Dawn Damon: Hey, all you amazing, beautiful, brave hearts. So good to be with you again today. I hope you're smashing midlife. I mean in a good way, you're crushing it. You're reaching your goals and you're choosing joy and happiness every day.

Listen, I have a podcast episode today. That's going to bless you because I have a very special guest. She's a wife, a mother, and a grandmother. She is also a sought-after speaker, award-winning writer, and TV personality, but she speaks very candidly about life, laced with humility and raw honesty. And we love that here at The Bravehearted Woman. She's a passionate teacher of God's word. My guest today knows how to express herself. Experience God's strength as her joy, a lover of people, and strong coffee. Please welcome my guest, LaTan Roland Murphy.

La Tan Murphy: Hi, I am so happy to be here with you.

Dawn Damon: We are so glad that you are here with us today as well. Welcome to the Bravehearted Woman Podcast. Thank you for being here. So, by the way, congratulations because your book just came out. I want to talk about that today. It's called His Strength, Her Joy: Finding God-Powered Fulfillment. Listen, I've been reading. It's so good.

La Tan Murphy: Thank you. I'm honored you'd share it. I'm excited to share it.

Dawn Damon: So let's get into it just a little bit. What do you know about needing to find strength and joy? Certainly you and your life, people look at a speaker, an author, a writer, and they say, well, you don't know anything about the ups and downs of life.

La Tan Murphy: Right. I know a lot about the ups and downs of life lately. It's interesting because I was thinking back as a younger woman, And thinking how you cannot perceive how you're going to need strength and joy until the moments that matter the moments when you really need to draw from something that's bigger than yourself and something that is broader and more powerful than what you've ever perceived yourself to be. And I say that because I think sometimes as women That's kind of what we do is lean into our own strength and our own power and our own ability to stir up joy all around us. But it's not really joy we're stirring up. It's, it's a moment of happiness, but there's a big difference. Then when life crashes in, like in the case of me, where I've lost so many people that I love, especially 10 years, I've lost my best friend. My husband was diagnosed with heart disease. He had a 99 percent blockage in the widowmaker and he's a miracle to be here. My mother had dementia and Alzheimer's diagnosis. Sometimes, you know, it's hard because you miss those relationships that you once had with her, that relationship that is so special where you can call and be known and be known. That's all I have to say.

So I've been through a lot. I was very excited, Dawn, when the Lord put this message in my heart for women and the message is so needed today. The trajectory of the world is very difficult, scary, and hard.

Dawn Damon: Right. It definitely is all of that. When I started reading your book, I couldn't help but think how connected you are, really to the heart of women and to, as we said in the beginning, raw honesty, like you're not sugarcoating this. You've been through things, grief, and sorrow, and yet somehow you still draw strength as your joy, the joy of the Lord. Tell us a little bit about the premise of the book. I love the girlfriends that we meet in your book.

La Tan Murphy: Oh, there are 10 women. 10 women who are rarely talked about that need to be talked about because they would be the women who have What I would say parts of their stories are scandalous. They might be the women that if they walked into the church setting today, we might go, Ooh, and cup our hands at exactly just what you did and have a few things to say and wonder about their lives and why they're there. And how sad is that? Because these are the women that God wants you and me as leaders, as godly women who represent the heart of Christ and his word. He wants you and I to really cultivate a platform that can help other women understand that it is women like the women that are noted here that God used in such powerful, magnificent ways to show his strength and his joy amidst very hard and painful circumstances. I mean, do you want me to share a few of the women? Is that what you were?

Dawn Damon: Yeah, I would love for you. I mean there are some of the things that you're saying, just some thoughts that I'm having, you know, you talked about some pretty important life circumstances where in the midst of it, you still found joy.

Some of us get overwhelmed by the small things of life, let alone the big things. These women face some pretty serious things. I think sometimes we have a propensity to think that women in the Bible weren't really real women. For sure we do, but they were. Tell us yet walk us through some of that.

La Tan Murphy: I'm always amazed. I know you probably are too, because you've been a teacher of God's word for many years. I'm always amazed and also humbled that their stories are so parallel to mine, like some of the things that they experienced, even though they're different, the heartaches were the same. Their humanity mirrors my own. The way in which they responded to their circumstances, I can relate to. And so that's what I'm excited for the readers to take away, is that women like, we think about women like Sarah, who was Abraham's wife, And we always put her on a pedestal. Like people put us on pedestals sometimes as leaders. And yet I always tell women like, don't put me on a pedestal because the higher up you build a pedestal, the harder the fall is going to be and the more it's going to hurt, right?

