Breaking Shame’s Chains & Rising Boldly Into God’s Purpose with Kimberly Joy

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_04 (00:16):
Welcome to the Hope Unlock Podcast.
I'm your host, Kristen Kurtz,and I'm also the founder of New
Wings Coaching.
I help and empower wild-heartedand adventurous women of faith
feeling caged and stuck, unlocktheir true purpose and
potential, break free fromlimitations, and thrive with
confidence, courage, and hope.
If you're curious to learn moreabout coaching with me, head to
NewWinksCoaching.net and be sureto explore the show notes for

(00:38):
ways to connect with me further.
Get ready to dive in as weuncover empowering keys and
insights in this episode.
So tune in and let's unlock hopetogether.
Welcome to the Hope UnlockedPodcast.
I'm Kristen Kurtz, your host.
I pray this episode is like aholy heavy of hope for your
soul.
Please help me welcome KimberlyJoy to the show.
I am so excited to have her heretoday.

(01:00):
Um, and you guys, just even herlast name, you are gonna be
infused not only with hope, butwith joy.
Um, we like God totallyconnected us earlier this year
on all the places, like of allplaces on LinkedIn, which is I
begrudgingly have been on thereand I just happened to run
across Kimberly.
And it's just been such ablessing.

(01:22):
Um, you know, you meet somebodyand then because you meet one
person, you meet other people.
And I've just been so blessed toum be in her corner and her in
my corner, and it's just beensuch a joy.
So, Kimberly, would you be opento just sharing a little bit
about yourself before we getinto your story and what you're
led to share today?

SPEAKER_02 (01:41):
Sure.
Well, um, I am a mother of 11.
That's my first and greatestcall.
I have um going on 13grandbabies now.
We just found out two moregrandbabies are on the way.
And uh my call outside of myfamily is to women.

(02:02):
I am uh called to be a lifter ofwomen's heads.
That is my identity in thekingdom, and I do that through
the fellowship of extraordinarywomen, an organization that the
Lord really invented, created,was he was the impetus for it

(02:23):
over 10 years ago, going on 11years now.
And the intention was to createa community for women like
myself who are passionate abouttheir faith, their families, and
their businesses, and women whowant their faith to be a part of
their business life, whetherthey are um overt or covert with

(02:43):
their faith in their business,they want their faith to be the
foundation for what they'redoing and why they're doing it.
And it's so interesting,Kristen, that since you know I
had the idea for few from theLord and and the vision became a
reality, I am in awe here almost11 years later, at how many

(03:05):
women are founding, creating,envisioning, and carrying out
faith-forward businesses wherefaith isn't it isn't covert,
it's overt.
And they're openly um weavingfaith into their business
services and offerings in orderto help other Christians in the

(03:28):
marketplace, in whatever way,you know, in whatever their area
of expertise is.
And, you know, when I was doingit, it was more women when I
started women entrepreneurs whowere also women of faith or
women in business, and theywanted to stay grounded in their
faith while they were livingtheir business and family life.

(03:49):
But now it's so much more.
I just with what has gone on inour country and truly the
awakening we've experienced as anation in the last five years in
particular, women are saying,I'm tired of being told I can't
talk about my faith in theworkplace.

(04:11):
I'm tired of building someone'sempire when I could be building
the kingdom.

SPEAKER_00 (04:17):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (04:17):
Um, I'm tired of being uh edited and you know,
screened and um, oh, I can'tthink of the word.
Um, you know, yeah, shadow bandand kicked off kicked off and
and just you know told what isappropriate and what is not in
terms of sharing faith andsharing Jesus.

(04:41):
So it's a really different and abeautiful time right now to be a
woman of faith in themarketplace.
And I think it was a BillyGraham quote that I just heard
recently, I believe it was himbefore he passed, he said, the
next great revival will takeplace in the marketplace, not in
the church.

(05:01):
And that really excites me as awoman in business who is doing
what I can do to lift otherwomen believers in business.
So if we're lifting each other,and then we're all going out
there and lifting the peoplewe're working with, well, guess
what that leads to?
That leads to revival.
Yes, that's very exciting.

SPEAKER_04 (05:23):
Absolutely.
So I love like everything thathe's called you into and and
just the you know, there's somuch on this that has, you know,
if you look at the way thatyou're you're created to lift
heads, right?
You're you're created to be alifter of the heads.

(05:43):
And I love that that you knowfully what that identity, you
know, it's an identity statementthat you can go back to.
Yes.
Um I'd love to hear, you know,when did that come to be?
When did that, when did you hearthat?
And then prior to hearing that,did you really know that that

(06:05):
you were called into this?
I know sometimes, at least forme and some of the people that
I've talked to that are inbusiness or ministry, like
there's a process, like we getthe vision of maybe launching a
business or a ministry, andwe're still becoming, right?
The beginning stage, we're we'restill in this stage of like
becoming.
We go out, we launch something,and we're doing it with shaking

(06:26):
hands.
And I look at you, and I I knowyou're in this place now where
you're just firm, you're set onthis, but I know that there had
to be like the beginning stageof the becoming to come into
this.

SPEAKER_02 (06:41):
Yes.
Well, I think as a woman who haswalked with God a lot longer
than I've been in business, thequestion of identity and the
issue of identity has been uhparamount.
It's been for at the forefrontbecause I struggled so much with

(07:03):
my old identities.

SPEAKER_00 (07:06):
So much.

SPEAKER_02 (07:10):
Early in my walk, um, I just I think the the
biggest obstacle I have faced asa woman of faith, whether at
home, in the church, community,at work, in marriage, in
relationship, as a mother, justpick the arena.
Yeah, my main struggle has beenfighting who God says I'm not,

(07:34):
and trying to believe I am whoHe says I am.
And I've I had years of victory,I I guess I should say seasons
of victory, seasons of greatdefeat in that.
The first 10 years of my walkwith God were riddled with
defeat, and and now I can tellyou exactly why, because I was

(07:57):
trying to do it all in my ownstrength.
And let me just say this for thewoman striving in her own
strength.
God will never let it workbecause his word is truth, and
his word says, cursed is the onewho puts their trust in their
own flesh and their strength,but blessed is the one who puts
their trust solely in the Lordand whose trust is the Lord.

(08:19):
That's from Jeremiah 17, Ibelieve.
And so the Lord didn't let thatwork because the laws of this
universe say it does not work,and his grace allowed me to fail
and struggle until I was finallyat the end of myself and said, I
can't do this, I can't do it atall.
And um, I think the thedownside, the upside of that was

(08:41):
I came to the end of myself.
The downside of that was Iexperienced so much failure in
that those that first decadethat it kind of quietly and
subconsciously confirmed some ofmy worst fears about myself.
So a lot of people come into thekingdom and have this honeymoon

(09:04):
experience with God.
And I did not have that.
I I said yes to the Lord.
I got saved as a little girl,said yes at 21 and kind of went
right into the pit like Joseph.

SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (09:15):
And I came to a lot, a lot of realizations about what
I lack, and that's a good thingto say, um, God, you're God, and
I'm not.
But when you wear those thingsas an identity, that's not a
good thing.
Right.
And I did that.
I wore a lot of those things asmy identity.

(09:38):
And I ended up carrying a lot ofshame into the next two decades.
I've been walking with the Lordnow for 33 years.
Actually, July was my 33rd year.
Amazing.
And um, and so a lot of what Ihad to do to get a hold of my
true identity was deal with alot of those false identities.

