Stephanie: There are seasons when one expected change would certainly be enough, but instead, several happen at once. When Kimberlea Hardy and her husband finally sold their home after a year on the market, everything seemed to be falling into place. Their boxes were packed, another home was waiting, and they were one week away from closing. Then her husband lost his job. Suddenly the plan for their home, and their family's future became uncertain. But looking back, Kim could see that God had already begun to prepare them through prayer, through Psalm ninety one and And through little earlier reminders that he could be trusted. As the season unfolded, Kim began writing down the small ways God provided. These written reminders became her own stones of remembrance. evidence that God was present even when she couldn't see what would happen next. today we're talking about surrendering the future we thought we controlled, recognizing God's faithfulness in the little things, and trusting Him one ordinary day at a time. Welcome to Glory and Grit, where faith meets real life. I am your host, Stephanie. Let's get into today's conversation. Kim, welcome to Glory and Grit. I'm really glad to continue our conversation that we had during our pre-interview.
Kim Hardy: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Stephanie: Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Now I wanna begin with the season that changed so much for your family. So I want you to kind of take us back to when you and your husband were preparing to buy and sell your house. what was supposed to happen? What did you think was going to happen and what actually happened?
Kim Hardy: Okay, so my husband and I we were very excited. We had listed our house and we finally after a year of trying to sell it, we had a contract on it and we were ready to sell the house and purchase a house. So buy and sell, it was working out, it's gonna be like same day, switch of keys, everything was going great. And a week before all of this was to the transactions were to happen, my husband lost his job. And
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: so we had to obviously let the peop the owners of the house that we were going to buy say we can't do this, whatever we need to do, we had
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: to reach out to our realtor. and so that
Stephanie: How far along in the process were you at that point?
Kim Hardy: we were it was just waiting to sign the papers.
Stephanie: Right, right. Had you actually start packing and all of that stuff too?
Kim Hardy: yes, yes. We had packed, we had already had like a garage sale. I mean we were down to the wire, like we everything was boxed up, cleaned up,
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: ready to go. It's like all right, we've got a week left in the in this house, let's you know, whatever we can live on for a week, that's what we were doing.
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: It it was Boxes, you know,
Stephanie: Wow.
Kim Hardy: stacked and everything.
Stephanie: What do you remember about the moment when your husband came in and said, Honey, I lost my job? What do you remember in that moment? Did it
Kim Hardy: Well he
Stephanie: did you instantly just start to panic? Did you did you say a prayer? Did you what did you do in that moment?
Kim Hardy: Well he actually called me before he came home
Stephanie: Uh-huh.
Kim Hardy: and he said, and I'm packing stuff up, you know, I'm like things are going good, praising the Lord, you know, and God and still continues to provide, but he had showed us over and over and over like how he was in this and everything was good and things were going great. And so when my husband called, I didn't think anything of it. He was like, Hey I need you to sit down and I was like, Okay, what good news we got coming now? You know, like I'm excited 'cause
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I'm like, What's the Lord doing now? You know?
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: What's next? And I sit down and he was like, I'm being sent home and I will you know, I'll be there shortly and I was like, W what? And I mean he told me the the circumstances and I said okay.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: and I was just in shock. I don't know you know,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: like it just knocked the breath out of me, to be honest with you. I wasn't
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: sure. I was just like okay. It it it didn't really process. I mean he was very upset obviously
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: and so when he got off the phone with him and it's about a twenty minute drive from where he worked to the house and so I just started praying 'cause I was like, Lord, what do I do? How do I how do I support him? Well
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you know, that was my biggest concern, like
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: When he walks through the door, I need to be prepared and I need to be his encourager and his supporter and not beat him down because none of this is
Stephanie: Yes.
Kim Hardy: y you know, like that's the last thing he needs is a wife who's like what? You know, like what are we gonna
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: do now? I didn't wanna be that person. I just
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: wanted to be there and know how to support him.
Stephanie: Right. Did you immediately go into problem solving mode or did you kinda just sit there for a couple of hours and and just sit?
Kim Hardy: I just sat 'cause it was so shocking. I it I
Stephanie: Yeah, yeah.
Kim Hardy: I could I could not process and then once he got home and we talked and we cried and everything then we were we started processing it's okay, what do we need to do y you know, and so we we
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: had to wait and wait and see.
Stephanie: Right, right. And I remember you said that your daughter was going through her senior year at this time? Yes.
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: So what were you trying to protect for her for this senior year that she has? One of the most important years that kids have in high school to them anyway. And it is, they're graduating, they're doing good.
Kim Hardy: Yeah, so we so it was May, I guess I should have clarified that. It was in May. So this is like the last,
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: you know, you're sprinting to that finish line and she's got all these things lined up and so our focus was to keep the focus on her, to allow her to still have the joy and the the happiness and you know, all the the things that she should
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: experience and keep that in the forefront instead of focusing on the bad and
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: what's going on here. We wanted to make sure that she got the recognition and she had the graduation party
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: and she got to do all the senior things without it without h him losing his job affecting her as much as possible.
Stephanie: Right, right. Right. Because that's such an important year to them and they're all really self absorbed during that year. And and you won you
Kim Hardy: Yes, yes, yes.
Stephanie: don't want to kind of take that from So that's a really sweet thing, to have done for her to allow her to focus on that and ha think back on that year and have fond memories of it. One of the things that stood out to me when we talked earlier is that it seemed that God was starting to prepare you for what was coming when you didn't know what was coming, right? So before
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: the job before the job loss, you'd already been asking God to become more intimately involved with him and in your relationship with him. What was happening in your spiritual life at that moment when you were asking God for the blessings of of becoming closer to him?
Kim Hardy: So Prior to that I had asked, okay, you know, like you said, what what do I need to do? What do I in that December before this went down, I had been working at a ministry called Mercy Ships and I felt like the Lord was telling me to resign and so I said Okay, I'll resign. And that was a big leap of faith because that was the first time in quite a while that it's not the first time that it we were living on one income, but it was the first time in quite a while that I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Right.
Kim Hardy: was like, Okay, here we go. We're gonna do this and I'm gonna go and I'm gonna step into full time ministry for what I do and trust
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you. Well, along the way God had started providing financially so the month of December, end of January, my husband started getting opportunities to play. He's a percussionist and so a drummer. So he started getting different opportunities to play and what ended up happening is the Lord had provided what I would not bring home with him playing.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: And this was just another step of him showing us like look I'll provide, I'll be faithful, and it it was just heartwarming to know how God was taking care of us, even though we didn't really
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: put it all together. and It's amazing what he will do when you just take that step of faith, no matter how big or small.
Stephanie: Yep. Right. there there's a reason why that phrase is so popular, you have to step out there on faith because so many times we do. We have no reasoning, no logical reasoning anyway. We just have to step out there and and believe that he'll do what he says he's going to do. And he always does. But it just feels weird to step out there with nothing under your foot, right?
Kim Hardy: It yes, it does.
Stephanie: You also mentioned that you were prompted to read Psalm was it ninety one? Psalm ninety one. tell us about that.
