Fight Like a Girl -- With God on Your Side! Kim Hardy, Part 2
If you don't want to live ruled by fear, anxiety, or insecurity, you're going to have to fight. Each person's battles are specific and unique and may change over time. But not fighting won't keep you safe; it will only keep you hidden and ineffective.
Kim Hardy shares how we can fight , not alone, but with God on our side! Kim uses her own journey to teach women and youth how aligning our thoughts with God's truth is key to transformation and this opens the door to hope.
Kim speaks about practical steps on taking control of one's thoughts to powerful reminders about not allowing the good in life to be a replacement for anchoring one's identity in Christ.
Order Kim's book, Fighting My Battles With God On My Side, and visit with her about speaking engagements, especially for teens!
Connect with Kim at:
Website: https://www.sunflowersofhope.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hardykim82
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hardyk82/
Email: info@sunflowersofhope.com.
Amazon book link:
https://www.amazon.com/Fighting-My-Battles-God-Side/dp/1951350979/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1
Empower yourself and your family to engage fully in God’s grand story. Subscribe to Hi(Impact) at Stephanie Presents for insights, encouragement, and practical resources!
Book Stephanie to speak to your women, parents, Christian educators, and students.
#hope
#spiritualbattle
#spirituallystrong
#emotionalhealth
#relationships
#bible
#faith
#truth
#biblestudy
#christianfaith
#christianwomen
#christianity
#lifeskey3
#kimhardy
#sunflowersofhope
Transcript
If your desire is to become spiritually stronger, emotionally healthier, and relationally smarter, you're at the right place.
Speaker A:Speaker and writer Stephanie Smith inspires and equips you to achieve these three key aims.
Speaker A:If you're a parent, you also learn how to raise empowered kids ready for adulthood.
Speaker A:Let's get started.
Speaker B:Welcome back, listeners.
Speaker B:You are in for an absolute treat today as we pick up and continue the conversation with Kim Hardy from last week.
Speaker B:Kim is an author, a speaker, and she has a heart as big as the state in which she lives.
Speaker B:She shares a message of hope, and Kim knows what it is to hold on to hope.
Speaker B:We talked last time as she shared the story of losing her father at a very young age and then later experiencing the death of a beloved brother.
Speaker B:And so Kim doesn't just talk about hope like, oh, yes, it's just this lovely emotion.
Speaker B:No, she knows the reality of a hope that gives purpose and meaning and value when life caves in on you.
Speaker B:And she shares very openly.
Speaker B:And she wants now to be able to use what she's learned and what she has dealt with and overcome by the power of Christ living within her, with other people.
Speaker B:She speaks at women's events.
Speaker B:She also speaks to teens and to youth.
Speaker B:And she has a real heart for helping young people to learn these things early in their lives so that they don't have to spend time half of their adult life just trying to get over baggage that they, that they carry with them.
Speaker B:So we're going to pick up today.
Speaker B:Kim's going to continue to talk to us.
Speaker B:So one of the things that I really like that she shares about is that we're able to see the connection between taking our thoughts captive, which is a lot of work, but it's one of the things that we have to do if we are not going to be consumed by this world.
Speaker B:But we are going to be people who are transformed and we're going to be people of hope and people, men who can go on and to share that and equip other people with that.
Speaker B:Okay, so we're going to get started.
Speaker B:If you haven't had a chance, make sure to go back and to listen to the first part of the episode from last week.
Speaker B:And then we're going to continue with the conversation in part two with Kim Hardy.
Speaker C:You know, one of the things that I appreciate, Kim, you know, as you were talking about your brother, is that you spoke of him always in first and through the last, as a person, not an addict.
Speaker C:And I just want to say that that's something that all of us need to remember, whether it's with a family member or, or a stranger, that we see that behind every addiction or what we might say, well, that person's an addict, yes, but they're a person first.
Speaker C:And nobody sets out to become addicted to anything.
Speaker C:Nobody wakes up one day and says, you know, I think I'm going to become a drug addict.
Speaker C:And, and, and then says, you know, yeah, I, I think that's going to be my life plan.
