Our Story
“Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (endurance).”
– James 1:2-3
James wrote this thousands of years ago and it still holds true today; But honestly, it’s not always easy to count it All Joy. AllJoy is a brand rooted in faith and endurance, but birthed from trials and loss. Started by my wife Shantel and I after the loss of our daughter Alaia, AllJoy represents the pain of life, but also the beauty of not walking that pain alone.
Our daughter Alaia (whose name means joy) was diagnosed with a birth defect known as Trisomy 18. Most children with this genetic condition don’t make it to term and after 8 months, my wife gave birth and we held the lifeless body of our first born child. I wouldn’t wish this on my greatest enemy. It was the most difficult thing we had been through, but somehow we still saw God’s hand in it through the friends and strangers that walked with us through this season.
There were 3 organizations that made a huge impact during our difficult time and we wanted to find a way to give back and pour into them so that they can continue to pour into other parents that might be struggling through the same thing. The 3 organizations were Memorial Regional Hospital, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, and Elijah Bell’s Funeral Home.
Memorial‘s entire children’s specialty, high-risk OB, maternal-fetal medicine, and palliative care team are amazing, gentle, and understanding.
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep is an organization that offers free photography for parents experiencing the loss of their child. Our photographer (who was a volunteer) acted like an on-call doctor, showing up at 11:15 PM to wait for Alaia to be born.
Elijah Bell’s Funeral Home helped during this time of need and provided free cremation services.
We were impacted by these organizations first and want to do what we can to help them help other children and parents.
50% of each sale at AllJoy will be donated to your choice of one of these three organizations.
Storms will come, trials will happen, and when faith is tested and the outcome doesn’t match what was prayed for, there are still people that try to help you to count it all joy.