Sarah was human, just like us. Sometimes as women, we also have people that subject us to some very hard and painful things. Things that will strip our joy, rob us of strength, and leave us feeling weak and lifeless and completely undone. That's just the truth of it. And it's then that we really need to draw from our faith in Christ and be able to experience something that is so far bigger and so outside the realm of what we could ever model in our own human strength. Not just that get by mentality about I'm going to get through this when I get through this then I could be happy but the ability to really walk it out whatever it is for you my friend like to be able to walk it out And to feel the presence of a living God inside of you, which is this gift, the deposit of heaven, Jesus, and be able to draw from his strength, which is the strength that it was supposed to be about all along. It was never supposed to be about hours, but it is.

So Sarah, though she was subjected to some poor decisions that her husband made, and I think if we could hear your audience, a whole lot of women would say, amen. I know. Yeah, they would. You and I hear stories, don't we? Yes, we do. Travel and speak so much heartache that women have dealt with so much pain, so much strength, draining, joy-robbing circumstances, so many circumstances in their lives. So this is an on-point message to just remind God's daughters that He is there. He is available. His presence is the strength we need and He embodies joy. It's part of His nature and His character. It's not just the joy of the Lord that is my strength. It's He is my strength. And so these 10 women, Jezebel, I even touched on Jezebel, Dawn.

Dawn Damon: Ooh, do you discover about Jezebel?

La Tan Murphy: Well, you know, I thought, well, why did you have me write about Jezebel? Because she certainly isn't one that we would think of as the model of strength and joy. Right. But I felt it was important to show the contrast between a woman who chose strength and joy and a woman who did not choose well. We have consequences and results that happen out of our choices, right? And so she was a perfect example of one who really hated anything to do with what represented God's strength and his power. She hated God's prophets. She hated Elijah. She hated anything that modeled God and his presence. And the enemy hates that in the women that you are speaking to today. They need to know that their lives are more powerful. They are stronger than they ever thought they were. And that joy is just like right here on the horizon for them to grab hold of as they grab To God's strength and walk out there. So yeah.

Dawn Damon: You touched on Sarah, and I think about Sarah. You're right. We put her on a pedestal, and yet if we look at the story of Sarah closely, we see that yes, she was a woman like us who suffered some things because of the decisions that her husband made. And then she retaliated a little bit of her own frustration out on her servant. Hagar, right? And mistreated Hagar.

Sometimes we find that women who hurt us are women who are hurting themselves. And the story of Hagar, how you write about Hagar too, and how she ran away from Sarah. But one of my favorite things is how God found her and he said, where are you coming from? And where are you going? And then she said, the God who I see. Also sees me.

La Tan Murphy: I just love that. It makes me just be like, you feel tears coming when you say that Dawn, because it's such a powerful thing to think that the God of the universe in his greatness comes to you and me in our smallness and meets us right where we need it to offer his strength and power and his joy as a gift.

Dawn Damon: Yes. And I think some days, listen, all of us that are listening, we know this is true. Some days we're Sarah and some days we're Hagar. Hopefully, we're not Jezebel, but you know, maybe in a former life, we were that woman who used manipulation and other tactics to get what we wanted. Praise the Lord for his redeeming strength.

So, read about these women and I just want to encourage anyone who's thinking about getting this book, please do because you're going to meet these 10 girlfriends in a whole new way. I want to talk to you, girlfriend, about what it was like for you. How much strength did you have to have to hammer out this book? There are a lot of women who like to listen to this podcast because I highlight authors. They feel like they have a book in them too.

La Tan Murphy: Yeah. I hope they'll tap into that book because I believe there's never been a moment in history that is more primed for God's girls to get their stories out than now. Really? I am a big advocate as you are for other women to write your stories like Tell your stories, share your stories, do the podcast, do the Zoom meetings, encourage, and build up the body of Christ. Like we have this opportunity, you all to literally push back the darkness.

Like, that is something that continues to ring in my head as I'm promoting this book. The Holy Spirit keeps saying, that while you're promoting this book, promote other people who have that in them, and let it be your ambition to push back the darkness by multiplying the gospel through other people's gifts. So writing this book, you need to know, and Dawn would tell you this, because you've written, we were talking about this before your show even started friend, that it's not easy writing or speaking is not for sissies.