Kim Hardy: Okay, yes, it still blows my mind to this day. So I had been praying about going to it's called Deep in the Heart. it's here in East Texas and it's
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: a a ladies conference and I was like, Man, I really wanna go, I really wanna go and praying about it and I just couldn't I I was like, that's extra money. We don't really it should I go, should I not? And I was like, No, I'm just not gonna go. Well, I had a friend reach out and say, Hey, I have an extra ticket. would you want it? And I was like, Yes, that would be amazing. So I'm excited, it's
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: here in in Tyler where I live. And so I was like, I don't have to pay for a hotel room. I can just get there
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: stay and come back home. And when I did, when I accepted this, so I show up, go, and I'm praying, and I I'm like praying over okay, what breakout session? I know, Lord, I'm here for a reason. So tell me what breakout session do I need to go to?
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: And I went to this one, I went to more than one obviously, but this one, the the lady said I want to encourage you to read Psalm to 91 every day and she recited it by memory and I it just blew me away because she was able to recite it by memory and I was like I need to do that but whenever she encouraged
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: me to read it I went home and I read it and this is like end of February, beginning of March to kind of give you some time frame that's going on here. So I read it
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: for about a week or two. And then I was like, okay, I need to read this out loud because we know spoken words are, better. It's you're you're putting it
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: out there. And so I was like, okay, I'm gonna read this out loud. I felt prompted to start reading it out loud. Did that for a little bit and then I felt like, okay, I'm supposed to read this with my husband. And so we start reading
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: it out loud together and then everything that goes down, not everything, but I believe it's verse six where it talks about you'll be protected at noon. day. I should have pulled it up so I could be more specific 'cause I do not want to misquote the Bible.
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: but it it talks about your protection is what Psalm ninety one is.
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: And whenever he was called back in so that he would be told, you can come back to work or you can't come back to work,
Stephanie: Uh-huh.
Kim Hardy: it was he was supposed to be there at noon. And it just it blew my mind how all of that wind up and
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: it was really neat because we had started praying it out loud together, we had started reading it and it the that day obviously we prayed and read that out loud but
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: it didn't go the way that we wanted it to. But the Lord knew what he was doing.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: He he drew us closer to him in that time.
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: And closer to each other 'cause we were praying. We had already been praying
Stephanie: Yes.
Kim Hardy: together, but we I mean, he was home and we were waiting. We didn't know what was going on, we didn't
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: know what was going to happen. And the only thing you can do
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: is pray and trust that the Lord has you.
Stephanie: right. when you did Psalm ninety one, when did it stop feeling like it was just something you were reading about and the start feeling like something that you were actually living?
Kim Hardy: when he got the phone call that said this is the time, come come in at twelve o'clock and I was just like, Ho hold
Stephanie: Ha ha.
Kim Hardy: up. Wait, what?
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: And I I pointed it out to him. I was like, I open up Psalm ninety one real quick and let's look. Do you see this? Do you see the correlation here? And he was like wow, yes. And it I was just like, okay.
Stephanie: So God was didn't necessarily tell you what was coming, but he started giving you something that you can stand on before it arrived, right?
Kim Hardy: Yes. Yes. And I'll be perfectly honest with you. I have read through the Bible many a times. I've read Psalms not not near as much as what I did during this time and actually even now I'm still reading Psalms and just like, wow Learning that you know, those were those were prayers and that's what we can be reading and lifting up to the Lord and that's it's his word but whenever it became real, like you said, it w I I read them differently now. I have a new perspective on them because
Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: of this experience.
Stephanie: Right. I I think that's so cool that you can read the Bible umpteen million times And certain things don't pop out to you until you're praying for something or experiencing something that that scripture is relative related to. And then you think, I've read this a million times and I have never had that thought before. I think that's so cool.
Kim Hardy: Right? Yes. Me too. Yeah.
Stephanie: Ha ha
Kim Hardy: And I I guess that's why they say it's the living word. I mean we know it's the word of God, but like it speaks to
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you differently at at different times and
Stephanie: Alright.
Kim Hardy: that's it that is really cool.
Stephanie: Yes. I think that also is because at different times you're more open to receiving the information than you are at other times too. Could be.
Kim Hardy: very true. Yes. we have to be in a position like you were saying, like we have to be our hearts have to be in a certain spot, I think.
Stephanie: Yeah. Yeah. Let's go back to the housing situation for a minute, because when that fell through What was the next thing your family did? I mean, you were still in your house, so you didn't have to find housing, right?
Kim Hardy: Well, we we actually decided to go ahead and sell ours. and
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: so we went through with our the contract that Lee had on the house and and sold it
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: and thank the Lord, you know, we were able to have that money and use it as we needed
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: and we moved in with my in laws for probably about a week and we had already we were able to find a rental house and able to move in within like two weeks,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I believe, at the at the longest. It was just God showing up again.
Stephanie: Right. Right. Wow. That was quick too. Two weeks. And it's such a struggle
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: in the market right now to sell houses. So the fact that you were blessed to sell it and and keep going was really a blessing. You said something during our first interview that I haven't forgotten yet and it said that the season opened your eyes to God's goodness in the little things. so before that season, what kind of things did you usually think of as that's a blessing from God?
Kim Hardy: well, I don't want to speak for everybody, but I feel like we get caught up
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: in we don't think about the little things as being a blessing. So
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: I was caught up in the the worldly things. Like look at this nice house I've got. This is a big house. it was a two story house on almost two acres. beautiful land, trees, flowers, fruit trees. we were able to buy nice things, you know. money was I laugh now like money was tight. No it wasn't, let me tell you it wasn't but you You know, you lived to you had the money and y you we we did not have to worry. Let me just put it like that. We did not you know, there
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: were times 'cause it was my daughter's senior year. Yes, there were times where I'm like, Are we gonna be able to do this? you know? but but we
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: were fine looking at things. We were fine. I didn't have to worry about things. So when I think about blessings, I'm like, we got two cars and we got this and we've got that and it was like
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: we, we, we, who gave you, who provided for you to have that money so that you could have this nice house, so you could have that nice car, so you could have those nice clothes and the newest whatever you want. Although we we weren't quick to go out and get the newest things or anything like that. I mean
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: we're not that type of people, but I will admit I like to look nice. I like to have nice clothes and nice shoes and, you know,
Stephanie: Right. Right.
Kim Hardy: be able to go and and do things, you know? And so I was focused on that and the worldly things. And I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: I got caught up in those things. Instead of saying, Lord, thank you for this new day now I I did thank him. you know, for for the new day and
Stephanie: Right, right, right.
Kim Hardy: a pretty good prayer life, but I still was so caught up in the world and what I was getting and look at me,
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: look at the name that I'm making for myself. And this was just
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: a very humbling experience 'cause it knocked me down and made me thankful for look at how he's provided today. Look
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I woke up. I can breathe. I don't need I don't need oxygen machine, you know, to help me breathe. I can walk, I can read, I can write, look at the fresh breath
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: that I have in my lungs. I can hear, listen to the bird you know, I've always been a nature person and I've always loved it, but even now all the little things I'm just like, thank you, Lord. And He's taken care of us, He's provided for us. It's just been an amazing experience. I would not wish this on anybody, this type of
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: experience, but it did definitely shift my focus and make me recognize what the Lord has done for me. and what he is doing for me, and
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: what he's capable of doing. I just have to keep thanking him and finding him and giving him
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: things because he's in all things.
