How Childhood Shapes the Way You See Yourself

Devotional 27: When God Sees More Than the Measurement

Have you ever become so focused on one area of your life that it started feeling like the whole story? Maybe it's a diagnosis. A relationship. A prayer that hasn't been answered yet. A number that isn't moving the way you hoped. In this devotional, we're reminded that while we naturally focus on visible measurements, God sees something much bigger. Through Scripture, reflection, and a simple story about a rainy drive and windshield wipers, we'll explore what it looks like to widen our perspective and recognize the ways God may already be working beneath the surface. Because the measurement you're focused on may be telling part of the story—but God sees the whole story. Expanded Show Notes Primary Scriptures * 1 Samuel 16:7 (HCSB)  * Philippians 1:6 (HCSB)  * Galatians 6:9 (HCSB)  In This Devotional Sometimes we become so focused on one struggle, one disappointment, or one measurement that we lose sight of everything else. In this week's devotional, we explore: * Why visible measurements often dominate our attention  * The difference between unfinished and unchanged  * How God sees growth we often overlook  * Why faith, perseverance, wisdom, and character matter even when they can't be measured  * What it means to trust God's perspective more than our own  Continue the Journey If this resonated, you might also want to sit with: * Episode 27: Health Became Different When It Stopped Being About My Weight  * Episode 25: Some of What You Call Personality Began as Survival  * Episode 24: How Childhood Shapes the Way You See Yourself  Each explores the ways we evaluate ourselves and the deeper story God may be writing beneath the surface. Resources Reflective Workbook:  The Whole Story: Seeing Growth Beyond the Numbers Additional resources, previous episodes, devotionals, companion guides, and workbooks can be found at: healerhopegiver.com [http://www.healerhopegiver.com] New long-form episodes release Mondays.  New devotionals release Thursdays. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/support] Free Devotional: subscribepage.io/C63wGl [http://subscribepage.io/C63wGl] Want to stay connected throughout the week?  Come hang out with me on social media for daily encouragement, real-life stories, and the behind-the-scenes pieces of this healing journey. If you feel led to support the show, you can do so through the link in the show notes — and please know, your generosity means the world. You’re a gift.

Integration: What Still Belongs

After months of conversations about voice, belonging, boundaries, childhood experiences, people-pleasing, and survival patterns, one question remains: What still belongs? In this integration episode, we're stepping back to look at the deeper thread running through Arc 3: Becoming Who God Always Knew You Were. Many of the things we assume are simply part of our personality may have deeper stories attached to them. Some patterns were gifts. Some were adaptations. Some were both. But healing isn't always about becoming someone different. Sometimes it's about understanding yourself well enough to recognize what still fits the life you're living now. If you've ever wondered whether a behavior is truly "you" or simply something you learned to survive, this episode offers a gentle place to pause, reflect, and consider what you're ready to carry forward. Because awareness creates choice. And choice creates freedom. 📝 EXPANDED SHOW NOTES Throughout Arc 3, we've explored: • Shrinking to keep the peace  • Learning to trust your voice  • Carrying responsibility for other people's reactions  • Belonging and identity  • Childhood messages that shaped self-perception  • Personality traits that may have begun as survival strategies But these conversations were never really about finding a perfect definition of who you are. They were about becoming curious. Because once we understand what shaped us, we gain something we didn't have before: Choice. In this episode, we'll explore: • Why adaptation is a normal part of being human  • The difference between personality, gifting, and survival patterns  • How fear can attach itself to healthy strengths  • Why healing often creates freedom rather than certainty  • How to discern what still belongs in this season of your life  • The quiet gift of becoming more intentional about who you're becoming This episode serves as a reflective pause before we move into the next chapter of the journey. ⭐ RELATED EPISODES If this episode resonated, you may also enjoy: • Episode 18 — Shrinking to Keep the Peace (and What It Cost Me) • Episode 20 — Why You Don't Trust Your Voice in the Moment • Episode 21 — You're Not Responsible for How People Respond to You • Episode 25 — Some of What You Call Personality Began as Survival Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/support] Free Devotional: subscribepage.io/C63wGl [http://subscribepage.io/C63wGl] Want to stay connected throughout the week?  Come hang out with me on social media for daily encouragement, real-life stories, and the behind-the-scenes pieces of this healing journey. If you feel led to support the show, you can do so through the link in the show notes — and please know, your generosity means the world. You’re a gift.