The enemy will meet you right there in your chair and really it's the most beautiful stripping down of who you are humanly that the Holy Spirit can do is you begin to pour out words onto a page that are straight from God's heart as you ask for it. Like, if you ask him, give me your heart, and he will begin to pour through you. But with that, we can't escape experiencing some of what Christ must have felt. During the moments when he was betrayed and left alone, it's the most isolating thing you can do is write a book, but it's also such a beautiful building up of your soul and your spirit. And that's what I found in the process of writing this book I was in the process of my niece passing away of breast cancer in February, while I was writing this book.

So because I'm a real empath, I hurt so much for the family, for her husband, for her children, and then also my best, one of my best friends had metastatic breast cancer and she passed away during the process of writing this book.

Dawn Damon: Oh my goodness.

La Tan Murphy: And you know, it's in the process of living. that were really tested with the message of this book. What kind of life are we going to live in the process of living? Are we going to allow God room to be what we cannot be? Or are we going to try to do it in our own strength and fail poorly? And I had no strength during that time. All I had was the word in front of me and it was enough and it was enough to keep me pressing in and pressing into who he was so that I could finish this book.

There are so many other life things that happened. I'm sure that if you and I were in front of an audience and we could pass the microphone around, the women who are listening to this conversation today would share with you and me all that they've been through, whether it's betrayal of a friend or accusations from someone that they're so wrong. And yet you are sitting in it. There are a lot of people who are just sitting in the pain of it. A husband who broke a vow, a child who has gone, chosen a different life than the Christian faith, and perhaps fails to know who they are in this season, and struggles with their identity.

Dawn Damon: I like how you put that. A child who fails to realize who they are because they have identity theft, or they're buying a lie very often and you're right. They have an identity that they're not grabbing onto right now. It's their gift from God, their creative identity, how valuable and worthy he makes them, and their redemptive identity, how Jesus shed his blood to pay for it, and a lot of lost people and a lot of lost people and yet I include myself in the mix that we've been so busy about pointing a finger.

If we look at that pointed finger, we are quickly able to see the fourth finger pointing back at us. And we hear that and it becomes almost a cliche kind of thing. But if we could really sit in that and think about if we're ever to make a change in the world, then the change has to begin with us first.

La Tan Murphy: And so, in writing this book, that was my first thing, Dawn, was asking the Lord, what in me needs some finishing work? Oh, man, when you pray that, He's going to begin to show you. Thank you, God. He will. He will show you.

Dawn Damon: Oh, He will. Well, your book is just laced with so much grace and humility and kindness and compassion. And yet you're not afraid to, you know, go there and say those things. But a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. We see ourselves in these women. You've had a vast career. In media, in TV. I don't know that our listeners completely know everything you've done. Share just a little bit about where you've been and what's next for you.

La Tan Murphy: Mine is more in media and radio and writing and speaking and teaching workshops for those who want to write a book, I just feel. very open in a way that I've never been able to be open to the leading of God and where he wants to position me. And it's a beautiful season to be in as an older woman. And I consider myself an older woman, but yet still young. I'll be 62 in July. I'm so thankful to be here and have this opportunity to take all of the things that I really messed up and make them into beautiful messages that God can use. So my heart futuristically would be that the message of his strength or joy could reach far and wide, as well as my other books, Courageous Women of the Bible: Leaving Behind Fear & Insecurity for a Life of Confidence and Freedom.

That was the book prior to this one. I really can't think of a time in my career when I wanted the Lord to be lifted high and his name to be lifted high and the passion. I think you share this with me. I think that's where you and I connected so beautifully we're just in a season where we want other women to really know and experience the presence of God and what he can bring right smack dab in the middle of all the messes of life and the change that he can bring. It's just my heart.

Dawn Damon: Yes. Yeah. You have a beautiful heart and I resonate with that. And that is why we wanted to talk and connect today too, because, you know, just, I don't know how old you were when you wrote your first book, but I know how old you are now at 61. You're writing this book. It's an amazing book and you have the wisdom and the season to share it.

You know, I just recently launched my book. You can see it in the background there and I've got it. One right there. so much. At 62, I'm writing my book. So we have something to say for women who are in midlife and beyond. You're not done. We're just getting started, right? Our greatest season. So, but that requires staying outside of the box of what we think.