Stephanie: Right, And you mentioned something else I think is awesome that you and your husband were praying together every morning. what changed for you as a couple when you started praying together every morning?
Kim Hardy: our relationship grew stronger. We were more open and more vulnerable with each other, more like, hey, today's a hard day for me. And so we would talk about the struggles. okay, what what's making it hard? Or what are you worried about today? How can I pray for you today? We started being more intentional with each other.
Stephanie: Right. Awesome. I I love that. I I think that's when we always tell people how long we've been married and I said, well, you know, we go to the temple every every first Friday. That gives him a lot of strength. So praying together and
Kim Hardy: Ha ha ha
Stephanie: actually inviting God into your relationship really does I think strengthen as you just pointed out. strengthen your relationship together. why did you start writing down the things that God was doing
Kim Hardy: I it's important to me to remember what God has done and I don't want to forget and we tend to forget
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I will forget, you know, I will not forget the whole experience, but I'll forget the little things
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: that God has done. And I want to make sure that I don't forget. I want to remember and I want to give him the glory because he deserves it. he has walked with us through this and you know in the Bible as they were traveling is like remember, remember, remember and they had those stones, you know, and they would set up pillars for a remembrance of this is where we were in our journey. And
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you know, I I can't walk like them and set up pill well I can, but I'm not going to set up pillars, you know, wherever I'm wherever I walk. But if I write it down, that's a pillar. It's a it's a stone, it's a remembrance for what God has brought me through.
Stephanie: Right, right. Would it be fair to say that the uncertainty didn't only teach you to trust God, it taught you how to notice Him more.
Kim Hardy: definitely. Yes. Yes. because we were uncertain of the future, and what tomorrow holds, which is funny to me cause now looking back 'cause it's like I never knew what the future held anyway, but I sure thought I did, you know.
Stephanie: Ha ha ha ha ha.
Kim Hardy: But yes, it brings you to your knees because you're like what's next, Lord? And you just have to trust in him. I
Stephanie: Right. Yeah. Sometimes people think that trusting God is like this one big spiritual moment I had and then I'm good for the rest of my life. But that's not usually how it works that way. what did trusting God look like for you when you woke up and then everything was still the same? Nothing had changed.
Kim Hardy: That I'm still learning. It's a daily process. Like you have to surrender daily to the Lord and depending on
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: yourself, because the Lord is a gentleman, right? Jesus is gonna he's he's if you
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: don't want him in your life, he's like, fine, you have it your way.
Stephanie: All right.
Kim Hardy: You know? And how he will he'll come
Stephanie: Hehehehehe
Kim Hardy: after you. He's gonna try to get you to come back. But if you don't wanna spend time with him, he's not gonna be pounding at the door saying, Come spend time with me
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: You have to do it yourself and that's what I'm learning is it's daily and it's to be there's days where it's multiple times you know, like Lord I need you. I'm trusting in you, but this is hard. This is very hard. Help me. And it's just my background in learning to trust
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: him has been because my what am I trying to say here? Because I grew up with men who were not Christians. And so I had my my grandpa to look at and he was a wonderful Christian, godly man. But he was not in my life every day. So I didn't see what that looked like. And so learning to trust men
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: it was is was difficult. So that goes with my perspective of God, you know, and learning to trust him and like it's okay.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: You can trust me. You can trust me. He is a good father and
Stephanie: Right. Right.
Kim Hardy: I'm learning that. But e again, it's daily. And I I like you said, some some people are like, this is a one time thing and I'm good. And I really I was one of those for a while. And then I a God got my attention and was like, No, no, no, no, no. If you're gonna truly walk
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: with me and follow me as
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: your Lord and Savior, it's gotta be a daily surrender.
Stephanie: Right, right. And when you were going through this season, did you manage to keep up with with your regular family things? was there anything that got left behind? Were you more focused? I know we were focused on the senior year because that's important, but were there other family routines that kinda got dropped while you were swapping houses and jobs and things?
Kim Hardy: You know yes. I had to start making sure that I was taking care of me and not just trying to take care of everyone else. And so I
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: was really big on the kids did different things to help out around the house but And I'm blessed, my husband does too. But I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: got to the point where I was like, I can't I can't handle all of this. I need to ask for help. And so,
Stephanie: Right, minute.
Kim Hardy: I started saying, I c I can't do this. Can you do this? Can you help me do this part? Or can you
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: can you come wash the dishes today? You know,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: Just those those type of things 'cause you know, when you're when you're dealing with this sort of thing, you're it's a it's a traumatic experience and you've gotta
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: be able to stop and process it yourself.
Stephanie: Right. And plus you were dealing with health issues to boot, right?
Kim Hardy: Yes, on top of all of the yes, I was d dealing with health issues and trying to figure that out and it was just a lot and so
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: that's why I had to start saying, I need some help. I can't do this alone.
Stephanie: Right. Right. And I I'm sure your emotions were were all over the place, but how did your physical and your emotional changes affect the way you were experiencing everything that was happening?
Kim Hardy: Well, emotionally, you know, I'm going through all right, my husband lost his job, we're living in a new house, we're living in a new town. my daughter has gone off to college, not just a few blocks down the road or the next town over, but in Iowa of all places, you know, and so
Stephanie: Ha ha
Kim Hardy: for her to be so far away and our son move back
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: in with us, which is a a whole nother story and a blessing and a God thing, but it is just emotionally I was going I was all over the place, to be honest with you.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: And you know perimenopause is a thing. And so going through
Stephanie: tell me about it.
Kim Hardy: Going through that and trying to f trying to figure out what's going on with me hormonally, you know, and then all of this other stuff and just I was doing I was eating the right things, I was exercising. I mean I'm doing all the right things and
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: still having all these problems and trying to figure that out. So it it was another way for the Lord to get my attention. To to just be perfectly honest
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: with you, like, okay, we're gonna get to the bottom of this, but you're gonna have to rely on me and trust me. Know that I am taking care of you.
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: not just your physical needs but your spiritual needs. 'Cause I I've I've always loved words. I'm a word person. So I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: love to read and and dive deeper and like, what does that mean? Or look at the different versions of the Bible and get a bigger picture, a clearer picture. and
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I share that. I love to teach the Bible and and talk on it and how the Lord speaks to me through those things, so mentally, spiritually and physically working on me and it was a again,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: just another way for him to be like, here, let's learn to trust me some more.
Stephanie: Right, right. that answered my next question 'cause I was gonna ask, did you struggle to tell the difference between spiritual burden, emotional exhaustion, and then what was happening to your body all at the same time, you know? I could imagine that it's a lot to figure out, okay, maybe I'm just I need a nap or maybe I just need to pray right now or something.
