Then Came Joy: Adoption, Faith, and Finding Yourself Between Seven Countries /Jodi Cowles

What does it look like to spend more than half your adult life living in someone else's country, and still not feel lost?Jodi Cowles has called seven countries home. She spent eight years in Istanbul, navigating culture, collecting stories, and discovering that human connection speaks a language deeper than words. She became an entrepreneur, a publisher, a champion for independent authors, and the co-founder of Blue Hat Publishing and Well Told Studio.But the story that changed everything was not about publishing.It was not about business.And it was not about living abroad.It was about becoming a mother.Her memoir, Then Came Joy, tells the deeply personal story of adopting her daughter from Turkey, a journey marked by uncertainty, grief, faith, loss, and the kind of love that transforms everything it touches. It is a story about resilience. About identity. About raising a Third Culture Kid across cultures and borders. About leaving the simple, Sunday-school faith of childhood behind and finding something deeper, harder, and more honest on the other side of doubt.Jodi calls it leaving Flannelgraph Jesus behind.And what she found instead is extraordinary.In this episode of Beyond the Draft, Jodi opens up about what seven countries taught her about belonging and identity. About the grief that arrived before the joy, and why that matters. About what it means to raise a child who exists between worlds. About building a publishing company that gives independent authors a real chance. And about what joy actually means when you have earned it the hard way.This conversation is for every person who feels like life has taken them somewhere they never expected to be. Who is grieving, questioning, searching, or wondering if joy is still possible for them.Jodi Cowles just proved it is.🎙️ Host: Imma📚 Guest: Jodi Cowles — Memoirist/ Entrepreneur/ Co-Founder of Blue Hat Publishing & Well Told Studio📖 Then Came Joy — Available Now🌐 jodicowles.comBeyond the Draft/Where the real story begins after the writing is done.Your words have power. Your story matters. Keep writing.