Health Became Different When It Stopped Being About My Weight

For years, I thought health was mostly about weight. The scale went up. The scale went down. Clothes fit or they didn't. Numbers improved or they didn't. And whether I realized it or not, I was using those measurements to tell myself a story about how I was doing. But recently, after looking back on one of the hardest and most transformative years of my life, I realized something important: The scale was measuring something real. It just wasn't measuring everything. In this episode, we're exploring how health, healing, grief, faith, stewardship, and personal growth intersect—and why learning to see the whole story may change the way you measure your life. Expanded Show Notes In This Episode What happens when one measurement becomes the judge of your entire life? After reflecting on a year that included emergency surgery, the loss of her father, frozen shoulder, cataract surgeries, the launch of Healer & Hope Giver, and significant personal growth, Kim realized she had been overlooking many of the places where healing and strength were already developing. In this conversation, she explores: * Why health eventually became about more than weight  * The difference between information and identity  * How grief changed her perspective on stewardship  * What her father's health journey taught her about presence  * Why one metric can never tell the whole story  * The relationship between health, calling, faith, and purpose  * How God often grows things we aren't measuring  Scripture 📖 1 Samuel 16:7 "The LORD does not see what a man sees. For man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart." Continue the Journey If this episode resonated with you, you may also enjoy: * Episode 24: How Childhood Shapes the Way You See Yourself  * Episode 25: Some of What You Call Personality Began as Survival  * Episode 26: The Sponge Principle: What Comes Out Under Pressure  Together, these conversations explore how our experiences shape us, how healing changes us, and how God continues forming us long after survival ends. Resources 📘 Reflective Workbook: The Whole Story (Episode 27) 🌿 Companion Guides, Workbooks & Resources:  HealerHopeGiver.com [http://www.healerhopegiver.com] Monday / Thursday Rhythm New long-form conversations every Monday. New devotional reflections every Thursday. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/support] Free Devotional: subscribepage.io/C63wGl [http://subscribepage.io/C63wGl] Want to stay connected throughout the week?  Come hang out with me on social media for daily encouragement, real-life stories, and the behind-the-scenes pieces of this healing journey. If you feel led to support the show, you can do so through the link in the show notes — and please know, your generosity means the world. You’re a gift.

Devotional 26: When You Can't Yet See the Growth

Have you ever wondered if you're actually making progress? Maybe you're still wrestling with the same fears, grief, temptations, anxieties, or questions you thought you would have overcome by now. In those moments, it's easy to assume nothing is changing. But what if growth is happening in places you simply can't see yet? In this devotional, we explore the quiet nature of God's work, the hidden growth of deep roots, and the comforting promise that the God who began a good work in you is still faithfully carrying it forward. Sometimes the roots grow long before the fruit appears. Expanded Show Notes Scripture References Epistle to the Philippians 1:6 Epistle to the Galatians 6:9 Gospel of John 15:1–5 Psalms 1:1–3 Growth can be difficult to recognize while you're living inside it. You still feel the grief. You still notice the anxiety. You still see the unfinished places. And because those struggles remain visible, it's easy to assume progress isn't happening. In this devotional we explore: * the hidden nature of spiritual growth  * why roots grow before fruit appears  * trusting God's work in the middle of the process  * the difference between visible results and ongoing formation  * remaining connected to Christ when progress feels slow  Together we reflect on the possibility that God may be doing far more beneath the surface than we currently recognize. Continue the Journey Episode 26 — The Sponge Principle: What Comes Out Under Pressure Devotional 24 — When You Learned to Adapt to Belong Devotional 12 — Faithfulness Without Pressure Continue your journey through devotionals, companion guides, workbooks, and resources at Healer & Hope Giver [http://www.healerhopegiver.com]. New episodes release every Monday and Thursday. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/support] Free Devotional: subscribepage.io/C63wGl [http://subscribepage.io/C63wGl] Want to stay connected throughout the week?  Come hang out with me on social media for daily encouragement, real-life stories, and the behind-the-scenes pieces of this healing journey. If you feel led to support the show, you can do so through the link in the show notes — and please know, your generosity means the world. You’re a gift.

The Sponge Principle: What Comes Out Under Pressure

What comes out of us when life gets hard? Most of us assume pressure creates our reactions. But what if pressure simply reveals what has already been filling us all along? After spending a weekend sorting through decades of memories from her late father's life, Kim found herself asking a deeper question: What actually shapes a person over time? In this episode, Kim explores how healing, faith, grief, daily habits, relationships, and ordinary choices quietly form us over the course of a lifetime. Through personal stories about family memories, loss, purpose, a surprising personality assessment, and unexpected moments of encouragement, she reflects on how God often prepares us long before we recognize what He is doing. Together, we'll explore: • What pressure reveals about us • Why healing often happens beneath the surface • How life experiences shape who we become • What evidence of healing looks like • How God uses ordinary faithfulness to prepare us for what comes next Because healing isn't about becoming someone else. It's about becoming more fully who God created you to be. Resources 🌐 HealerHopeGiver.com [http://www.healerhopegiver.com] 🎙 Follow Healer & Hope Giver on your favorite podcast app Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/fan_mail/new] Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2561189/support] Free Devotional: subscribepage.io/C63wGl [http://subscribepage.io/C63wGl] Want to stay connected throughout the week?  Come hang out with me on social media for daily encouragement, real-life stories, and the behind-the-scenes pieces of this healing journey. If you feel led to support the show, you can do so through the link in the show notes — and please know, your generosity means the world. You’re a gift.