(09:59):
And I'd make some progress andbe like, I believe what God says
about me.
You know, I'm forgiven, I'mfree.
Um, He took my shame.
And then something would happen,Kristen, where I would spiral
into shame.
Um, usually that thing thatwould happen would be someone
rejecting me, or someone tellingme I failed, or someone telling

(10:22):
me you're not good enough.
You did this poorly.
And of course, the enemy knowsthat it's the people who we love
the most.

SPEAKER_00 (10:31):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (10:32):
When they say that to us, woo, you know, and in
this case, it was people that Ilove the most saying, You ain't
it, sister.
And I'd be like spiraling intoshame.
And then I'd be reallyfrustrated, like, I have been
working on my identity in Christfor decades.
Why am I still being taken outat the knees, you know?

(10:53):
And it wasn't until somethinglike past 2020, somewhere right
around 2020, 2021, I think itwas, that I discovered that I
actually had a spirit of shame.
And it wasn't just feelings ofshame, it was an actual spirit
of shame.
And it was when that spirit wasvanquished from me that I had

(11:18):
victory over shame.

SPEAKER_00 (11:20):
Amen.

SPEAKER_02 (11:21):
Otherwise, I was on an I was on a roller coaster
ride with it, where one day Iwasn't being affected by it, and
then something would happen, andI was debilitated by it.
And it would take me three, fourmonths of renewing my mind.
Well, I never thought to do thespiritual warfare and and and uh
ask God to rebuke the spirit ofshame and say, the Lord rebuke

(11:45):
you.
This is a demonic spiritoppressing me, you know.
Get out.
Never thought of that.
It was actually exposed during asession that I was having with
someone, and I was so surprised,but yet not surprised at all.
I'm like, there is such adifference between having an
emotional difficulty and havinga spiritual oppression, two

(12:05):
different things.
Yes, and it was so profound forme to get free from that spirit
that a couple weeks later I washaving lunch with one of my
daughters, and we were justtalking about things that we had
talked about a hundred times.
And in the middle of ourconversation, she goes, Mom,
what happened to you?
And I was like, What do you whatdo you mean?
What do you mean what happenedto you?
She goes, You're different.

(12:27):
Oh man.
And she had no idea, no ideathat I had this just two, three
weeks prior, had this profoundbreakthrough from shame.
And um, that you know, what Ialso want your viewers and
listeners to know is if youstruggled with something for the
bulk of your life, that that isyour Achilles heel.

(12:50):
That's how the devil will use itagainst you.
It really isn't in the spirit,and in Christ, you don't have an
Achilles heel, but the enemyknows that you had years of
ingraining certain thoughts intoyour neural pathways, and he'll
come and tap into that to bringyou back down to those lower

(13:12):
levels.
And um, so I have to be aware ofthose things that the enemy used
against my true identity.
Shame was one and worthiness wasanother.
So I made great progress.
That's just one example ofvictory that I got, but it was
much more recent, Kristen, thatI could answer the question of

(13:34):
who are you by saying I'm thelifter of God's daughter's
heads.

SPEAKER_00 (13:38):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (13:39):
And I that probably sounds so like I'm the lifter of
God's daughter's heads.
Like it probably sounds sobraggy, but listen, when you
find out your true identity inChrist, it carries a
responsibility.
It's not a point of bragging,it's a duty, it's a duty.
And um, and I'm getting chokedup even talking about that

(14:00):
because I want women to knowthat for me, being called the
lifter of heads, guess what?
The attack on my life fordecades was to get me to hang
mine.

SPEAKER_01 (14:14):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (14:15):
Why do you think shame was such a bondage for so
many years?
Because how do you lift someoneelse's head when you can't lift
your own?
Yes.
And so when you start tounderstand who you are in the
kingdom, you also understand thewarfare that's come against you.
It all makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (14:32):
And, you know, I want to even take it a step
further because when I ask God,who am I in your kingdom?
What's my true identity?
He's told me many things.
And many times when I've askedhim, What do you see when you
look at me?
I've had I do an exercise withwomen in some of our certified
courses.
We're gonna practice hearingGod's voice.

(14:53):
We're gonna ask him questionsabout how he sees us and and how
he wants us to see ourselves,and they're beautiful moments.
But to ask him, kind of like,what is my essence in your
kingdom?
What am I here for?
Yes, that's so different thanyou saying, God, what do you see
when you look at me?
And he shows you a picture of aflower.

(15:13):
Oh, God sees me as a flower.
You know, that's beautiful.
And you write it in your journaland you hopefully don't forget
it.
But when you ask him, Who am Iin your kingdom?
Who am I to you, God?
And I asked him the question andI didn't hear anything right
away.
And it was about three dayslater I was driving along and I

(15:34):
heard the Holy Spirit um insidesay, and and mind you, the Holy
Spirit speaks um internally.
The Bible says he bears witnessto your conscience.
So it's such an inner, innervoice, Holy Spirit's voice.
And it's it's might sound likeyou in the sense that he'll

(15:54):
speak in your vernacular, butthis is how you know it's not
you.
You would have never come upwith that.

SPEAKER_03 (16:00):
You're like, say that again.

SPEAKER_02 (16:03):
Say that again.

SPEAKER_04 (16:06):
Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_02 (16:07):
Yeah, right.
Oh, did you want me to say thatagain?

SPEAKER_04 (16:10):
Yeah, I mean, just it's it's something you really
can't make it up, right?

SPEAKER_02 (16:15):
Right, yes.
You hear things and you're like,I could live a thousand more
years, and I wouldn't havethought of that.

SPEAKER_01 (16:20):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (16:21):
And um, that that happened to me as I was driving
along, and I heard him say tome, and it's like an internal
whisper, and because the Biblecalls it a still small voice,
and if you don't regularlypractice listening, you'll miss
it.
Yeah, because he's alwaysspeaking, he's always speaking.
So I heard him say, You're thelifter of my daughter's heads,

(16:42):
and I just began to weep.
And I said, Lord, that's yourname.
Your word says you are thelifter of my head.
And this is what he said to me,Kristen.
He said, Well, all of mychildren are named after me.
You're made in my image.
So then I was like, Okay, if allyour children are named after

(17:04):
you, then I can receive thatname.
Because it was very difficult tothink about receiving a name
that he calls himself.
And um, and so then I began tosay, Wow, what does that mean?
And he specifically said, go tothe scripture where where it
says that God is the lifter ofour heads, and so I did, and um

(17:30):
it's Psalm 3.3, and it's thepsalmist saying, and you are the
lifter of our heads.
And um and the what was reallyshocking, I I'm pulling up
scripture here while we'retalking because it is just
absolutely remarkable whathappens when you just look into

(17:52):
things, you know, the the wordof God says that we must believe
that he is.
This says this in Hebrews, thatwe must believe that God is and
that he is a rewarder of thosewho diligently seek him.
So for those of you on thatquest for your identity, be
diligent, just don't even takethe first answer and be done.

(18:15):
Well, Lord, what does that meanto you?
And he's like, go look it up.
So I go look it up, and Idiscover Psalm 3.3.
Well, then I also discover afootnote on Psalm 3.3 that takes
you to 2 Kings 25.
Okay, and what's reallyinteresting is I love story.

