Joy was born in the clay hills of Alabama on a sharecropper's farm near her grandfather's estate. Joy is the third child out of eleven children born to a farmer father and a mother who was a stay-at-home wife. As a child, Joy loved to take walks and commune with nature. It was there that she discovered how life was filled with beauty and wonder. The distant rolling hills, sunrise, and sunsets were among her favorite sights. The splendor of nature captured her heart filling it with dreams, amazement, and song. It's the same song that still sings today. I call it My Heart's Song. I hope by reading these words you can hear it and feel it too.