Kim Hardy: Yeah. Yes. I was like, do I need to take a nap or do I need to pray? What what maybe it's both. but a a lot of times I was teaching myself it's okay to rest. Your body needs to rest right now. And so I would take that nap and you know what? I would wake up And I would feel so much better.
Stephanie: Exactly. And we talked about this in a couple of episodes ago that sometimes the next needful thing is rest. We were commanded to rest just like we're commanded to do many other things. Rest is something we have to take. We're not Superman.
Kim Hardy: Exactly. We might think we are, but but we're not.
Stephanie: Yeah, yeah, yeah. when you compare yourself to the woman you were before that season and then to the woman you are now, what has changed?
Kim Hardy: Well, I can tell you that I am more humble before the Lord. I'm more reverent to Him. I have a lot more respect for Him than what I did before because I recognize truly one how much I am loved by him and how much he adores me and takes care of me as his child, as his daughter. But also I don't deserve what he's done for me.
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: you know, I'm I'm a sinner. I sin every single day. I mess up every single day. And yet he chooses
Stephanie: Yep.
Kim Hardy: to allow me to live. And that right there is enough. You know, he chooses to allow me to live. And then he blesses me with opportunities like this to share my story and hopefully to help others.
Stephanie: Yes.
Kim Hardy: and that's I it's just I'm in awe of him. and what he has done through my story, my testimony. he's just a good a good God, you know.
Stephanie: He's he's a good father. So did that season
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: bring the intimacy that you had wanted to get with God going through that season did that result in the end that you got a lot closer to God.
Kim Hardy: Yes, yes, most definitely. I'm
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: my eyes were opened and you know, the verse that says, draw near to me and I'll draw near to you is
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: true. And the more that I draw near to him, the more that I realize he's right beside me. He's here with me. He's never left me. even in those moments where I felt like I'm all alone, I can look back and say I was never really alone. It felt like I was. But he's he's there and I
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: am so much closer to him. And again, I would not wish any of this on anyone unless it's gonna draw you closer to
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: the Lord. And then I'm just like
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you know It it
Stephanie: Hmm.
Kim Hardy: worked for me.
Stephanie: Right, What's something that you've stopped trying to be in control of?
Kim Hardy: my schedule. I'm a former teacher, so I mean it was bell
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: to bell I had everything timed. I had. Even in the summertime I had it scheduled out 'cause I was routine. And so
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: he has he has broken me of that. Truly. he truly has
Stephanie: Thank you.
Kim Hardy: broken me of that where I wake up and it is a time of I give you this day, Lord. Tell me what I need to do. And so I I call it a loose agenda. I know what I need to get done, but
Stephanie: Ha ha ha ha.
Kim Hardy: I am more than willing to allow interruptions in my day. to
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: fulfill the purpose that he has for me for that day, for that moment in time. and I just I ask him to to to guide my steps
Stephanie: Right. What's something that you noticed now but you overlooked before?
Kim Hardy: Hm. That's a good question, it's making me think. something that I noticed now that I overlooked before. I want to say the how important it is to be intentional with the people that God has put in your life. I've always been an encourager
Stephanie: That's a good one.
Kim Hardy: and pretty intentional about things but not as intentional like pay attention to someone in the room when they're talking to you, put your phone down, be intentional with them. be intentional when you're out in public. Even if you see a stranger, they I mean someone you don't know, smile at them. If you're in the checkout line, which I know is unusual these days who don't like standing around waiting, but what if you
Stephanie: Ha ha ha.
Kim Hardy: walk through Talk to the cashier, call them by name, be intentional, you know. Hey Kim,
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: how is your day going? those type of things let people
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: know that you see them, that they're they're
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: not just somebody walking through.
Stephanie: I love that. if we could picture a woman who's having a season with, you know, family, body, thinking about the future and faith and all these things might be unsettled in her life right now. What would be something that you would want her to know that would help her Leave this podcast with hope.
Kim Hardy: That Jesus is with you, that the Lord is with you. I know when we're in those dark spots, like I was saying earlier, it does not feel that way. So I would encourage anybody to if you don't already pick up your Bible and read it. Talk to the Lord, just throw up a prayer. It doesn't have to be eloquent, it does not have to be some long drawn out thing.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: You can just say Lord, I need you. And he's there. And sometimes you think, Well, I've said that, and he's not like there's no the he's not there. He will send a message to you that via a friend texting you,
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: right? And you may not think anything about it. But looking back, I
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: can tell you there have been several times that I've received a text from a friend. As a matter of fact, yesterday I received a a scripture from a friend out of the blue, out of nowhere, and I was like, Wow, I needed that. So just look for the Lord in those things because That's how he's reaching you. That's how he's showing you that he loves you.
Stephanie: And right. And then for our final questions, not to put you on the spot, but when you look back over that season now, when you look back over it now, where do you see the glory and where do you see the grit?
Kim Hardy: Okay. The glory is the Lord drawing not only me closer to him, but my husband closer to him. And that let me tell you to watch your spouse, your husband to go through what he has gone through, right? The turmoil, the everything, the the guilt, the shame. And to see him fully turn that
Stephanie: Thank you.
Kim Hardy: around and just him draw closer to the Lord as well. And for us to draw
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: closer to each other, that's the that's the glory. And I would say the
Stephanie: Okay.
Kim Hardy: grit was him just both of us. It's been a very humbling experience. So
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: Trusting the Lord going through this day after day, you know, like what's tomorrow gonna hold? Okay, Lord, we trust you in this process. This looks different. How how are we going to make it? It's the day to day, Getting the you know, the words are slipping my mind what I'm trying to say, but the
Stephanie: That's okay, take your time. We can edit that part out.
Kim Hardy: Working through the grit in the like I'm I'm thinking about getting down and dirty because you have to work through that fear, that uncertainty, the what does tomorrow hold? the what ifs? What are we gonna do if? What are we gonna do if that's the that's the grit You know, and you have to work your way through it. Take little bits and work on it. And not try to
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: focus on the whole big picture but just focus on one day at a time.
Stephanie: Right. I love that. I was like, I don't want to put you on the spot, but let's just throw that in there. That's great answer. Great answer. Well, Kim,
Kim Hardy: Well, thank you.
Stephanie: I want to thank you so much for sharing your story with us today and reminding us about God's faithfulness that it's not just, you know, drum in dramatic moments, it's in the everyday, you know, getting a house or making a connection with a person. or finding the right scripture to open to your heart to lead you to where you want to go. So we thank you so much for joining us today.
Kim Hardy: Thank you for having me. It's it's been fun.
Stephanie: Kim said something during our conversation that stayed with me. I never knew what the future held anyway, but I sure thought I did. Maybe that's where the trust begins. Not when we finally know what will happen, but when we surrender the belief that we ever controlled it. God's faithfulness doesn't always arrive in one dramatic rescue. Sometimes it appears through a place to stay, an unexpected opportunity, a scripture that reaches us before we even knew we needed it. Or simple strength just to face another ordinary day. this week, consider creating your own stone of remembrance. Write down one small evidence of God's care each day. not because every question has to be answered, but because you don't want to forget where he's already met you. You can find today's show notes, our guest information, and companion resources at glory and grit podcast dot com. And just a small reminder, you can also sign up for the weekly encouragement email, The Walking Note, on the website. it's not a long assignment or reading, it's just a quick thing to help you continue the conversation as you approach the little things throughout the week. Until next time, friend, keep looking for God's glory even in the middle of your grit. Bye now.