(18:35):
I'm obsessed with story.
It's one of the reasons why Phewpublishes women's stories.
I just have always been a I callmyself a connoisseur of stories,
and I don't want the fake ones,I want true life stories.
I love hearing people's trueharrowing tales, stories of

(18:57):
courage, faith, hope, whatever.
And um, I always say my secondfavorite book next to the Bible
is Unbroken, the story of LouisZamperini, written by Laura Hill
Hill Hillenbrand.
Just amazing.
Plus, I'm a big World War IIhistory buff.
But um, anyway, I go to 2 Kings25 story, yay, God knows me.

(19:21):
And but this is a story that I'msure I read, but it like I don't
remember it.
It really doesn't have meaningto me.
But it says um that this isabout a king of Judah, his name
was Jehoiakin, and he had beentaken uh captive in exile by
Nebuchadnezzar, and he wascaptive for 37 years.

(19:42):
So I want you to think about theyears you spent in captivity,
the years you spent in thedarkness, the years the enemy
had his way with you.
Okay.
And this guy was captive by anactual evil king, but guess
what?
Evil king died, and a new kingtook the throne, and the new

(20:03):
king came to see who was allimprisoned, and it wasn't just
King Jehoiakim, there were otherkings that were captured and
held captive during this time.
And it says that this new king,um, in in the 37th year showed
favor to Jehoiakim, king ofJudah.

And now listen to this (20:25):
there's like several things he did for
him.
He released him from prison, hespoke kindly to him, he ranked
him above the kings with him inBabylon.
So he ranked Jehoiakim withhimself.
Now Jehoiakim was ranked withthe current king, and it says in

(20:47):
verse 29, Jehoiakim put off hisprison garments, and he dined
regularly at the king's tablefor the remainder of his life.
And his allowance, a continualone, he was given an allowance,
was given to him by the kingevery day, a portion for the
rest of his life.

(21:07):
Okay.
Amen.
Yeah so brought out of prison,spoken kindly of, ranked with
the king.
Um, Jehoiakin took off hisprison garments, dined at the
king's table every day for therest of his life, and every day
for the rest of his life wasgiven an allowance, a daily
portion for the rest of hislife.
Guess what the footnote says?

(21:29):
Or he lifted his head.

SPEAKER_04 (21:34):
I mean Kristen.

SPEAKER_02 (21:38):
I was stunned.
I was like, did you almost fallover?

SPEAKER_04 (21:43):
Because in these moments I almost fall over.
Like, did you like almost loseyour breath for that moment?

SPEAKER_02 (21:49):
I was yes, I almost lost my breath.
That's such a perfect yes.
Yeah.
I I was just, I couldn't breathemuch less speak.
I was like, this is what itmeans to lift heads.
Well, we know, we know thisstory is a metaphor that you and
I are royalty held captive by anevil, evil king, and a good king
came and brought us out ofprison and spoke kindly to us

(22:13):
and um showed us favor andranked us with him, co-heirs
with Christ.
And that it, but here's what theLord showed me.
He said, This is your message towomen is who I am for them and
who they are to me.
And if they know who they are tome and who I am for them, it's
game over.
It's game over for the enemy.

(22:35):
And uh, but he took me to verse29 in specific where it says,
Jehoiakim put off his prisongarments.
So everything else in thesepassages is what the kind and
good king did for Jehoiakim.
This verse is what Jehoiakim hadto do of his own accord.
So please listen closely.

(22:56):
He put off his prison garmentsand dined regularly at the
king's table.
So these are two thingsJehoiakim had to choose with his
will to do.
Even though all this favor andopen doors and and new ranking
and all this beautiful stuffhappened, he could have left his
prison clothes on and stayed inhis old identity, and he could

(23:20):
have said, I've been a prisonerfor 37 years.
I I don't fit at a king's tableanymore.
I've eaten in my cell, I'veeaten from a tray, slid to me
under the door.
I don't really know if that'show it went.
But you just imagine prisonmesses with your head, right?
Prison messes with your head.
And he had this identity as aprisoner who just was thankful

(23:43):
for scraps, and he had to chooseto take off that identity and
sit at the king's table.
And God said to me, This will bethe most difficult message to
convey to my daughters becausethey wear their prison clothes
and they don't think they have aseat at my table.

unknown (24:03):
Wow.

SPEAKER_04 (24:08):
Because I I am literally seeing like what what
you facilitate in setting tablesfor women.

SPEAKER_02 (24:17):
Wow.
Yeah, I actually host events.
I set tables.

unknown (24:21):
Wow.

SPEAKER_02 (24:22):
I mean, I'm sure you're speaking metaphorically,
but also literally, right?

SPEAKER_04 (24:26):
But literally too.

SPEAKER_02 (24:27):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (24:28):
Wow.
Yes.
There's so much carry over herewhere like it truly it's a
prophetic picture of even themore that's coming for what
you're carrying and bringing usto the US, but beyond.

SPEAKER_02 (24:45):
And to think this is so vital that God's daughters
hear this.
To think that I made thisdiscovery.
I discovered my true message towomen.
You know, we've got all thisbranding stuff out there.
What's your message?
What's your story?
To have the God of heaven say,here's your message, here's your

(25:07):
brand, here's your essence,here's what you bring to every
table.
So I'm not just the lifter ofwomen's heads, I'm the lifter of
my children's heads, I'm thelifter of my friend's head.
Like the, and I've I've knownfor many years that um one of my
spiritual gifts is encouragerand the spiritual gift of
counseling and all these, youknow, I've I've known who I am

(25:27):
to a degree, but for the God whocreated me to just give it to me
point blank in a what in oneline, you're the lifter of
heads, and this is what liftingheads looks like for you.
And it was all given because Iasked the question.
That's all I did.
It's not because I'm special orI paid my dues, or you know,

(25:52):
it's not none of that.
The God of the universe willanswer anyone's.
I've heard you have too, storyafter story of him answering
this question to a non-believer,to people who aren't even
professed Christ followers.
He's saying, Here's who you areto me, because he's ever, always

(26:13):
speaking to his children anddrawing them into their true
identity.
And from their identity comespurpose.
We try to make our purpose intoan identity and know our doing
will always be birthed from ourbeing.
And when I look back then overmy life, Kristen, this is the

(26:34):
fun part too.
So he says lifter of heads, andthen I see this pulling people
pulling someone out of prison,encouraging them to remove their
prison clothes, telling them youhave God's favor, you have a
seat at his table, you have hisprovision for the rest of your
days.
This has been such a message, atheme in my life of how I have
counseled people, how I'vehelped people.

(26:55):
And even before I was walkingwith God, I was lifting the
heads of my friends in highschool.
I was being looked to to liftpeople up from a very young age.
And it again, it's not becauseI'm special or favorite, it's
because your essence cannot bedenied.
Amen.

(27:15):
It cannot be denied.
It's coming out of you in oneway or another.
Don't you want to know what tocall it?
Don't you want to know how Godwants you to live it?
I mean, it's probably the mostexciting discovery I've made in
my walk with God because it'smade me more, I've had more
clarity than I've ever had, andit's made me more effective

(27:36):
helping people than I've everbeen.

SPEAKER_04 (27:38):
And how how long ago did you hear this word over you?
July.
July.
Okay, so it's fresh.
It's like very, very fresh.
Yes.
You know, it kind of goes again,it kind of goes back to, you
know, you've you've had few foralmost 11 years now.
And like, how do you see youridentity statement?