Yes. It’s possible and saying to the God of the impossible, you know, I do think we're going to go back to Sarah a minute, but one of her lines was she kind of scoffed a little bit, but she was found out she was going to be pregnant and she goes, Oh, great. Now at my age, I'm going to finally have this joy, but there are times when God's asked me to do stuff. And I'm like, God, really now I'm going to have this joy, but you know what? I do want to do it. And it is a joy. What would you say to the woman who's tempted to quit?

La Tan Murphy: I would say if you're tempted to quit, then that means that God is ready with a huge abundant amount of strength and joy to keep pushing you through. If you'll just keep your eyes on him, keep your eyes on him. You cannot listen to the voices of the naysayers, the women who will, honestly, if we can be real, there are a few women out there who will not be your cheerleaders. They'll think they'll misperceive your heart and what you're doing. And they'll make it their ambition to let you know that. You need to do this or not do this. I did that for so many years and I wasted so much time. And I can tell you that when you keep your eyes on God and you listen for his voice and how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it, everything changes. Yeah. Everything changes. Everything.

Dawn Damon: Yeah. So I'm hearing you say in one way or another that it's about his strength, not ours. Dear sister listening, if you've not made that exchange yet, I encourage you to do that, that you lay down your efforts, your striving, your strength. That doesn't mean that we're not courageous, brave women taking steps of action. What it does mean is that we're not doing it by ourselves. We're asking for his super on our natural, the supernatural touch of God, God's strength, right?

Some things that will steal our joy are when we listen to the naysayers and compare ourselves with somebody else's Facebook highlight reel, or when we fall into jealousy or fear-mongering, all those things are joy thieves, but when you're motivated and focused. Eyes on Jesus. You said, right? Eyes on Jesus. Keep keeping your eyes on Jesus. And then the purpose for which he's called us. Just do you run your race and watch how God will use you to change your world. The world. I think that's what it's all about for me too. I love what you're doing. I love how you cheer on women. I love that you're helping them share their story.

Final words. Let me share the title of the book one more time. His strength, her joy, finding God's power fulfillment. This is LaTan Murphy. LaTan Roland Murphy, any parting thoughts?

La Tan Murphy: I think my parting thoughts would be this. There are some hard stories to read and hear, but they are real stories that truly happened and are straight from God's word. One that I'm thinking of is the Sodom and Gomorrah Story, Lot's Wife, and many of the stories I felt directly led by the Holy Spirit, Dawn because our world is in trouble. We are in trouble. So there is a time to be soft and there is a time to be brave and bold like your ministry represents brave. Now is the time for God's girls to stand up, square their shoulders, straighten their crowns, and be ready with the word of God and speak it with power and authority so that we can push back the darkness. That's really why we do all the things that we do. It must be with that reason alone and to lift the name of Jesus higher.

Dawn Damon: Amen. Thank you so much. Is there another podcast in your future?

La Tan Murphy: Yes, there is. In fact, my husband wants me to do a different podcast. I did radio with Amy Elaine Martinez out of Denver for a few years, and my husband is really my sweetest advocate, and he wants me to begin a new podcast. So you guys just pray for me through that. I'm trying to make some decisions about what God would have for me as the main theme. So I would really appreciate your listeners. Just join us in prayer for that, because. We have work to do. We have to be busy about it. Like it, there's so much joy in doing God's business.

Dawn Damon: Yeah. You're a beautiful friend. I'm so glad that I know you and I maybe what God has for us in the future to connect and be a part of some movement that God is doing. I don't want to get left behind. I know you don't either want to be in this army of brave women sharing their stories. How can women find you if they want to write you or if they want to pray for you, they want to get your book? I know certainly they can get it on Amazon, but how else?

La Tan Murphy: I'd love for you guys to go to latanmurphy.com that's L-A-T-A-N-M-U-R-P-H-Y- .com and be sure to click on the blog and subscribe there so that I can keep in touch with you. And I would love to hear from you guys. I would love to know how to pray for you as well.

Dawn Damon: Beautiful. Thank you so much.

This is Dawn Damon, the BraveHeart Mentor, and I'm about to leave you for this week. If you're struggling with your identity, I have a gift I want to give you. You too can go to my website, BraveHeartedWoman. com forward slash resources. There you can find the 7-Day Identity Challenge just available for you to grow. But also ladies, maybe God is stirring you to write your story. Please stop by LaTan's website. Find out more about that. You can contact me. We just want to support you and watch you become all that God wants you to be. After all, as a bravehearted woman, this is your moment to find your brave and live your dreams!