Kim Hardy: Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Stephanie: Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Now I wanna begin with the season that changed so much for your family. So I want you to kind of take us back to when you and your husband were preparing to buy and sell your house. what was supposed to happen? What did you think was going to happen and what actually happened?
Kim Hardy: Okay, so my husband and I we were very excited. We had listed our house and we finally after a year of trying to sell it, we had a contract on it and we were ready to sell the house and purchase a house. So buy and sell, it was working out, it's gonna be like same day, switch of keys, everything was going great. And a week before all of this was to the transactions were to happen, my husband lost his job. And
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: so we had to obviously let the peop the owners of the house that we were going to buy say we can't do this, whatever we need to do, we had
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: to reach out to our realtor. and so that
Stephanie: How far along in the process were you at that point?
Kim Hardy: we were it was just waiting to sign the papers.
Stephanie: Right, right. Had you actually start packing and all of that stuff too?
Kim Hardy: yes, yes. We had packed, we had already had like a garage sale. I mean we were down to the wire, like we everything was boxed up, cleaned up,
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: ready to go. It's like all right, we've got a week left in the in this house, let's you know, whatever we can live on for a week, that's what we were doing.
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: It it was Boxes, you know,
Stephanie: Wow.
Kim Hardy: stacked and everything.
Stephanie: What do you remember about the moment when your husband came in and said, Honey, I lost my job? What do you remember in that moment? Did it
Kim Hardy: Well he
Stephanie: did you instantly just start to panic? Did you did you say a prayer? Did you what did you do in that moment?
Kim Hardy: Well he actually called me before he came home
Stephanie: Uh-huh.
Kim Hardy: and he said, and I'm packing stuff up, you know, I'm like things are going good, praising the Lord, you know, and God and still continues to provide, but he had showed us over and over and over like how he was in this and everything was good and things were going great. And so when my husband called, I didn't think anything of it. He was like, Hey I need you to sit down and I was like, Okay, what good news we got coming now? You know, like I'm excited 'cause
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I'm like, What's the Lord doing now? You know?
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: What's next? And I sit down and he was like, I'm being sent home and I will you know, I'll be there shortly and I was like, W what? And I mean he told me the the circumstances and I said okay.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: and I was just in shock. I don't know you know,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: like it just knocked the breath out of me, to be honest with you. I wasn't
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: sure. I was just like okay. It it it didn't really process. I mean he was very upset obviously
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: and so when he got off the phone with him and it's about a twenty minute drive from where he worked to the house and so I just started praying 'cause I was like, Lord, what do I do? How do I how do I support him? Well
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you know, that was my biggest concern, like
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: When he walks through the door, I need to be prepared and I need to be his encourager and his supporter and not beat him down because none of this is
Stephanie: Yes.
Kim Hardy: y you know, like that's the last thing he needs is a wife who's like what? You know, like what are we gonna
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: do now? I didn't wanna be that person. I just
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: wanted to be there and know how to support him.
Stephanie: Right. Did you immediately go into problem solving mode or did you kinda just sit there for a couple of hours and and just sit?
Kim Hardy: I just sat 'cause it was so shocking. I it I
Stephanie: Yeah, yeah.
Kim Hardy: I could I could not process and then once he got home and we talked and we cried and everything then we were we started processing it's okay, what do we need to do y you know, and so we we
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: had to wait and wait and see.
Stephanie: Right, right. And I remember you said that your daughter was going through her senior year at this time? Yes.
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: So what were you trying to protect for her for this senior year that she has? One of the most important years that kids have in high school to them anyway. And it is, they're graduating, they're doing good.
Kim Hardy: Yeah, so we so it was May, I guess I should have clarified that. It was in May. So this is like the last,
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: you know, you're sprinting to that finish line and she's got all these things lined up and so our focus was to keep the focus on her, to allow her to still have the joy and the the happiness and you know, all the the things that she should
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: experience and keep that in the forefront instead of focusing on the bad and
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: what's going on here. We wanted to make sure that she got the recognition and she had the graduation party
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: and she got to do all the senior things without it without h him losing his job affecting her as much as possible.
Stephanie: Right, right. Right. Because that's such an important year to them and they're all really self absorbed during that year. And and you won you
Kim Hardy: Yes, yes, yes.
Stephanie: don't want to kind of take that from So that's a really sweet thing, to have done for her to allow her to focus on that and ha think back on that year and have fond memories of it. One of the things that stood out to me when we talked earlier is that it seemed that God was starting to prepare you for what was coming when you didn't know what was coming, right? So before
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: the job before the job loss, you'd already been asking God to become more intimately involved with him and in your relationship with him. What was happening in your spiritual life at that moment when you were asking God for the blessings of of becoming closer to him?
Kim Hardy: So Prior to that I had asked, okay, you know, like you said, what what do I need to do? What do I in that December before this went down, I had been working at a ministry called Mercy Ships and I felt like the Lord was telling me to resign and so I said Okay, I'll resign. And that was a big leap of faith because that was the first time in quite a while that it's not the first time that it we were living on one income, but it was the first time in quite a while that I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Right.
Kim Hardy: was like, Okay, here we go. We're gonna do this and I'm gonna go and I'm gonna step into full time ministry for what I do and trust
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you. Well, along the way God had started providing financially so the month of December, end of January, my husband started getting opportunities to play. He's a percussionist and so a drummer. So he started getting different opportunities to play and what ended up happening is the Lord had provided what I would not bring home with him playing.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: And this was just another step of him showing us like look I'll provide, I'll be faithful, and it it was just heartwarming to know how God was taking care of us, even though we didn't really
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: put it all together. and It's amazing what he will do when you just take that step of faith, no matter how big or small.
Stephanie: Yep. Right. there there's a reason why that phrase is so popular, you have to step out there on faith because so many times we do. We have no reasoning, no logical reasoning anyway. We just have to step out there and and believe that he'll do what he says he's going to do. And he always does. But it just feels weird to step out there with nothing under your foot, right?
Kim Hardy: It yes, it does.
Stephanie: You also mentioned that you were prompted to read Psalm was it ninety one? Psalm ninety one. tell us about that.
Kim Hardy: Okay, yes, it still blows my mind to this day. So I had been praying about going to it's called Deep in the Heart. it's here in East Texas and it's
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: a a ladies conference and I was like, Man, I really wanna go, I really wanna go and praying about it and I just couldn't I I was like, that's extra money. We don't really it should I go, should I not? And I was like, No, I'm just not gonna go. Well, I had a friend reach out and say, Hey, I have an extra ticket. would you want it? And I was like, Yes, that would be amazing. So I'm excited, it's
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: here in in Tyler where I live. And so I was like, I don't have to pay for a hotel room. I can just get there
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: stay and come back home. And when I did, when I accepted this, so I show up, go, and I'm praying, and I I'm like praying over okay, what breakout session? I know, Lord, I'm here for a reason. So tell me what breakout session do I need to go to?