(28:01):
It's it's a covering, inessence, overview, in essence,
um, overview, and and even thewomen that have come through
without even knowing thisidentity statement, I'm sure
that you've seen liketestimonies come through.
If you had like a testimony thatyou could share, um, if you're
able to, of somebody who's comethrough few, and you've been

(28:23):
able to do that lifting of thehead, yeah.
Seen maybe a turnaround and andthe shame fall off, the prison
clothes come off.
Like, what does that look like?

SPEAKER_02 (28:32):
Oh, yes, a hundred percent.
And what's crazy and cool, andyour your listeners will see
this too.
Once you find out your trueidentity, you'll see that you
were having that effect onpeople without realizing that's
what you were doing.
Yeah.
Um, so one of our core valueshas always been know and um
believe your true identity inChrist.

(28:54):
But I just didn't know that youcould actually ask God
specifically what your uniqueidentity is.
I thought, you know, we all haveour identity in Christ.
It's what the Bible says aboutus, and it is, it's that too.
But I didn't realize howpersonal he wanted it to be.
So I was always pointing womento one of our most repeated

(29:17):
phrases within Few is what Godsays about you is the truest
thing about you.
So we've said that for years.
My spiritual mama Linda taughtme that years ago when I'd be
struggling with shame, she'dsay, What God says about you is
the truest thing about you, andI'd say, I know, but and then
she'd stop me and say, What doesGod say about you?
And she'd make me say it outloud.

(29:39):
So this is so ingrained in me,and I've ingrained it in so many
women.
Um, and a lot of women don'teven know it came from my mama
Linda, but it did.
And um, so in the meantime,while we're you know seeking God
for our businesses and growingin our faith, we're growing in
our true identity and we'relearning how to.

(30:00):
To take thoughts captive and howto replace the lies with the
truth.
And I've watched so many womencome in, like, well, I'm really
not a powerful leader.
Or, oh gosh, I remember onewoman came to our um our Few
Institute for Trainers.
It's basically our coachingcertification.

(30:21):
And she said, like on day one,I'm not here to start a
business.
That's not going to happen.
But God told me to be here and Ijust know I'm going to learn a
lot of tools and skills.
And she was in ministry a longtime and had a lot of children.
So she thought, if nothing else,I'll just be better, a better
mom.
And he was just, I call her mymost reluctant convert because

(30:46):
she was like, I'm not here tostart a business.
She started a business.
She went on to get three, fourmore certifications.
She's specializing in this,this, this, and this.
She went on to author two orthree more books.
I mean, she stepped into hertrue identity in the kingdom.
She saw, did not see herself theway God saw her until she, you

(31:11):
know, willingly dipped her footin the pool and then she just
dove into the deep end.
So that's one example.
Another example is a woman who,and you, some of you might know
her, Nancy Major.
And I tell Nancy's story openlybecause she tells it openly, and
her story is so beautiful.
She was walking with God forabout 10 years.

(31:32):
She had zero church background.
Um, if anything, she kind of wasruined by some culty religions
that she was exposed to as akid.
Um, her family wasn't uminvolved, but others around her
were.
And she just went, I'm neverdoing that.
Like, I'm no, just nothing withfaith at all or religion.
And um she didn't get saveduntil later in life.

(31:55):
And when she did, she said, God,I'll serve you, I'll go where
you send me, just as long as younever make me tell my story.
Oh, and she had immense shame,like debilitating shame, to the
point where like she livedlargely in hiding so that people

(32:16):
wouldn't recognize her or knowher because of her past.
And in about 2023, I believe itwas, God said, Um, you know
what?
Or maybe it was 22, he said, Youneed to write your story and not
just tell it, write it.
And she was so compelled, andhe's God would not leave her

(32:39):
alone that she sat down andwrote a book in 10 days.
Oh my god.
She's got this whole book, thiswhole manuscript.
And then she's like, Well, maybeGod just wanted me to do that
for my own benefit because itwas who took her on a healing
journey for sure.

SPEAKER_03 (32:54):
Sure.

SPEAKER_02 (32:55):
And um, lo and behold, just a month later, she
met me and a mutual friendintroduced and said, Oh, did I
mention that Kimberly's uh alsoa publisher that few publishes
women's memoirs?
And she was like a deer in theheadlights, like now I have to
publish my book.
Like God just plunked apublisher in my lap, you know.

(33:18):
So she was so full of shame whenshe sh gave me her book idea.
She showed me her the mock-up ofher cover, and she took her hand
and and covered up the subtitle.
And I remember thinking, what isshe covering up?
I don't know why she's got herhand over this image, you know,

(33:39):
but whatever.
I didn't know her that well yet.
So I was like, something's up.
Well, her book is called AWretch Like Me.
And the subtitle is A Modern DayMary Magdalene Saved by Grace.
Wow.
And so the subtitle kind ofgives her story away.
And sure enough, she was um, youknow, lured into the sex

(34:04):
industry and was a sex workerfor three or four years in her
adult life.
And um it's a I mean, it's awonder she survived what she
went through, but she carriedall that shame and wanted that
to stay in the dark for the restof her days.

(34:25):
And God, by his grace, was like,nope, we're bringing that into
the light because you're gonnaget free from the shame.
And we began to work together onher book.
And, you know, she's also beenin business 30 plus years.
She's run nonprofits, she's beena CEO, COO of many
organizations, president of manyboards.

(34:46):
So she understands how to selland market, and she understood
that when it was time to promotethis book, she'd have to tell
her story in her marketingmaterial.
That it wasn't just, hey, Iwrote a book.
Um she was going to have to tellwhat the book and the cover

(35:07):
would give it away, too.
So when she made the decision tostart promoting the book, I saw
such a distinct shift in her.
She went from that womancovering up the cover to telling
what her book was about onLinkedIn, where all of her whole
30 years of professional networkwere sitting.

SPEAKER_01 (35:30):
Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 (35:31):
And and I remember opening up LinkedIn one day and
seeing a post from her.
And um, she has this beautifulbook trailer.
If you go to YouTube and youGoogle a Wretch Like Me book
trailer, it looks like a movietrailer and it is provocative.
It's so good and so powerful.

(35:52):
She put that all over socialmedia, that that book trailer
before the book came out.
And so before anyone had achance to read the story, she
just told the world, here's mystory.
This this was what God saved mefrom.
And um, she had an encounterwith Jesus that literally she
tried to take her life, andJesus actually came into the

(36:12):
room and put his arm around her,and that was her introduction to
faith in Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 (36:18):
Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 (36:19):
And um, so that encounter is in the book, and
from that day forward, sheserved the Lord and He
completely delivered her.
And um, anyway, when I saw thatin her, and then she began
public speaking.
So now she's going, you know,and round to events to telling
the story from stage and tellingwomen this was my life, and this

(36:43):
is my life today.
And you can hear a pin drop inthe room.
I I went to many of these eventswith her, we did many of these
together, and I saw her go froma prisoner of shame to I
actually coined a littlenickname for her.
I call her the shame slayer now.

SPEAKER_04 (37:01):
Oh, yeah.
I had a feeling you'd say that.

SPEAKER_02 (37:03):
Yep.
She literally gets up there andslays the shame in the room just
by opening her mouth.
The very thing, again, when yougo back to identity, the very
thing you're called to do is thething you were most attacked in.
It's always that way.
Yes.
And um, so her transformation, Iwould say by far was the most

(37:23):
powerful in terms of identity.
I saw a woman in hiding become awoman with a bold, hope-filled,
life-giving voice.
And um, I saw her just say, youknow what?
Um, you know, you can be theripest, juiciest peach, but not
everybody's gonna like peaches.