Speaker C:And, and so it's important for us to understand that there were issues in a person's life that always led them to start in behaviors that they did.
Speaker C:And like you talked about with your, your brother, right, he didn't decide as a teenager, I'm going to become a drug, you know, addict.
Speaker C:This is going to be my, my life's journey.
Speaker C:It was a matter that I want to fit in.
Speaker C:I want acceptance and something that all of us, if we're honest, you know, can.
Speaker C:Can relate to.
Speaker C:So can you share with us?
Speaker C:You know, you've talked throughout this with different things that, and one of the, the core messages that I just kind of keep hearing as you were talking about this was a lot of this was what you thought.
Speaker C:I mean, it had to do with the choices you made about the thoughts you were going to hold on to and the ones that you were going to walk away from.
Speaker C:So we can't keep every thought out of our brain, but we certainly can choose what we're going to focus, focus on and give our attention to and what we are going to discard.
Speaker C:And I wish that discarding those negative thoughts or those thoughts that don't align with God, I wish we could just go, oh, I'm not going to think that anymore.
Speaker C:Disappear.
Speaker C:I certainly have not found that to be true in my life.
Speaker C:There are, there are ways that sometimes it's very hard for us to do that, but if we keep at it, eventually change does come.
Speaker C:So are there some techniques or just some things that you did on a practical level that cooperated with God in this transformative process of finding your acceptance in him that you can just share with our listeners?
Speaker D:Sure.
Speaker D:And just to touch base on the.
Speaker D:My, My brother was a human.
Speaker D:You know, he.
Speaker D:He made the mistakes.
Speaker D:We all, we all make mistakes.
Speaker D:And I.
Speaker D:And that's how Jesus.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's.
Speaker D:That's how we.
Speaker D:You know, when you read the Bible and you.
Speaker D:And you read through Acts and you look at the church and how the disciples went out and how Jesus was teaching them, he went to those who people ran away from, you know, because there was something wrong with them.
Speaker D:And that's how I try to view others.
Speaker D:I don't.
Speaker D:I.
Speaker D:I don't.
Speaker D:I don't want to say I don't care that you're an addict, but that.
Speaker D:That doesn't make you who you are.
Speaker D:You know, you.
Speaker D:You're created in the image of God, and that's how I try to view people.
Speaker D:And I'm not perfect at it by any means, but that is what I try my best to do.
Speaker D:And one of the things that hurt me so much when my brother passed was I felt like people were like, well, he was an addict, so good for him.
Speaker D:You know, like, that should have happened.
Speaker D:Or.
Speaker D:And again, it goes back to those thoughts, those thoughts that we allow in our heads.
Speaker D:I.
Speaker D:You know, looking back, I can.
Speaker D:I can almost guarantee you there was.
Speaker D:There may have been a few people who thought that, but there probably was nobody thinking that way.
Speaker D:But it's how I felt.
Speaker D:And maybe it just tells you a little bit about my heart, too.
Speaker D:Like, you know, I struggled with.
Speaker D:I was mad at him.
Speaker D:Why are you using.
Speaker D:Why did you do this?
Speaker D:You're my baby brother.
Speaker D:You're weren't.
Speaker D:You weren't supposed to die.
Speaker D:I was supposed to go to heaven first.
Speaker D:How dare you get to meet the people in heaven before me.
Speaker D:You know, like, what?
Speaker D:You.
Speaker D:You did it again.
Speaker D:He always.
Speaker D:He always was the first.
Speaker D:He wanted to be first because, you know, he is the baby.
Speaker D:So to go back to the thoughts, it all starts with what you feed yourself, what you allow in.
Speaker D:No, we can't control what we think all the time because they fly through.
Speaker D:We have millions of thoughts running through our head every day.
Speaker D:We can't control everyone, but we can recognize.
Speaker D:Oh, was that good?
Speaker D:Was that true?
Speaker D:Was that pure?
Speaker D:Was that.
Speaker D:Was that noble?
Speaker D:Would God speak like that to me?
Speaker D:Would.