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: And I went to this one, I went to more than one obviously, but this one, the the lady said I want to encourage you to read Psalm to 91 every day and she recited it by memory and I it just blew me away because she was able to recite it by memory and I was like I need to do that but whenever she encouraged
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: me to read it I went home and I read it and this is like end of February, beginning of March to kind of give you some time frame that's going on here. So I read it
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: for about a week or two. And then I was like, okay, I need to read this out loud because we know spoken words are, better. It's you're you're putting it
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: out there. And so I was like, okay, I'm gonna read this out loud. I felt prompted to start reading it out loud. Did that for a little bit and then I felt like, okay, I'm supposed to read this with my husband. And so we start reading
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: it out loud together and then everything that goes down, not everything, but I believe it's verse six where it talks about you'll be protected at noon. day. I should have pulled it up so I could be more specific 'cause I do not want to misquote the Bible.
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: but it it talks about your protection is what Psalm ninety one is.
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: And whenever he was called back in so that he would be told, you can come back to work or you can't come back to work,
Stephanie: Uh-huh.
Kim Hardy: it was he was supposed to be there at noon. And it just it blew my mind how all of that wind up and
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: it was really neat because we had started praying it out loud together, we had started reading it and it the that day obviously we prayed and read that out loud but
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: it didn't go the way that we wanted it to. But the Lord knew what he was doing.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: He he drew us closer to him in that time.
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: And closer to each other 'cause we were praying. We had already been praying
Stephanie: Yes.
Kim Hardy: together, but we I mean, he was home and we were waiting. We didn't know what was going on, we didn't
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: know what was going to happen. And the only thing you can do
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: is pray and trust that the Lord has you.
Stephanie: right. when you did Psalm ninety one, when did it stop feeling like it was just something you were reading about and the start feeling like something that you were actually living?
Kim Hardy: when he got the phone call that said this is the time, come come in at twelve o'clock and I was just like, Ho hold
Stephanie: Ha ha.
Kim Hardy: up. Wait, what?
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: And I I pointed it out to him. I was like, I open up Psalm ninety one real quick and let's look. Do you see this? Do you see the correlation here? And he was like wow, yes. And it I was just like, okay.
Stephanie: So God was didn't necessarily tell you what was coming, but he started giving you something that you can stand on before it arrived, right?
Kim Hardy: Yes. Yes. And I'll be perfectly honest with you. I have read through the Bible many a times. I've read Psalms not not near as much as what I did during this time and actually even now I'm still reading Psalms and just like, wow Learning that you know, those were those were prayers and that's what we can be reading and lifting up to the Lord and that's it's his word but whenever it became real, like you said, it w I I read them differently now. I have a new perspective on them because
Stephanie: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: of this experience.
Stephanie: Right. I I think that's so cool that you can read the Bible umpteen million times And certain things don't pop out to you until you're praying for something or experiencing something that that scripture is relative related to. And then you think, I've read this a million times and I have never had that thought before. I think that's so cool.
Kim Hardy: Right? Yes. Me too. Yeah.
Stephanie: Ha ha
Kim Hardy: And I I guess that's why they say it's the living word. I mean we know it's the word of God, but like it speaks to
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you differently at at different times and
Stephanie: Alright.
Kim Hardy: that's it that is really cool.
Stephanie: Yes. I think that also is because at different times you're more open to receiving the information than you are at other times too. Could be.
Kim Hardy: very true. Yes. we have to be in a position like you were saying, like we have to be our hearts have to be in a certain spot, I think.
Stephanie: Yeah. Yeah. Let's go back to the housing situation for a minute, because when that fell through What was the next thing your family did? I mean, you were still in your house, so you didn't have to find housing, right?
Kim Hardy: Well, we we actually decided to go ahead and sell ours. and
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: so we went through with our the contract that Lee had on the house and and sold it
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: and thank the Lord, you know, we were able to have that money and use it as we needed
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: and we moved in with my in laws for probably about a week and we had already we were able to find a rental house and able to move in within like two weeks,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I believe, at the at the longest. It was just God showing up again.
Stephanie: Right. Right. Wow. That was quick too. Two weeks. And it's such a struggle
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: in the market right now to sell houses. So the fact that you were blessed to sell it and and keep going was really a blessing. You said something during our first interview that I haven't forgotten yet and it said that the season opened your eyes to God's goodness in the little things. so before that season, what kind of things did you usually think of as that's a blessing from God?
Kim Hardy: well, I don't want to speak for everybody, but I feel like we get caught up
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: in we don't think about the little things as being a blessing. So
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: I was caught up in the the worldly things. Like look at this nice house I've got. This is a big house. it was a two story house on almost two acres. beautiful land, trees, flowers, fruit trees. we were able to buy nice things, you know. money was I laugh now like money was tight. No it wasn't, let me tell you it wasn't but you You know, you lived to you had the money and y you we we did not have to worry. Let me just put it like that. We did not you know, there
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: were times 'cause it was my daughter's senior year. Yes, there were times where I'm like, Are we gonna be able to do this? you know? but but we
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: were fine looking at things. We were fine. I didn't have to worry about things. So when I think about blessings, I'm like, we got two cars and we got this and we've got that and it was like
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: we, we, we, who gave you, who provided for you to have that money so that you could have this nice house, so you could have that nice car, so you could have those nice clothes and the newest whatever you want. Although we we weren't quick to go out and get the newest things or anything like that. I mean
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: we're not that type of people, but I will admit I like to look nice. I like to have nice clothes and nice shoes and, you know,
Stephanie: Right. Right.
Kim Hardy: be able to go and and do things, you know? And so I was focused on that and the worldly things. And I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: I got caught up in those things. Instead of saying, Lord, thank you for this new day now I I did thank him. you know, for for the new day and
Stephanie: Right, right, right.
Kim Hardy: a pretty good prayer life, but I still was so caught up in the world and what I was getting and look at me,
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: look at the name that I'm making for myself. And this was just
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: a very humbling experience 'cause it knocked me down and made me thankful for look at how he's provided today. Look
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I woke up. I can breathe. I don't need I don't need oxygen machine, you know, to help me breathe. I can walk, I can read, I can write, look at the fresh breath
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: that I have in my lungs. I can hear, listen to the bird you know, I've always been a nature person and I've always loved it, but even now all the little things I'm just like, thank you, Lord. And He's taken care of us, He's provided for us. It's just been an amazing experience. I would not wish this on anybody, this type of
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: experience, but it did definitely shift my focus and make me recognize what the Lord has done for me. and what he is doing for me, and
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: what he's capable of doing. I just have to keep thanking him and finding him and giving him
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: things because he's in all things.
Stephanie: Right, And you mentioned something else I think is awesome that you and your husband were praying together every morning. what changed for you as a couple when you started praying together every morning?
Kim Hardy: our relationship grew stronger. We were more open and more vulnerable with each other, more like, hey, today's a hard day for me. And so we would talk about the struggles. okay, what what's making it hard? Or what are you worried about today? How can I pray for you today? We started being more intentional with each other.