(37:43):
That's okay.
I'm here for the people who whoneed peaches, you know, and she
just became so bold, yeah, so,so bold.
And it she it was a thrill tosee she's an amazing woman.
I love her to pieces.

SPEAKER_04 (37:57):
Well, and isn't it just incredible?
Like to be, I don't know,because we kind of flow in
similar parallel ways, you know,coming alongside women and to be
able to be that one that comesalongside, to be just it's like
an inflow that the Holy Spiritlike gives you words or gives

(38:18):
you, you know, whatever it isthat will help these women be
set free to go into whateverthey're called to go into.
Because, and a lot of times, I'msure for you as well, you know,
you might go on and do aFacebook Live, or you might go
on a podcast, or you might shareyour story, or Nancy might share
her story, and it's just thisripple effect that we won't even

(38:39):
have any idea until heaven inheaven, right?

SPEAKER_02 (38:43):
Yeah, especially with social media being uh, you
know, I tell the women who takeour courses, do not wait to be
invited onto a stage.
The whole world is your stagenow.
Anyone, anywhere at any time canreach people across the globe.
Yeah, and there has never everbeen a better time to ask God,

(39:07):
what is my message and who is itfor?
Because this stage is therewaiting for me.
But we're so afraid that we'reonly gonna get five likes.
Um, we're so afraid that we'lllook dumb, whatever it is when
we first get started.
I had all those fears too.
Everybody faces them.
But yet if you got a call todayand they said, We we need your

(39:32):
story and your message on aninternational stage, can you
come?
You'd say yes.
You know, so I'm always sayingto women, stop waiting for a
physical stage.
You have the greatestopportunity to reach the world
that anyone in history has hadever.
Yes.
And it's it's like I'm preachingto myself too, because I I never

(39:52):
feel like I'm taking fulladvantage of that, you know.
I I never feel like, um, Lord,like I'm keeping that in the
forefront.
I forget that easily too, youknow.

SPEAKER_04 (40:03):
So well, what like what would you say for you?
Um, I just feel like just inthis vulnerable space in
business, like, you know, we allhave these moments of coming out
of hiding.
And, you know, I'm thinking ofStephanie Gretzinger's song, you
know, come out of hiding, you'resafe here with me, right?
And what would you say has beenthe most uncomfortable for you?

(40:25):
And then where do you feel likehe's stretching you in this
coming season to be morevisible?

SPEAKER_02 (40:32):
Wow.
Um, okay, so what's been hardestand most uncomfortable and how
is he stretching me?

SPEAKER_04 (40:39):
Yeah, in in the coming out of hiding space.

SPEAKER_02 (40:42):
Yeah.
Um I I'll be honest with you,because why not, right?
Best thing to do.
Best thing to do.
Don't you love when people saythat, oh, was lying an option?

SPEAKER_04 (40:55):
Or when somebody says, You look really good
today.
I'm like, do I look good day?

SPEAKER_02 (40:59):
Thanks for the qualifier.
Yeah.
Um, yeah, I mean, I guess what Iwhat I meant to say was I I will
be forthcoming about thisbecause I experienced a lot of
success with few.
And um and probably I'd sayseven, eight years of success.

(41:23):
And then I went into anexceptionally difficult season.
And the season that I went intowasn't just hard business-wise,
it was hard personal life,friendships, children,
everything.
And also just, you know, as theysay, for for giggles is when

(41:44):
perimenopause kicked in.
So I had all that going as abonus, yeah.
Just as a bonus here, let's makeher hormones go absolutely wacky
so that she sweats like aconstruction worker while she's
doing nothing and sleeping inher bed.
Right.
Sorry, graphics.
Ladies, um we understand, yes,yes, ladies will understand.

(42:04):
So anyway, all while that wasgoing on, I wanted to hide.
I wanted, Kristen, if I did nothave a business well established
with people counting on me, Iwould have closed up shop.

SPEAKER_01 (42:19):
Wow.

SPEAKER_02 (42:20):
Um, I had so much betrayal in my personal life
that I was recoiling from whocan I even trust anymore?
And if I keep helping people,will I just keep getting
betrayed?
And like the thoughts and thequestions that you go through in
your mind that you know are justyour emotions, right?

(42:43):
Like you know the answers, and Iknow the answers in the word.
I I knew up here, but my heartwas swirling.
And um, and then some of theloss that I incurred during that
time, the death of my bestfriend, major relationships in
my life just poof, gone.
And the pain, I had such a griefperiod while building, like God

(43:10):
is like, you know, hey,Nehemiah, I know that you got
the enemy nipping at your heels,threatening to kill you,
spreading lies about you,betraying you, tempting you,
taunting you, you know, andtrying to kill the people
helping you, but keep building.
Like that was the season.
And if I didn't know beyond ashadow of a doubt that I was

(43:31):
called to continue building, Iwould have quit.
I really would have.
Not because I don't love what Ido, not because I don't want to
do what I do, but my heart wasjust obliterated.
And um, you know, I had somecaring people in my life say,
yeah, you don't really seem likeyourself.
And I'm like, no kidding.

(43:53):
You know, and then I startthinking about wow, like, I
don't even know how I'm comingacross in the world anymore.
I don't even know who I am andmy brand and what is my message,
you know?
And like I felt like my messagewas stop, drop, and roll, dick,
roll, because the fire iscoming, you know, like that.
That's how I felt so long in thefire that like my message

(44:17):
probably even got a littletainted by what I was going
through.
Yet God was like, I'm not givingyou permission to take your hand
off the plow.
And there was one point at whichI said to the Lord, Lord, if
this is one of those Job seasonswhere I have to lose everything,
um, I'm not gonna cling toanything.

(44:37):
Like, do you want me to likelose it all?
I'll just then take it.
Like, maybe just don't drag itout so long, you know, because
it was like a three, like, justgo ahead and take the rest right
now, please.
Can we get this over with?
And I was almost like I wasbracing myself, but also just it
was an act of surrender becauseI was like, I don't have it in

(45:01):
me to fight for anything thatyou don't want me to fight for.
I don't want to fight foranything that you don't want me
fighting for right now.
And um, so I even said to him atone point, do you want me to
sell my business?
Do you want me to sell few?
And Kristen, I heard him soclear.
This is what he said to me.

(45:22):
I did not authorize that.
Wow, that's what he said to me.
No stamp of approval on that notauthorized.
And he's like, I didn't evenauthorize that line of
conversation because he knewthat I had been thinking about
it in my head.
Like, not like I'm gonna do it,but like if did this, who would

(45:43):
I approach?
And yeah, I just began to thinkabout what if the hypothetical.
And he knew that my thoughts hadgone to that without asking him
first.
So that's why his answer was sofirm, not authorized.
And I said, Okay, okay, okay,okay, okay, okay, sorry.
You know, and um then much laterwhen I made this discovery about

(46:10):
my role in the kingdom and howdesperately his daughters need
the news that they have beenshown favor by a benevolent king
and they can leave the prisoncell and take off the prison
clothes and sit at the king'stable and have provision for the
rest of their days.
When I caught that vision, hebrought me back to that previous
conversation and he said, Now,do you see why that was

(46:33):
unauthorized?
Now do you see why you're thewoman for the job?
And it was very humbling, it wasvery humbling.
And I must confess, I had torepent and say, I'm really sorry
that I toyed around with theidea of living a life that
wasn't written in my blueprint.
Yeah, yeah.