Speaker D:Would he say those condemning things that just ran through your head?
Speaker D:No.
Speaker D:No, he would not.
Speaker D:Because he is a loving and caring God.
Speaker D:And so the more you put in positive, the more the positive runs through, and you take and hold those captive.
Speaker D:And what I have done is I have written things out in my office space.
Speaker D:I have sticky notes, and it says, I am chosen.
Speaker D:I am enough.
Speaker D:I am a child of God.
Speaker D:I am a writer.
Speaker D:I am.
Speaker D:You know, I'm an author.
Speaker D:I'm a speaker.
Speaker D:I am.
Speaker D:And you.
Speaker D:You have to build yourself up.
Speaker D:So now I can't build myself up to where I have this huge ego in my head, you know, like this big, not Fitting on the screen or anything.
Speaker D:But that's not what it's for.
Speaker D:I'm feeding myself the truths that I found in the Bible that God said about his children.
Speaker D:And you can look it up, and it says, I am chosen.
Speaker D:You know, you are chosen.
Speaker D:You know you're.
Speaker D:You're an heir to the throne.
Speaker D:Well, wait a second.
Speaker D:What does heir mean?
Speaker D:What does throne mean when you put those together?
Speaker D:We know that Jesus is the king of kings.
Speaker D:He's the lord of lords.
Speaker D:So that means if he's a king and I am a child of God, Wait, wait, I'm his sister.
Speaker D:So then I am an heir to the throne.
Speaker D:I'm royalty.
Speaker D:And it says that in the Bible.
Speaker D:So we have to accept that.
Speaker D:We don't have to.
Speaker D:We always have that choice.
Speaker D:You know, you don't have to.
Speaker D:But if you want to move forward in your process of captivating those thoughts and taken and tossing out the negative and resetting your mind, you take those things from the Bible that God says you are, and you read it every day.
Speaker D:You repeat it, say it out loud.
Speaker D:I have looked in the mirror, I can't tell you how many times, and said, you are a child of God.
Speaker D:You are chosen.
Speaker D:You are free.
Speaker D:You are forgiven.
Speaker D:Walk in it.
Speaker D:And just recently have I just really out loud said, you are free.
Speaker D:You are chosen.
Speaker D:Because I can read it and it's there.
Speaker D:But once you start to say it out loud, it's like this.
Speaker D:It's a click, a connection.
Speaker D:I like to call it light bulb moments.
Speaker D:Whenever I was teaching my students, you know, you could see the light go off and they like, oh, I get it.
Speaker D:This Hardy, I get it.
Speaker D:And you're like, yay.
Speaker D:I feel like that's what God does with us as his children.
Speaker D:He's like, yay.
Speaker D:You get it.
Speaker D:You're understanding.
Speaker D:Yes, I love you.
Speaker D:Yes, you're chosen.
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker D:You are a child of God.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:You know, and I think it's fascinating that the brain research shows us that when we say something out loud, it engages different parts of our brain.
Speaker C:Brain than if we just read something or even if we just say it, like internally to ourselves.
Speaker C:There is something about opening our mouth and speaking something aloud that gives it more power than if we just read it or just.
Speaker C:Just say it to ourselves.
Speaker C:So reading is better than not doing anything.
Speaker C:But if you really want to take that to the next level, then repeating those words of truth that we find in scripture out loud is a powerful practical technique.
Speaker C:That's.
Speaker C:That's not just made up Woo Woo.
Speaker C:Stuff.
Speaker C:I mean it really is aligned with how God has created us.
Speaker C:You know, as you were talking about the, the post, it notes that you have up and a couple of those that you mentioned, you know, I, I am an author, I am a speaker and you are and I'm.
Speaker C:That just as beautifully leads us into, into the, the next couple of questions.
Speaker C:So tell our listeners about your book Fighting My Battles with God on My Side.
Speaker C:They can get that on Amazon, so tell them more about that.
Speaker D:Fighting My Battles was written to be a resource to help women overcome the negative thoughts and obstacles we all face in our lives.
Speaker D:It was written to help women from, from the bottom of my heart, I want to help women overcome these, these thoughts, this negativity.
