Episode 166: Safety, Security & Stability bring Sick, Stuck & Stingy with Joyce Brinton

Everyone, welcome to today’s episode of Living Beyond the Shadow of Doubt.

If you’ve been following along, we’re in the middle of a month-long JOA Book Club. And today we have—if you’ve been listening, you know we’ve mentioned Kira Brinton, she’s the queen of this amazing community—and today I have with me the Queen Mother. Just like King Charles referred to his grandmother, I have Joyce Brinton with me today, and I can’t wait to turn the mic over to you and give you the opportunity to share all about you—your story, your background, and some of your faith journey.

Thank you so much.

You are so welcome, so just feel free to dive right in.

Okay. I kind of reviewed the questions you asked me, and I guess my upbringing—my faith journey, so to speak—is that I grew up in a home with Christian parents. My dad was a Baptist minister. My mom was Church of Christ. Then they heard the story about Joseph Smith, started heading west, and they were in Missouri and joined the RLDS Church.

Then they found the LDS Church after that, and they joined. They gave me the option to join if I wanted. I was the baby of six children, and my brother and I were the only ones left at home. He joined when he was 12, I joined when I was 10.

Just really quickly for our listeners, when Joyce says the RLDS Church and then later on the LDS Church—both of these sects started around the same time in the 1830s–1840s. Some stayed back in the Midwest and created what they called at the time the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They’ve gone on since then and still exist today under the name “Community of Christ.” Joyce’s family eventually joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the LDS Church. They are two distinct sects.

Yeah. My parents were both very charitable. I grew up watching and being a part of a lot of charitable acts. We were constantly bringing in people who didn’t have a home and housing them. My dad was an entrepreneur forever, my mom worked for the State of Colorado, so money was sometimes good and sometimes not. When we had people living with us, we’d live on beans and oatmeal. They were just very, very charitable and always doing kind acts for people. That was what I grew up with.

They weren’t super strict religiously. I grew up in the seventies, so I wore whatever I wanted, kind of lived a carefree, flower-child life. I didn’t grow up in a strict Mormon family.

I gathered that when you said they gave your brother and you the choice of whether or not to join. One of the things I experienced was a lot of shame and guilt when I started to have questions about my faith of origin, which is LDS. I had doubts, and because I grew up in a place where those weren’t really safe or encouraged, certainty was what was rewarded. So it’s a unique perspective you bring that your parents were open-minded in that way.

Yeah. I had four older sisters who all smoked and drank. I started smoking at age 12 because it’s what they did. But I noticed they were really struggling to quit, so by the time I was 14, I quit smoking. I thought, I don’t want to be their age and have a hard time. I learned a lot from my older sisters—some got pregnant before marriage, and I thought, I’m not going to do that; they’re not happy.

Did you feel like you found God or a higher power in your younger years, or was it later?

I would say I always had experiences with angels, so I knew something was watching over me. I prayed to God, although I was sexually abused by my father, so God was a little scary to me because He was a father image. I believed in Christ more than anything and prayed to Christ and worshiped Christ until my late thirties. Then I spent about a year exploring who God was because I was afraid of Him. I read scriptures, books, and realized if I love Jesus, I can love God because they’re similar.

Understandable that you had that fear or hesitancy—you’re not alone in that. What I love is that you claimed your faith journey and chose how you defined it, what it looked like for you in real life, what resonated.

Yeah.

I hope to normalize that more women feel empowered to claim sovereignty over their faith or spiritual journey.

Was there a point where you realized your belief system wasn’t working for you?

I shared my angel experiences with my parents because they had a similar gift. Even in college, I had visitations—one was a woman standing by my bed for five days in a row with a big book. I told my dad, and he said, “That’s my mom, talk to her,” but I didn’t want to. I was still scared of the gift. Around age 33, after my third child was born, I started remembering the abuse, and that’s when I started questioning things. But I never questioned the angels—they were always there when I asked.

That’s a beautiful gift.

People are often afraid to share their gifts. I’ve worked as a psychotherapist and later shifted to muscle testing and energy work. Many clients with gifts come in afraid because they see negative spirits. I tell them the bad ones don’t honor agency, but the good ones wait to be asked. People are often shut down as children or told they’re weird.

I once saw my husband’s deceased brother stuck and helped him cross over. At the funeral, my husband said, “Joyce sees dead people,” and afterward a cousin told me she saw them too but didn’t tell anyone for fear of being judged.

Let’s normalize it—it’s not weird, it’s sacred.

I don’t broadcast it, but often during sessions I see clients’ loved ones or even their pets that have passed. If it’s helpful, I share it.

As you’ve taken the reins of your spiritual journey, what else has brought you joy?

Ten years ago I learned an energy healing tool called Energy Mastery Foundations from Siobhan Moran. It came at a time when I was struggling in my marriage and with my kids. Learning to clean my own energy field saved me and slowed down my high-strung energy. I’ve had beautiful experiences of feeling angels’ hands on mine while working on clients.

You mentioned your book—tell us about that.

I’ve written one other book, I Found Myself in China, after teaching in China for five weeks in 2011. It was transformative—I found myself outside of being a mom and wife.

After that, Kira felt called to start her publishing company. I believe God leads us step-by-step, like breadcrumbs. I even had a vision of crumbs from heaven, then the next day saw a painting of it, which I bought as a reminder.

My new book began as a message that playing it safe and secure leads to being sick, stuck, and stingy with your gifts—especially spiritual gifts. Recently, I felt called to create a program where people with spiritual gifts can connect and not feel alone.

You also teach energy healing, right?

Yes, I train people in a two-day class to do energy cleansing on themselves or clients. It’s my favorite tool because I see immediate results. I’ve seen people in pain walk out feeling fine—and even helped my husband after a stingray sting in Mexico.

Final question—what does it mean to live beyond the shadow of doubt?

Trusting myself, my knowingness, and my oneness with God. I spent much of my life not trusting my discernment because I wanted to be liked. Now I trust my knowingness.

Lightning round:
Favorite book: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller, Big Magic by Liz Gilbert, and A Course in Miracles.
Introvert or extrovert: Extrovert.
Night owl or morning lark: Night owl turned early riser for writing.
Favorite artist: Peter Max.
Celebrity crush: Matthew McConaughey.
Carbonated water or soda: Carbonated water, no soda.

Cool water story—in a dream, I was hiking the Grand Canyon with a backpack full of water because I didn’t trust there’d be any along the way. But there was. I took it to mean Christ telling me I don’t have to carry everything myself—there will be water along the way.

Furthest traveled: China and the Philippines.

We’ll leave all links in the show notes so listeners can connect with you. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.

Thanks for letting me.