(46:54):
And um, and even like toyedaround with the taking the easy
way out kind of thing.
So um, and so that kind ofanswers both your questions.
That is what stretched me.
That is the has been the wantingto hide, but not being able to.
And um, and I guess I I hid tosome degree.

(47:16):
I think we can hide and still bepresent.
Yeah, um, I spent a lot of timehidden in Christ during those
days.
I spent a lot of time grievingwith the Father and being
counseled by the Holy Spirit andjust saying, Lord, if I feel so
broken that if you don't healme, I'm not gonna have anything

(47:36):
to offer anybody.
And I also knew that when yougrieve loss, if you're not
intentional about it, it willcome back to bite you in the
rear later.
And I just kept saying, Let'sjust take care of this, let's
just get into the trenches ofthe grief, Lord, so that this
doesn't come back and bite me inthe butt later.
And um, so I was very, very,very intentional that I wanted

(47:58):
to hide from everything, butwhat I was allowed to do was to
stay hidden in Christ.

SPEAKER_04 (48:04):
It's so beautiful.
Yeah, wow.
Kimberly, so I know you'dmentioned like that you've
you've had an encounter before.
And I I believe you said Nancyhas had an encounter, and I just
would love for you to share.
You know, because even one ofthe things you said, like you
could take the easy way out.

(48:24):
You could have taken the easyway out, right?
Yeah.
And I don't know about you, butwe're not called easy.
And it's in those moments thatare not easy.
I feel that's when he reallymeets us in our, you know.

SPEAKER_02 (48:42):
Yeah.
I think there's ease.
Even in our suffering, he bringsit some ease, or we wouldn't be
able to do it, but not that it'seasy.
I so agree with you.
Um walking with God is not forthe faint of heart.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 (48:58):
And if you're and then mixing it with business,
that's like a double whammy.

SPEAKER_02 (49:02):
Well, and you know, here's the thing like I've I
grew up in churches and watchingministers, and I always thought,
oh, I don't ever want to be apastor or be in ministry because
of all the betrayal that I saw.
I saw so much betrayal, and theleaders in ministry were so
harshly judged.

(49:24):
Yeah, and I thought, I don'twant that.
Well, guess what?
That's on any mountain ofinfluence.
It's for any leader.
It doesn't matter if you're inbusiness or or the church or
government, it doesn't matter.
Family, if you're a leader, youwill be scrutinized and you will
be on the front lines fightingfor the people that you're

(49:44):
called to lead.

SPEAKER_01 (49:45):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (49:46):
And you're oftentimes going to go um into
places you never wanted to go,but specifically so that you can
help lead others one day.

SPEAKER_04 (49:56):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (49:57):
And so many of the diff difficult situations God
brings us in are for others asmuch as they are for us.

SPEAKER_03 (50:04):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (50:04):
And there were a lot of times in my walk, my whole
33-year walk, where I'd say,God, if this will help one
person, I'll keep going.
God, if this helps one personsomeday, then I won't quit
today.
And that was during mymotherhood journey, that was
during divorce, abuse, duringum, you know, business and and
difficult things there, and justyou name it.

(50:27):
But when I would remember thatI'm not doing this for me and me
alone, like, yes, the Lord wantsto sanctify me and heal me, and
he he brings us through thefiery furnace to purify us.
But the greater reason isbecause Jesus came to serve us,
Kristen, and it's our responseto him to serve others.

SPEAKER_04 (50:48):
Yes.

SPEAKER_02 (50:49):
Many people are like, I'm serving the Lord.
Well, guess what?
The Lord doesn't call you toserve him, he calls you to serve
the people.
Say that again Jesus served us,and our response is to serve
others.
It's a kingdom of service.
And by serving others, it's ourservice to the Lord.

(51:12):
But we get it muddled by saying,I'm here to serve the Lord.
And he's like, No, you're thereto serve my people, my children.
And um, and that really helps menot make it about just me and
God.
It's so easy to just make itabout me because guess what?
He's trustworthy, he's safe.

(51:32):
Guess who's not?
People.
And so when we make it of justabout us and God, we can really
lose like I'm here for people.
Yes, I'm here for people.
And um, you know, I remember along time ago I was with
somebody and we saw this bumpersticker that said um, mean
people suck.

(51:53):
And true, and the person I waswith goes, mean people, all
people suck.
And I was like, wow, we have wehave crossed the line of
cynicism.
Yeah.
Um, but when you go through aseason of loss and betrayal, it
is very easy to self-protect.

SPEAKER_04 (52:10):
For sure.

SPEAKER_02 (52:11):
And um, and and to be concerned with where are your
vulnerabilities and who makesyou feel vulnerable and how do
they make you feel vulnerablevulnerable.
And finding your footing of howdo I go back to a place of
feeling safe again?
And um, this encounter that Ihad with Jesus, I believe,

(52:32):
Kristen, was a direct responseto my need for safety from a
season of feeling very unsafe ina lot of ways.
And I would say to the Lord, Iknow I'm safe in you, but I do
not feel safe.
I know that you're my strongtower.
I can run and hide in you, butit feels like the world has more

(52:53):
access to me than they've everhad before, and they are loving
it and I am hating it, you know,or it feels like um it's open
season on my life.
Yeah, and all I can do is hidein you because it's it's not
it's not safe out there.
It's like going out in deerhunting season here in Wisconsin

(53:15):
in full camo and just walkingthrough the woods while a bunch
of guys in blaze orange areshooting, you know.
That's how it felt for me.
And um, so this encounterhappened in June of just of this
year of 25.
And it happened.
I've never had an encounter withJesus like um physically, where

(53:37):
I was I could see him or touchhim, but in this case I did, and
I prayed many years for for anencounter with him, and um, I
believe that this encounter cameas an answer to my cry for
feeling safe and um just feelingsafe emotionally and feeling

(54:00):
like the like the whole worldcould abandon me, but the Lord
will not abandon me.
And I knew that in my head, buthe wanted to prove that to me.
I don't know how else to say it.
He was on a mission to prove tome that he was with me and it
was gonna be okay.
And I know that because of whathe said to me in the encounter.

(54:21):
So um I was in in my closet, andnow this happened in a dream,
like I was sleeping, but I wasin another realm.
And the reason I know that isbecause like the laws of gravity
did not really impact where Iwas, and also the the laws of

(54:43):
the five senses did not um limitme.
I there were other laws at workwhere I was because started out,
I was in my closet in this dreamlooking for an outfit to wear,
speaking of identity and prisonclothes.
And um, and I I was juststanding there with my back to

(55:05):
the door.
It was a walk-in closet, and Ifelt an immediate energy shift.
So the the energy in theheavenly realm, you can just the
way your eyes see and ears hear,your being feels and can read
energy.
So, like you know things by theenergy you feel.

(55:27):
I don't know how else to explainthat, but I felt this energy
behind me and I knew it wasJesus.
And the way that I felt it, itbecame increasingly stronger as
he moved closer to me.

SPEAKER_00 (55:42):
Wow.