Speaker D:I feel like so much in this world today, there is so much negativity that if we're not careful, that's all that is coming in and we got to put a stop to it.
Speaker D:But again, like I was telling you with my journey, you have to recognize what's coming in as negative and what, what in your life has caused you to start thinking so many negative things about yourself, about your situation, what's going on.
Speaker D:So to stop and reflect.
Speaker D:That's what this book will help you do.
Speaker D:You, you read through a chapter and you, you think on things.
Speaker D:I have a dive deeper section where it point you to scripture and ask you questions to help you dive a little deeper, to help you dig in.
Speaker D:And it's going to be painful, but if you're honest and open with yourself, you will be freeing.
Speaker D:And it's things that I have done, I have done something similar to, to that just to help myself.
Speaker D:And it is my prayer that the women who read Fighting My Battles With God on My Side will overcome their negative thoughts and no longer be held captive by them.
Speaker D:Because that's exactly what the devil wants.
Speaker D:He just wants to hold us to that, you know, he doesn't want us to escape because women are powerful.
Speaker D:God did not create us to be meek and intended.
Speaker D:He created us to, to go out there and be bold and enjoy life and to support each other, to encourage each other not to hunker down behind the walls of our, of our house or hide behind the shelter of our husbands.
Speaker D:Yes, they are created to help like we're help mates.
Speaker D:So I don't mean that as a downer, but we each have our purpose is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker D:And we have to be able to stand alone with Christ and beside our husbands with Christ, you know, and there, there's a perfect alignment for all of that.
Speaker D:And it's, it's God the Father, Christ the Son, you know, the Holy Spirit and our husbands and then us, when you look at it that way.
Speaker D:But there's also this alignment that goes this way.
Speaker D:And you know, we get.
Speaker D:Women tend to get so wrapped up in our kids and our husbands and they are, they are our lives like that.
Speaker D:We create that.
Speaker D:And that's, that's great and it's wonderful.
Speaker D:But God does not want that to be our identity.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Our identity and our acceptance is in him.
Speaker D:And if we rely too much on our kids or how they are or our husbands and how they are and how their life is going, if something happens to them, we're going to crumble and we're going to fall, and next thing you know, you're back in that pit that those negative thoughts just come right back at you.
Speaker D:And so this book is to, to help you be able to stand alone in your identity with Christ and hopefully help you recognize, okay, how can I be that?
Speaker D:Helpmate that God created me to be?
Speaker D:How can I be the daughter, the.
Speaker D:The sister, the friend that God created me to be?
Speaker D:Have to overcome those.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:You know.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I love the fact, you know, that you have taken your own battle and your own struggles and that you have turned that into a resource that you can help other people walk just a journey that you've walked yourself.
Speaker C:You're not trying to tell people how to go do something that you haven't live firsthand.
Speaker C:And, and I love that you are also, not only are you an author, but you are also a speaker.
Speaker C:And so for those of us that you know that, that do this, this weird thing of speaking, right.
Speaker C:Sometimes it can seem very glamorous.
Speaker C:But, but we know the reality is it's a lot of hard work.
Speaker C:And if you're going to get into this, you've got to be able to deal with rejection because it's not always just be, you know, because somebody thinks you're awful.
Speaker C:Sometimes it's just like you're not, you know, you're not a good fit.
Speaker C:And so I commend you for all the work that you've done to be able to come to this place and to step into the calling and the abilities that God has given to you and to move not just onto the page, but to move onto the stage to share this.
Speaker C:So share with our listeners, you know, more about what, what are some of the topics that you speak on, you know, your primary topic or topics, and then where can listeners connect with you?
Speaker C:They want to know more about your speaking, they want to know more about your book.
Speaker C:How, how do they come and find you?
Speaker D:I can be found on Facebook Kim Hardy.
Speaker D:Kim Hardy, author, speaker, either one.
Speaker D:You can locate me there.
Speaker D:I'm on Instagram.
Speaker D:The main topic right now that I speak on is acceptance and finding your identity in Christ and just what that looks like, how to overcome those negative thoughts, what those are my main topics at this point.
