Because God loves us, He wants us to have joyeven in the midst of life's difficulties. Want More? Joy takes teen girls on a journey where theyll get to know God more deeply and trust Him more fully. Here theyll find honest talk, amazing stories, questions to ponder and space for journaling. And in the process, theyll learn the secrets of love, life and joy.

Teen girls wrestle with life's tough questions while juggling school, activities, and relationships with parents, friends, and boys. They need assurance that God wants them to have more—more joy, more trust, more connection with him. Want More? Joy takes them on a journey with God in which they learn to know him more deeply and trust him more fully. Here's honest talk, amazing stories, biblical truth, space for journaling, questions to ponder, and a prayer for each day. Girls will discover the real joy that comes from God, who loves us without limit.

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Author: Jeanette Hanscome
Submitted: May 11, 2006

    Tell us a little about yourself.  In addition to writing I also offer writing workshops in my community and at writer’s conference. I love teaching these classes. It’s just fun to pass on what I am passionate about, to new writers who are eager to learn. I am a part-time teacher at His Kids Preschool, in the after school program. That’s a lot of fun because it gets me away from the computer and around both other adults and kids. I live with my extremely supportive husband Norm, and our two sons (Christian, age 15 and Nathan, age 4). Norm is great about dealing with my deadline-induced moods, listening to me ramble on about things that don’t interest him at all, and driving me to places like the library and writer’s conference. Since I am visually impaired and can’t drive he must pick up a lot of slack in this area. I also enjoy singing and get to do a lot of it at Sierra Bible Church which is such a blessing.

    What was your motivation behind this project?  Focus on the Family contracted me to write Want More? Joy for their Brio Devotional Series. The first step was to choose a theme and send five samples based on that theme. I chose joy because God had been teaching me a lot about it at the time. My family was going through a lot of stress. My husband had a heart attack then lost his job (totally unrelated to the heart attack) in less than six month. I knew that I could either let it ruin me as a person or grow through it and have my relationship with God deepen. I was extremely difficult, but I refused to let it turn me into a grouch. I wrote a lot of the devotions when I wasn’t feeling happen at all. The things that God was teaching me at the time allowed me to look back on experiences from my teen and college years when He taught me similar lessons, just in more teen-friendly settings.

    What do you hope folks will gain from this project?  My desire is that readers of all ages—not only the teens that the book was originally written for—will understand that true joy really is possible, even when life is falling apart. As I address in the book, happiness is usually temporary, while joy comes from a deeper place that the darkness of life can’t kill. The world offers a lot to make us happy. But what happens when that quick fix fades, that friend lets us down, we fail, or a crisis hits? How do we respond? How do we feel about God? God holds out a gift of lasting joy that can sustain itself through anything if we cling to Him, His promises, and His plan. Does if mean that we are giddy and thrilled when life stinks? Of course not. But we can have peace, a smile, and a good attitude knowing that God is at work and will not fail us.

    Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists?  I have so many wonderful influences and mentors in my life when if comes to writing. Lissa Johnson, for example, who edited this book, also hired me to write two books in Focus on the Family’s Brio Girls Series. She took me on as a new book author and taught a great deal about writing to teens. Over the years I have learned and gained insight from teachers and fellow authors that I met at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. People like Ethel Herr, Lee Roddy, the teaching team for the Career Track, and many others have encouraged me to write what I feel called to communicate and to never give up. As far as authors, I read everything from C.S. Lewis and A.W. Tozer, to the latest fiction (for Christian fiction and novels from the general market). I enjoy author who are honest and have the courage to say what the average person is probably thinking but may not have the guts to say. In fiction I tend to choose character-driven stories, but do enjoy some suspense. Some of my recent favorites have been Blue Like Jazz, Peace Like a River (one of the most beautifully written books that I have ever read), Tracey Bateman’s Color of the Soul, and Lisa Samson’s Songbird. I also enjoy Elizabeth Berg, Donna Fleisher and Tricia Goyer.

    Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know:  I am grateful for the privilege of passing the lessons that I have learned on to others.

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