SPEAKER_02 (55:43):
And um, I knew he was walking toward me by the
intensity increasing of thisenergy.
And the energy, the way Idescribe it is it would be like
if every cell in your entirebody had goosebumps.
Wow, that's how it felt.
Like my whole being hadgoosebumps just from head to

(56:04):
toe, and it it felt likeelectricity and majesty and
love.
And there was also light thatcame into the room with him and
a light breeze, so I could stillsee and feel things, but I the

(56:26):
main thing that I the thedownload was so physical through
just what I felt andenergy-wise, and I felt him
getting closer, and while he gotcloser, Kristen, I began to lift
off the ground, so I was nolonger touching the ground.

(56:47):
And I like imagine the power ofGod being so pick an adjective,
words really don't do the trickwhen I try to tell this story.
Imagine Jesus being so whateverthat the closer he gets to you,
the higher you're lifted off theground.
Oh my gosh.
And that's what was happening.
My I began to leave the ground,and and the closer he got to me,

(57:10):
the more I I was raised.
And speaking of lifter, right?
I was just thinking that.
Yes, and um and I I looked down,I was in awe that I wasn't
touching the ground, and I hadto look and see with my own eyes
like, is this real?
Is this for real?
I'm not touching the ground.
So I looked down and under myfeet, which there was probably,

(57:36):
I don't know, I'm gonna sayeight to 12 inches between my
feet and the ground.
In that space between my feetand the ground, I saw his white
robes gently blowing beneath myfeet.

SPEAKER_01 (57:49):
Oh my word.

SPEAKER_02 (57:50):
And I knew he was directly behind me, so close to
me that his robes were under myfeet.
And I gasped and I just like therobes of Jesus are under my
feet, he's right behind me.
Like it was just like, andimmediately I had this thought

(58:13):
almost like a question, should Ibe afraid?
And it was like a temptation tobe afraid, and but it presented
not as fear, but as a should Ibe afraid?
And it was just an internalquestion almost that I asked
myself, and I answered it.
And in my mind, I said, No, I'mnot gonna be afraid, it's Jesus.

(58:38):
And so there was no fear at all.
And um, and so, but I'm justlooking down at the robes and
I'm feeling I'm like logging inmy brain this energy and this
power and this like electricitythat I feel in my whole, but
also love, like love justpermeating my being.

(59:02):
And all of a sudden I see hisfoot come out from underneath
the robe, like he lifted hisrobe so I could see his foot.

SPEAKER_01 (59:13):
Wow.

SPEAKER_02 (59:14):
And I'm looking down and I see the foot of Jesus with
a hole in it and I see where thenail was and the scar is, and I
just begin to weep.
And again, like I feel thislove, like I can't even imagine

(59:35):
the way I describe it is uh youwould never think the scars of
torture would be a symbol oflove, but they are because when
I looked, I just knew I wasloved.
I just knew I was so lovedbeyond anything I've ever known
here.
And um, I just began to weep,and then all of a sudden.

(01:00:00):
Um he puts his arms around mywaist.
So he's directly behind me.
He puts both arms around mywaist.
And can I tell you, he gives abear hug?
He hugged me so tight, Kristen.
Oh my gosh.
He hugged me and he squeezed melike your little one comes up

(01:00:23):
and hugs you, like your husbandwould behind you when you're at
the kitchen sink, like just thisincredibly affectionate, right
around my waist, squeeze.
And he leans in from behind meand he whispers into my left
ear.
And this is what he says if Ican lay the foundations of the

(01:00:46):
earth, I can take care of you.
That's what he said to me.
And again, I just took it all inand wept.
I just wept.
And then all of a sudden, hishand, his left hand, comes out

(01:01:06):
from my waist and he holds itright in front of me.
And he puts it just, you know, afoot from my eyes.
And he turns it like so I cansee the front and the back, and
I can see the nail scar.
And I immediately touched it.
I immediately had to feel it.

(01:01:27):
I just I wanted to, I don't evenknow how to explain it.
I just felt it, rubbed it.
I put my finger in the nailscar.
And then he showed me like abrief vision of what it looked
like when it was bleeding andmarred.
And I saw it like in the rawform.
And then it went back to thescar, like back to like the

(01:01:49):
present day, I guess you couldsay.
And again, I just felt love.
I just felt like, how is thisreally tragic and marred scar
that is the remains of torturemaking me feel so good?

(01:02:15):
And um then I grabbed his handand I just put it on my cheek.
So I took my and I just began torub his hand all over my face.
So it's like, if I could havelike ingested him, I would have.
I was like, how do I get more ofthis?
How do I feel more of this?
And I was just rubbing his handon my face and I began to kiss
his hand and just like love hishand.

(01:02:37):
I don't know how else to I justwas loving him by holding his
hand and touching his hand andrubbing his hand and just
weeping and showing him like mygratitude and my love back to
him.
And and then slowly he took hishand kind of back to his own
side, and I began to feel theenergy move away from me, and I

(01:03:03):
knew that he was gonna leave thecloset and leave the room.
And um, as soon as he was gone,so was the energy, the light,
the breeze, all of it was isgone, is just like he came, he
went.
And um, I was just stunned.
I just was stunned, and when Ithere was more to the dream that

(01:03:24):
had to do with um my kids, andyou know, I actually went on in
the dream to recount and tellwhat just happened, and um, God
will do that often in my dreamswhere I have something really
profound in the dream, and thenI will have a follow-up dream
where I'm telling someone aboutthe dream, so it totally sticks

(01:03:45):
with me.
It's like seared into me.
That's happened to me a handfulof times, and that happened, and
then I woke up and I just wept.
I just walked around my roomweeping and crying, and I went
and woke up my daughter and Iwas like, I just saw Jesus.
She thought something reallyawful happened.
She goes, Mom, what happened?

(01:04:06):
Oh, and I because I was bawlingso hard, and I'm like, I just I
just encountered Jesus.
And then she was weeping.
I told her the whole story.
I told all my kids that day thatwere here, all the kids that
because we had a birthday thingthat day, and um, and I just in
moments where I am like, Lord,it's it's messy out here.

(01:04:29):
He just instantly takes me backto that feeling of him having
his arms around me andwhispering in my ear, if I can
lay the foundations of theearth, I can take care of you.
Yes.

SPEAKER_04 (01:04:41):
Well, and I I'm just thinking of, you know, the woman
that's listening in today, um,who has yet to have an encounter
like that.
Um, you know, as we kind of wrapup for today, I want to have you
back on again because I knowthat there's more that you can
share.
For sure.
Um but as you're, you know, asyou're thinking of usually women
who are listening in, you know,this the one woman who's

(01:05:04):
listening in today, we both havethat heart for the one, right?
Um, what would you want to sharewith her?
Um, and then, you know, whatwould you want to speak over
them?
Uh, you know, I'm imaginingmaybe they're like, well, I I've
never had anything like that,you know.
Yeah.
How how do you like what wouldyou say to them?

(01:05:24):
Um if you're led to in thatrealm.
Otherwise, you can shareanything else that's on your
heart for the one.

SPEAKER_02 (01:05:30):
Well, I would say I said the same thing to God.
Like, I hear about peoplemeeting you, encountering you,
people seeing heaven orwhatever, just having
encounters.
And your what I would say to Godis your word says you're no
respecter of persons.
So there's no reason you can'tdo that for me.
And that was just my prayer fora long, long time, and probably
a couple decades.

(01:05:52):
And uh I just I don't know whyhe chose that encounter.
I don't know why that timing,other than like I said, I really
needed it when I got it.
Um, but I probably could tellyou a thousand other times I
needed it in my life.
I don't know.
There's we have to getcomfortable with the fact that
there's always mystery with God.