Speaker C:I love that.
Speaker C:And one of the things that I have found is that's not a one and done process.
Speaker C:You know, we grow and we mature, but life changes and seasons of life change and there might be things that we deal with in one season of life and then we encounter another season or circumstance in life and we're having to find new ways to apply that truth, those truths that maybe we learned back here and we need to okay, now how do we apply that now in this situation or this season of life?
Speaker C:And so this is an evergreen topic that, that women need.
Speaker C:And so I encourage you listeners to check out Kim's resources and we'll, we'll have links in the show notes so you can go there and you can find all of the links that, that will take you to the different places.
Speaker C:So Kim, my last question, you can answer this however you want.
Speaker C:It can be personal, it can be professional.
Speaker C:What's one thing that you are excited about that's in the works or in, in your near future?
Speaker D:Well, I'm going to say one thing and I'm going to quick click over to my, to my ministry but we are walking through life with my daughter as a senior right now.
Speaker D:So my emotions are all over the place.
Speaker D:You know, one minute I'm yay.
Speaker D:And one minute I'm like my baby.
Speaker D:And I've had past week we had senior pictures and her homecoming and it was, it was a great time.
Speaker D:I was so proud of myself because I didn't break down and ball the whole time.
Speaker D:I was just, I was excited for her and her excitement.
Speaker D:But something else that's very exciting that God has put on my heart is Sunflowers of Hope.
Speaker D:And it is a ministry that God has put on my heart within the last year.
Speaker D:So right now I'm establishing that firm foundation that we need, right?
Speaker D:The seeking God's will and allowing the Holy Spirit just to, to guide me and trying to slow the process.
Speaker D:I'm a go getter.
Speaker D:I'm a, I need somebody to say whoa girl, slow down, slow down.
Speaker D:And, and fortunately God has put A couple people in my life to help me realize, like, hey, you need to slow down.
Speaker D:This isn't, this isn't going to play out the way you think if you, you better slow down, you know, so that's where I'm at in, in this process, at this point in time.
Speaker D:But it is our heart's desire for sunflowers to hope, to link arms with our mental, with other mental health and behavior facilities in our community, to provide coaching or to provide resources like lay counseling, mental health coaching, support groups, just to name a few things, and eventually be a safe haven for those who need a place of respite.
Speaker D:We will soon be seeking sponsors as God leave praying through this entire process.
Speaker D:I can't tell you how many times I've been on my knees just surrendering it all to God, saying, God, may you receive the glory.
Speaker D:Take it from me.
Speaker D:Because Kim wants to take control and lead the way.
Speaker D:And that's just not how it works.
Speaker D:It's his ministry.
Speaker D:It's for him, it's for his people, it's for his children, just to help those who struggle.
Speaker D:And part of it is learning how to take those negative thoughts captive.
Speaker C:Well, I love your heart for that and that it's something that you're not just thinking about, but you're actually doing something about that because there's, there's not enough of those resources and ministries and, and connections available.
Speaker C:And so I commend you for the work that you're doing and we will share whatever information that's available about that when this episod episode airs and have links in the show notes as well.
Speaker C:So listeners today, you have been very blessed with Kim Hardy again speaker, author, ministry founder here.
Speaker C:And you know, she has talked about the importance of taking your thoughts captive because that is biblical and that is ultimately what leads us to transformation.
Speaker C:And you know, I always close with this, but I want you to know that even though you might hear it every single time I say it, because we need to live this truth.
Speaker C:One of the reasons to deal with the issues in your life and to take those thoughts captive and to align with, with God's word is because you have an impact that is immeasurable, eternal and irreplaceable.
Speaker C:I'll see you next time.
Speaker A:Thank you for listening.
Speaker A:Visit the website stephaniepresents.com and sign up for High Impact to join the mission of building spiritually strong, emotionally healthy and relationally smart women and families.
Speaker A:You can also book Stephanie to speak at your event and check out additional resources.
Speaker A:Together we can invite and equip generations to engage fully in God's grand story.
