Dallas/Fort Worth entrepreneur Joy Reed relies on relentless faith amid family tragedies to start her business

DALLAS — In a way, it would be rather easy to suggest that Joy Reed, at some point in her life, was forced to become to a strong, Godly woman.

But in reality, she was taught to become one.

Take, for instance, how Reed, a 38-year-old Dallas/Fort Worth-area educator, had to press and navigate her way through arguably the toughest of life’s situations and circumstances in recent years — you know, these life-changing, spiritually gut-checking occurrences that would have potentially caused the faith of someone else to become bleak or, perhaps, evaporate all together.

Nevertheless, Reed, fortifying such resiliency and tenacity as only she could, was determined not to pin blame on God for the gruesome adversities that arose in her life to try her faith.

If nothing else, she steadfastly gave Him all the glory, thus proving once again that she’s the strong, Godly woman for which she is widely known.

So how to explain such unyielding, bend-but-don’t break faith for a woman who, truth be told, could have very well thrown in the towel a long time ago?

For a thorough understanding of this notion, look no further than the admirable legacies and influential impacts manufactured by her beloved parents, both of whom passed away last year approximately three weeks apart.

There was Reed over the weekend, sitting in a coffee shop in nearby Grand Prairie, Texas, recalling both tear-jerking encounters while simultaneously struggling to fight back tears.

“My mother was a woman of strength,” Reed, a native Memphian and Whitehaven High alum, told Making Headline News. “There wasn’t anything she couldn’t overcome. She taught me how to handle business and never to let anyone take me for granted.”

Months before Reed, a veteran educator of about 10 years, established Expressions Of Joy, her newly-erected wedding and events planning business, she was faced with having to clear undoubtedly the biggest hurdles of her young life.

In February of last year, Reed’s mother, Catherine Jones, died of complications of a massive stroke she suffered a little more than a decade ago.

“I got a call of her being unresponsive and on a ventilator, so I immediately shot to Memphis,” Reed recalled.

Reed’s mother, in fact, was hospitalized for an entire year and was ultimately moved to a skilled nursing facility until her death, a development that left her downright heartbroken.

“She had a heart of gold and would give her very last to help someone else,” Reed said. “(She was) a woman of integrity. After I witnessed the mind-blowing occurrence of talking to the heavenly host as I would call it, there was peace that came over me like none other. Although it broke my heart in a million pieces, I didn’t want her to continue to suffer from the complications of the massive stroke. So I knew I had to be strong for her and the family. Plus, she was ready to go her heavenly home.”

Even while grieving what was seemingly a somewhat expected death of her mother, the apparent unexpected misfortune would ensue.

Just a few weeks after her mother’s demise, Reed subsequently was on the wrong end of yet another disheartening phone call, this time concerning her father, George Jones, who was involved in a horrific automobile accident.

Jones, whom doctors confirmed was paralyzed from the shoulders down, died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident, a development that had transpired when a motorist had run a stop light.

Once again, Reed was left to try and make sense of it all.

“Doctors said there was little they could do, because he was shutting down,” said Reed, who made the trip from Texas in time to meet with her father prior to his untimely passing.

With family and close friends surrounding his death bed, Jones expired on March 5, 2016 at 1:15 a.m., nearly the same time in which Reed’s mother had died (at 12:15 a.m.).

“I was like, ‘I can’t believe this. I just lost my mom,’” said Reed, sitting on the edge of her chair as her eyes began to flood with tears. “I was numb. The pain was so intense that I couldn’t cry. I was still in shock.”

For what her faith walk is worth — surely, it’s worth a lot — Reed and her husband, Terence, were the beneficiaries of a couple of dramatic comebacks for the ages.

After giving birth to premature twins at just 24 weeks in February 2007, the lives of those infants were left hanging in the balance as they were stricken by an array of challenges and deficiencies.

As if that wasn’t enough to cause the Reeds’ to become dejected and unsettled, their twins were both hospitalized for an extensive period of time, but were separated by approximately 20 miles, somewhere between Arlington and Fort Worth — all of this after Joy Reed’s water had broke while standing in line at the bank.

The Reeds’ daughter, Gio, was hospitalized in Arlington. Their son, Cortez, was in Fort Worth. Both were fighting for their infant lives while being confined to a ventilator.

Cortez’s prognosis, it seemed, was more severe than his sister’s.

“At one point, his ventilator was turned up to 100 percent, meaning the ventilator was practically breathing for him.”

All things considered and as bleak the Reeds’ situation surrounding their babies was, there was only one thing left for Joy to do.

That is, it was time that she sought the kind of faith — and joy — the world couldn’t possibly give her.

“Around the fourth month (in the hospital), they were able to come off the incubator and come out of the ventilator and placed in a crib,” said Joy Reed, who initially was informed that her twins had a 30 percent chance of surviving. “At that point, things looked fine. They’ve had no major issues since.”

Today, the Reeds routinely label their now-10-year-olds as “miracle children,” which, in essence, basically sums up how Joy Reed had come up with the name for a newly-established business that is already enjoying its share of success.

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT JOY’S BUSINESS, SEND EMAIL TO: [email protected].

“I never lost joy because of my faith in God,” said Joy Reed, who has a number of events, including a wedding in Memphis, scheduled in the coming weeks. “I was too weak to go through (all) this. But it was through Him that I found strength.”

In a way, it would be rather easy to suggest that Joy Reed, at some point in her life, was forced to become to a strong, Godly woman.

But in reality, she was taught to become one.

Ask Gio and Cortez, her precious expressions of joy.

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you are an entrepreneur, business owner, producer, author, athlete, musician, barber, life coach, motivational speaker, cosmetologist, tax preparer, model, or pastor/minister who is seeking exposure and would like to share your story with an in-depth news feature, call Reporter Andre Johnson at 901-690-6587 or Facebook message him under “Andre T. Johnson” for details.

Andre Johnson is Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send an email to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist.