But after taking eight to nine months off, Miller returned to work. As she gets ready for her final morning broadcast from 6 to 8 a.m. Friday, July 2, Miller believes the experience has made her a more compassionate, empathetic person.
“God is good — and it’s not based on whether good things happen,” Miller said. “His goodness is that He’s with you in good times and bad times.”
For the past year, Miller and daughters Olivia, 10, and Lauren, 15, have lived in the area while her husband, Charles, has worked at a college in San Antonio, Texas.
She looks forward to their being reunited — and to expanding her work as a speaker and author.
Keith Britton, long associated with the Christian radio station said “we have never had anyone with more on the air appeal than Joy in over 49 years of the station’s history.”
While on the air, “people have gotten to know us,” Miller said.
Pointing to daughter Olivia, Miller said, “The listeners heard her cry at the hospital and watched her grow up.”
The Urbana born daughter of the Rev. John and Joyce Ware said her son’s death from cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle or a change in heart muscle structure, changed that.
“There’s a part of me that I feel died that day,” she said. “To stand beside your child’s casket, there’s nothing like it.”
Miller said a sense of purpose, perspective and promise helped bring her back.
“This is not about me,” she said about her life, but about “God and his purposes.”
Miller thinks her own faith has matured, too.
“I thought it was, ‘You served (God), you live happily ever after,’ ” she said.
On perspective, “my heart had been crying. I only had Christopher for 13 years,” she said. “God’s perspective: What a blessing I gave you for 13 years.
“I know that Christopher had accepted Christ as his savior” and that, as a result, “every time we breathe, we get closer to being reunited. That keeps me going,” Miller said.
So does reaching out.
“We have met and talked with a lot of others that have lost children,” Miller said. “I know without a shadow” that’s God’s intention.
Miller said she will miss the area.
“I love the station. I love the ministry here. I love the listeners, ”Miller said. “This time together is something I’ll take into eternity with me.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368 or tstafford@coxohio.com.
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