Have you ever stopped yourself from getting excited about something because you were afraid of being disappointed again?

Stephanie remembers searching for a house, imagining the possibilities, and slowly losing the joy of the experience after one disappointment after another. What began as an attempt to protect herself from hurt became a question about how we sometimes protect ourselves from hope.

In this solo episode of Glory & Grit, Stephanie explores the difference between hope and certainty, what it means to anchor our hope in Jesus Christ, and how faith can coexist with disappointment.

Through Romans 5:3–5 and Ether 12:4, we're reminded that hope isn't a guarantee of a particular outcome.

“Hope is not a promise that you'll get what you want. It's permission to believe that disappointment doesn't get the final word.”

Continue the conversation on the Companion Page at gloryandgritpodcast.com.

Glory & Grit — where faith meets real life.

What if God begins healing your heart before you understand why?

Amy Eaton loved her larger-than-life, free-spirited father. But beneath that love was a quiet ache: when his plans changed or he was unavailable, Amy often received a deeper message that she was not chosen and did not matter.

Through therapy, prayer, and Christian soul care, God began untangling Amy’s worth from another person’s availability. The healing did not require her father to change or apologize. It changed the freedom with which Amy could love him.

Then, while sitting in rocking chairs with her husband, Amy suddenly said, “I don’t have a lot of time left with my dad.” She stopped postponing a daddy-daughter weekend. About fourteen months later, her father received a terminal cancer diagnosis and died fewer than sixty days afterward.

In this tender conversation, Amy shares how God prepared her heart for a season she could not see, met her during her father’s final weeks, and answered a quiet prayer through Psalm 23.

Sometimes God begins healing your heart before you know why—because He is preparing you to love well in a season you cannot yet see.

KEY TOPICS

• A father-daughter relationship that held both real love and hidden hurt
• When another person’s availability becomes tangled with your worth
• Healing that did not require an apology or a changed relationship
• The rocking-chair prompting and the daddy-daughter weekend Amy almost postponed
• Her father’s final weeks, the ICU conversation, and Psalm 23

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Love and hurt can exist in the same relationship.
• Your worth is not determined by another person’s availability.
• Healing can begin even when the other person does not change.
• The faithful step may come before the explanation.
• Grief and gratitude can coexist, and God’s kindness does not make sorrow less real.

Continue the conversation: https://gloryandgritpodcast.com

Have you ever admired someone so much that your admiration became evidence against you?

In this solo episode, Stephanie shares how comparison crept into church life and convinced her that what she brought would never be as good—or as worthy of space—as what other women offered. But comparison does more than steal joy. It can make us reject an offering before anyone else has a chance to receive it.

Through a handmade card with two crayons, a ride offered to a woman walking, and a coworker helped by one podcast episode, Stephanie explores how small acts can carry meaning farther than we can see. Doctrine and Covenants 64:33 and Matthew 5:13 remind us that great work can proceed from small things—and that you do not have to be the center of attention to change what is happening in the room.

What you bring does not have to look like what someone else brings to be worth offering.

Key topics

• When admiration turns into self-disqualification
• Why comparison can make us withhold before anyone has a chance to receive
• The card, two crayons, and the child who knew he had been noticed
• The ride that shaped both the woman receiving help and the son watching
• Small things, faithful influence, and a healthier definition of impact

Key takeaways

• Someone else’s gift does not cancel yours.
• Small does not mean meaningless.
• You may not know who is watching or how far an honest act will travel.
• Attention is not the only proof that something is making a difference.
• One person helped is not a small result. One person is a person.

Continue the conversation: https://gloryandgritpodcast.com