me know what you’ve been reading this month!
I’m always sharing my thoughts in real time on Fable and Instagram. For ratings and reviews, check out my Goodreads.
Currently Listening 🎧
I’ve been feeling really depleted all across the board, so when I was scrolling through Apple Podcasts and came across this episode, I knew it would be just what I needed to encourage and remind me of where and Who I need to look to for strength. In this episode, Dawnchere and her mother discuss the ups and downs of parenting and how to find strength, joy, and resilience as you raise your kids and set the atmosphere of your home. If you’ve been feeling like you need a reset or a little more strength, you will enjoy this episode.
Ya’ll know I stay collecting my book recommendations. I enjoyed the ones that Ashlee and Katie from
shared in their latest podcast episode.Fave Substack Read of the Week 💻
has done it again! Summer is probably my third least favorite season, and Kuleigh has managed to get me excited for it. This is such a fantastic all-inclusive guide with books for both you and the kiddos, summer recipes, bucket lists, and beach bags. I definitely feel inspired to make this summer a little more magical. ☀️
I would love to hear from you! What brought you joy this week? Share with us in the group chat, leave a comment, or send me a direct message!
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I always enjoy reading these posts Janelle. Hope you are feeling better and I hear you with the hard naptimes and bedtimes too. Glad you got time out for a coffee and a read too, those moments make a huge difference. I went to the hairdressers for the first time in a year on the weekend, I had a good hour reading my book while waiting for my colour to develop, gosh to read in like that was just lovely! Absolutely loved A Love Song for Ricki Wilde, did you enjoy it? Tia Williams can do no wrong in my eyes! X
Happy Sunday! Thanks so much for sharing my summer edit! I’m curious what kind of Jamaican food you had.