Stephanie: Right. Awesome. I I love that. I I think that's when we always tell people how long we've been married and I said, well, you know, we go to the temple every every first Friday. That gives him a lot of strength. So praying together and
Kim Hardy: Ha ha ha
Stephanie: actually inviting God into your relationship really does I think strengthen as you just pointed out. strengthen your relationship together. why did you start writing down the things that God was doing
Kim Hardy: I it's important to me to remember what God has done and I don't want to forget and we tend to forget
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I will forget, you know, I will not forget the whole experience, but I'll forget the little things
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: that God has done. And I want to make sure that I don't forget. I want to remember and I want to give him the glory because he deserves it. he has walked with us through this and you know in the Bible as they were traveling is like remember, remember, remember and they had those stones, you know, and they would set up pillars for a remembrance of this is where we were in our journey. And
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you know, I I can't walk like them and set up pill well I can, but I'm not going to set up pillars, you know, wherever I'm wherever I walk. But if I write it down, that's a pillar. It's a it's a stone, it's a remembrance for what God has brought me through.
Stephanie: Right, right. Would it be fair to say that the uncertainty didn't only teach you to trust God, it taught you how to notice Him more.
Kim Hardy: definitely. Yes. Yes. because we were uncertain of the future, and what tomorrow holds, which is funny to me cause now looking back 'cause it's like I never knew what the future held anyway, but I sure thought I did, you know.
Stephanie: Ha ha ha ha ha.
Kim Hardy: But yes, it brings you to your knees because you're like what's next, Lord? And you just have to trust in him. I
Stephanie: Right. Yeah. Sometimes people think that trusting God is like this one big spiritual moment I had and then I'm good for the rest of my life. But that's not usually how it works that way. what did trusting God look like for you when you woke up and then everything was still the same? Nothing had changed.
Kim Hardy: That I'm still learning. It's a daily process. Like you have to surrender daily to the Lord and depending on
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: yourself, because the Lord is a gentleman, right? Jesus is gonna he's he's if you
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: don't want him in your life, he's like, fine, you have it your way.
Stephanie: All right.
Kim Hardy: You know? And how he will he'll come
Stephanie: Hehehehehe
Kim Hardy: after you. He's gonna try to get you to come back. But if you don't wanna spend time with him, he's not gonna be pounding at the door saying, Come spend time with me
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: You have to do it yourself and that's what I'm learning is it's daily and it's to be there's days where it's multiple times you know, like Lord I need you. I'm trusting in you, but this is hard. This is very hard. Help me. And it's just my background in learning to trust
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: him has been because my what am I trying to say here? Because I grew up with men who were not Christians. And so I had my my grandpa to look at and he was a wonderful Christian, godly man. But he was not in my life every day. So I didn't see what that looked like. And so learning to trust men
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: it was is was difficult. So that goes with my perspective of God, you know, and learning to trust him and like it's okay.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: You can trust me. You can trust me. He is a good father and
Stephanie: Right. Right.
Kim Hardy: I'm learning that. But e again, it's daily. And I I like you said, some some people are like, this is a one time thing and I'm good. And I really I was one of those for a while. And then I a God got my attention and was like, No, no, no, no, no. If you're gonna truly walk
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: with me and follow me as
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: your Lord and Savior, it's gotta be a daily surrender.
Stephanie: Right, right. And when you were going through this season, did you manage to keep up with with your regular family things? was there anything that got left behind? Were you more focused? I know we were focused on the senior year because that's important, but were there other family routines that kinda got dropped while you were swapping houses and jobs and things?
Kim Hardy: You know yes. I had to start making sure that I was taking care of me and not just trying to take care of everyone else. And so I
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: was really big on the kids did different things to help out around the house but And I'm blessed, my husband does too. But I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: got to the point where I was like, I can't I can't handle all of this. I need to ask for help. And so,
Stephanie: Right, minute.
Kim Hardy: I started saying, I c I can't do this. Can you do this? Can you help me do this part? Or can you
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: can you come wash the dishes today? You know,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: Just those those type of things 'cause you know, when you're when you're dealing with this sort of thing, you're it's a it's a traumatic experience and you've gotta
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: be able to stop and process it yourself.
Stephanie: Right. And plus you were dealing with health issues to boot, right?
Kim Hardy: Yes, on top of all of the yes, I was d dealing with health issues and trying to figure that out and it was just a lot and so
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: that's why I had to start saying, I need some help. I can't do this alone.
Stephanie: Right. Right. And I I'm sure your emotions were were all over the place, but how did your physical and your emotional changes affect the way you were experiencing everything that was happening?
Kim Hardy: Well, emotionally, you know, I'm going through all right, my husband lost his job, we're living in a new house, we're living in a new town. my daughter has gone off to college, not just a few blocks down the road or the next town over, but in Iowa of all places, you know, and so
Stephanie: Ha ha
Kim Hardy: for her to be so far away and our son move back
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: in with us, which is a a whole nother story and a blessing and a God thing, but it is just emotionally I was going I was all over the place, to be honest with you.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: And you know perimenopause is a thing. And so going through
Stephanie: tell me about it.
Kim Hardy: Going through that and trying to f trying to figure out what's going on with me hormonally, you know, and then all of this other stuff and just I was doing I was eating the right things, I was exercising. I mean I'm doing all the right things and
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: still having all these problems and trying to figure that out. So it it was another way for the Lord to get my attention. To to just be perfectly honest
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: with you, like, okay, we're gonna get to the bottom of this, but you're gonna have to rely on me and trust me. Know that I am taking care of you.
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: not just your physical needs but your spiritual needs. 'Cause I I've I've always loved words. I'm a word person. So I
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: love to read and and dive deeper and like, what does that mean? Or look at the different versions of the Bible and get a bigger picture, a clearer picture. and
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: I share that. I love to teach the Bible and and talk on it and how the Lord speaks to me through those things, so mentally, spiritually and physically working on me and it was a again,
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: just another way for him to be like, here, let's learn to trust me some more.
Stephanie: Right, right. that answered my next question 'cause I was gonna ask, did you struggle to tell the difference between spiritual burden, emotional exhaustion, and then what was happening to your body all at the same time, you know? I could imagine that it's a lot to figure out, okay, maybe I'm just I need a nap or maybe I just need to pray right now or something.
Kim Hardy: Yeah. Yes. I was like, do I need to take a nap or do I need to pray? What what maybe it's both. but a a lot of times I was teaching myself it's okay to rest. Your body needs to rest right now. And so I would take that nap and you know what? I would wake up And I would feel so much better.
Stephanie: Exactly. And we talked about this in a couple of episodes ago that sometimes the next needful thing is rest. We were commanded to rest just like we're commanded to do many other things. Rest is something we have to take. We're not Superman.
Kim Hardy: Exactly. We might think we are, but but we're not.
Stephanie: Yeah, yeah, yeah. when you compare yourself to the woman you were before that season and then to the woman you are now, what has changed?
