Jodi Cowles - Then Came Joy

Jodi Cowles has lived more than half her adult life outside her homeland, working across seven countries and three continents as an author, publisher and entrepreneur. In this episode of Bleeding Daylight, she talks candidly about growing up with what she calls a "flannel graph" version of Jesus, a one-dimensional God who couldn't hold up against grief, doubt and real life questions. Jodi shares how the death of her young brother, a crisis of faith at Bible college and a furious, typewritten confession to God eventually led her to a far bigger and more trustworthy understanding of who He is.

Jodi also opens up about the years she spent working across the world, the cross-cultural insights that reshaped how she reads Scripture, and the gruelling four-year process of adopting her daughter in Istanbul, including a literal sprint through the airport as their visa came down to the wire. She reflects on the vulnerability of putting her story into print in her memoir, Then Came Joy, and on the gratitude and grief she's learned to hold together through recent family health scares. It's a rich, honest conversation about faith that's been tested and found good.

Jodi Cowles' Website