(01:06:14):
That doesn't mean He doesn'twant to enlighten you and teach
you things and answer yourquestions.
The wrong question to ask iswhy?
So that is never the rightquestion to ask.
And if God isn't answering you,it may be because you're asking
the why haven't I had that,Lord?

(01:06:35):
Wrong question to ask.
What if you ask him, God, I'dreally like to encounter you.
I want to see you touch you.
What do you want me to knowabout that, God?
What do you want me to knowabout that?
What do you want me to do aboutthat?
And see what God says to youabout an encounter with him.
I never even did that.

(01:06:55):
I just kept saying, God, if Icould just see your face.
No, I didn't even see his face.
And of course, when all that wasover, I'm like, next time, can I
see your face?
Yeah.
And you know what?
His word, I said this before,he's a rewarder of those who
diligently seek him.
Just be diligent.
He's not a respecter of persons.

(01:07:18):
And so that's what I would sayabout encountering Jesus.
I also felt really strongly toanswer the question this way: if
you're not encountering him inhis word, and you're not
encountering him with yourprayer life, um, you know,
that's where to start.
That's where to start.
And I've had so many encounterswith him in prayer.

(01:07:40):
And I don't mean where he showedup in the room, I mean where he
spoke to me, he led me.
I mean, I had a coupleencounters this year in specific
where um one in particular wherehe I was in prayer at my prayer
bench in my room, and I sensedhim saying, I want you to lay
flat on your face and reach yourhands out and touch my feet.

(01:08:04):
And I did not seeing or feelinganything, but just doing it by
faith.
And I felt his peace come intome, Kristen.
And I was touching like hisinvisible feet, but it was an
encounter, and then he was sokind as to show me his foot.

(01:08:24):
You know, I mean, just get alonewith him.
You he is beautiful and perfect,and he's everything we need, and
no amount of heartache is toomuch for him to heal, no amount
of troubles and trials are toomuch for him to handle.
Your brokenness doesn't put himoff, it draws him in.

(01:08:45):
The Bible says he draws near tothe brokenhearted.
Probably the best advice I couldgive a woman who's going through
her own season of a fieryfurnace or loss or grief or
betrayal is just be broken withhim.
Yeah, be broken before him.
Don't try to come to him whole.
That is such silliness.

(01:09:07):
Yeah, he already knows you'renot whole.
He he's not church, you don'tneed to show up looking nice.
Yeah, come to Jesus as you are,tell him every ugly thing.
He already knows you think itand feel it.
I brought him all my anger, allmy sadness, all my questions,
all my frustrations, all myconfusions.

(01:09:28):
In the darkest season of mylife, I brought it all to him.
Yeah, and I really believe thathas a lot to do with the
incredible encounters that I'vehad with him in this season.
And I know him in such anintimate way, and I'm okay just
being broken in his presence,and he's okay with it too.

(01:09:50):
Yeah.
And inevitably, if you bring himyour brokenness, he'll and then
you ask him, like, Lord, what doyou want me to read in your
word?
Or what do you have to say tome?
Or, you know, oh, he always hasthe salve for your wounds.
Always, always, always.

SPEAKER_04 (01:10:08):
Oh, you are just like precious is a word I'm
hearing.
And I I feel like you you'vewalked through so many fires and
um come out on the other sideand have so many keys that you
um are handing out to women,right?
So I would love for you to printus out if you're open to that.

(01:10:31):
But before that, um, where canpeople reach you?
Um, you know, I know thatthere's there's several few
chapters.
Yes.
If you could just briefly sharea little bit what that would
look like if somebody was localor not local to get involved,
um, how they can touch base withyou on that.

SPEAKER_02 (01:10:49):
Thank you.
Yes, we have a um national fewgathering every month that's
strictly online.
So anyone from anywhere can be apart of few.
But if you are in the TwinCities area, we have a chapter
there with uh President HeidiHano.
And if you're in the excuse me,Atlanta area, we have a
beautiful chapter there withBuffy Payne.

(01:11:11):
She's the Few Atlanta chapterpresident, and I'm in the uh
greater Milwaukee area,southeastern Wisconsin.
We meet in uh actually downtownMilwaukee.
So anyone in those areas, pleasecheck it out.
Um, you can go to the website,which is the fewwomen.com and
it's womenplural,w-o-m-thewwomen.com, f e w.

(01:11:37):
And um, you can click on any ofthe tabs for this region you're
in, or if you want to join usonline, just on the main page,
you can register for our uhonline event that happens on the
second Tuesday of each month.
Our members um receive otherbenefits besides our gathering.

(01:11:57):
We can talk about that anothertime.
Um, and then as far asconnecting with me, there's a
contact page on the site.
You can also please look for meon social media.
I'd love to connect with morewomen who are like-minded and
who are women of faith pursuingtheir kingdom assignment.
I am at official Kimberly Joy onTikTok, um, Facebook, Instagram,

(01:12:22):
and um on LinkedIn.
I think I'm Kimberly JoyOfficial.
So one or the other, just swapthe official in the Kimberly
Joy, and you'll find me.
Sounds good.

SPEAKER_04 (01:12:33):
And I'll be sure to link up everything in the show
notes if you didn't catch.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:36):
Thank you.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 (01:12:38):
I was talking.
So um this has been so much fun.
Would you pray us out?
Yes, and you have to come back.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:44):
Yes, I will.
And I forgot to mention I have apodcast called Extraordinary
with Kimberly Joy, and that'salso on YouTube and anywhere
where you can listen topodcasts.

SPEAKER_01 (01:12:53):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12:54):
Um so yes, Father, we thank you for your daughters,
and I thank you for the womenand the men too.
I just know I'm called to yourdaughters, God, but you are the
lifter of all of our heads.
And so I pray today thateveryone who heard this, that
their head is lifted, God, thatthey're ready to remove the

(01:13:14):
grave clothes.
I'm sorry, the prison clothes,grave clothes too, all the bad
ones.
God, that they're ready to takeon their new identity and their
new rank as co-heir with Christand have a seat at your table
and be provided for by you allthe days of their lives.
God, that is your heart for yourchildren.

(01:13:36):
Wow.
And as a mother, I can just sorelate to that, God, who would
want anything less?
And so I pray that whatever thelistener needed to hear today to
activate them so that they willencounter you in such a way to
be transformed, to want to ripoff those old prison clothes and
sit with you and sup with youevery day.

(01:13:57):
God, let it be so.
I thank you for Kristen and herministry.
And I ask you to bless thispodcast and expand its reach so
that many, many more can beunlocked in your name, Jesus.
Amen.
Amen.

SPEAKER_04 (01:14:12):
Well, thank you for being a brave voice who's
setting so many free.
Um, keep going.
I am gonna close with the hopeunlocked anchoring verse, which
is may the God of hope fill youwith all joy and peace in
believing so that by the powerof the Holy Spirit you may
abound in hope.
And that's Romans 15, 13.
So thank you again, Kimberly.

(01:14:33):
It was so wonderful to have youon.
Like I said, we're gonna have tohave her back on to share more
your work.
I'd love to.

SPEAKER_02 (01:14:39):
Thank you for having me.
It was just absolutelydelightful.

SPEAKER_04 (01:14:42):
Yes, I've got an alarm going off here.
So thank you so much.
I'll be back with anotherepisode next week.
Thanks, listeners.
Bye.

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