Kim Hardy: Well, I can tell you that I am more humble before the Lord. I'm more reverent to Him. I have a lot more respect for Him than what I did before because I recognize truly one how much I am loved by him and how much he adores me and takes care of me as his child, as his daughter. But also I don't deserve what he's done for me.
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: you know, I'm I'm a sinner. I sin every single day. I mess up every single day. And yet he chooses
Stephanie: Yep.
Kim Hardy: to allow me to live. And that right there is enough. You know, he chooses to allow me to live. And then he blesses me with opportunities like this to share my story and hopefully to help others.
Stephanie: Yes.
Kim Hardy: and that's I it's just I'm in awe of him. and what he has done through my story, my testimony. he's just a good a good God, you know.
Stephanie: He's he's a good father. So did that season
Kim Hardy: Yes.
Stephanie: bring the intimacy that you had wanted to get with God going through that season did that result in the end that you got a lot closer to God.
Kim Hardy: Yes, yes, most definitely. I'm
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: my eyes were opened and you know, the verse that says, draw near to me and I'll draw near to you is
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: true. And the more that I draw near to him, the more that I realize he's right beside me. He's here with me. He's never left me. even in those moments where I felt like I'm all alone, I can look back and say I was never really alone. It felt like I was. But he's he's there and I
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: am so much closer to him. And again, I would not wish any of this on anyone unless it's gonna draw you closer to
Stephanie: Right, right.
Kim Hardy: the Lord. And then I'm just like
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: you know It it
Stephanie: Hmm.
Kim Hardy: worked for me.
Stephanie: Right, What's something that you've stopped trying to be in control of?
Kim Hardy: my schedule. I'm a former teacher, so I mean it was bell
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: to bell I had everything timed. I had. Even in the summertime I had it scheduled out 'cause I was routine. And so
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: he has he has broken me of that. Truly. he truly has
Stephanie: Thank you.
Kim Hardy: broken me of that where I wake up and it is a time of I give you this day, Lord. Tell me what I need to do. And so I I call it a loose agenda. I know what I need to get done, but
Stephanie: Ha ha ha ha.
Kim Hardy: I am more than willing to allow interruptions in my day. to
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: fulfill the purpose that he has for me for that day, for that moment in time. and I just I ask him to to to guide my steps
Stephanie: Right. What's something that you noticed now but you overlooked before?
Kim Hardy: Hm. That's a good question, it's making me think. something that I noticed now that I overlooked before. I want to say the how important it is to be intentional with the people that God has put in your life. I've always been an encourager
Stephanie: That's a good one.
Kim Hardy: and pretty intentional about things but not as intentional like pay attention to someone in the room when they're talking to you, put your phone down, be intentional with them. be intentional when you're out in public. Even if you see a stranger, they I mean someone you don't know, smile at them. If you're in the checkout line, which I know is unusual these days who don't like standing around waiting, but what if you
Stephanie: Ha ha ha.
Kim Hardy: walk through Talk to the cashier, call them by name, be intentional, you know. Hey Kim,
Stephanie: Mm.
Kim Hardy: how is your day going? those type of things let people
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: know that you see them, that they're they're
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: not just somebody walking through.
Stephanie: I love that. if we could picture a woman who's having a season with, you know, family, body, thinking about the future and faith and all these things might be unsettled in her life right now. What would be something that you would want her to know that would help her Leave this podcast with hope.
Kim Hardy: That Jesus is with you, that the Lord is with you. I know when we're in those dark spots, like I was saying earlier, it does not feel that way. So I would encourage anybody to if you don't already pick up your Bible and read it. Talk to the Lord, just throw up a prayer. It doesn't have to be eloquent, it does not have to be some long drawn out thing.
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: You can just say Lord, I need you. And he's there. And sometimes you think, Well, I've said that, and he's not like there's no the he's not there. He will send a message to you that via a friend texting you,
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: right? And you may not think anything about it. But looking back, I
Stephanie: Yeah.
Kim Hardy: can tell you there have been several times that I've received a text from a friend. As a matter of fact, yesterday I received a a scripture from a friend out of the blue, out of nowhere, and I was like, Wow, I needed that. So just look for the Lord in those things because That's how he's reaching you. That's how he's showing you that he loves you.
Stephanie: And right. And then for our final questions, not to put you on the spot, but when you look back over that season now, when you look back over it now, where do you see the glory and where do you see the grit?
Kim Hardy: Okay. The glory is the Lord drawing not only me closer to him, but my husband closer to him. And that let me tell you to watch your spouse, your husband to go through what he has gone through, right? The turmoil, the everything, the the guilt, the shame. And to see him fully turn that
Stephanie: Thank you.
Kim Hardy: around and just him draw closer to the Lord as well. And for us to draw
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: closer to each other, that's the that's the glory. And I would say the
Stephanie: Okay.
Kim Hardy: grit was him just both of us. It's been a very humbling experience. So
Stephanie: Mm-hmm.
Kim Hardy: Trusting the Lord going through this day after day, you know, like what's tomorrow gonna hold? Okay, Lord, we trust you in this process. This looks different. How how are we going to make it? It's the day to day, Getting the you know, the words are slipping my mind what I'm trying to say, but the
Stephanie: That's okay, take your time. We can edit that part out.
Kim Hardy: Working through the grit in the like I'm I'm thinking about getting down and dirty because you have to work through that fear, that uncertainty, the what does tomorrow hold? the what ifs? What are we gonna do if? What are we gonna do if that's the that's the grit You know, and you have to work your way through it. Take little bits and work on it. And not try to
Stephanie: Right.
Kim Hardy: focus on the whole big picture but just focus on one day at a time.
Stephanie: Right. I love that. I was like, I don't want to put you on the spot, but let's just throw that in there. That's great answer. Great answer. Well, Kim,
Kim Hardy: Well, thank you.
Stephanie: I want to thank you so much for sharing your story with us today and reminding us about God's faithfulness that it's not just, you know, drum in dramatic moments, it's in the everyday, you know, getting a house or making a connection with a person. or finding the right scripture to open to your heart to lead you to where you want to go. So we thank you so much for joining us today.
Kim Hardy: Thank you for having me. It's it's been fun.
Stephanie: Kim said something during our conversation that stayed with me. I never knew what the future held anyway, but I sure thought I did. Maybe that's where the trust begins. Not when we finally know what will happen, but when we surrender the belief that we ever controlled it. God's faithfulness doesn't always arrive in one dramatic rescue. Sometimes it appears through a place to stay, an unexpected opportunity, a scripture that reaches us before we even knew we needed it. Or simple strength just to face another ordinary day. this week, consider creating your own stone of remembrance. Write down one small evidence of God's care each day. not because every question has to be answered, but because you don't want to forget where he's already met you. You can find today's show notes, our guest information, and companion resources at glory and grit podcast dot com. And just a small reminder, you can also sign up for the weekly encouragement email, The Walking Note, on the website. it's not a long assignment or reading, it's just a quick thing to help you continue the conversation as you approach the little things throughout the week. Until next time, friend, keep looking for God's glory even in the middle of your grit. Bye now.
