Episode 19 - Season 1 Recap: The Thread Through It All
Show Notes:
Summary
Season One of Glory & Grit has been about finding God when life doesn’t go as planned.
In this recap episode, Stephanie looks back over the first season and reflects on the threads that kept showing up through solo episodes, guest stories, behind-the-scenes learning, and real-life faith.
From nervous beginnings to waiting seasons, from small steps to rebuilding, from surrender to learning as a host, this episode is a full-circle reflection on what God has taught us through Season One.
As the season closes, Stephanie also shares what is coming next: a short July break, weekly Summer Scripture Verse Mapping episodes, and Season Two beginning the first Sunday in August.
Key Topics
Looking back at Season One of Glory & Grit
Finding God when life does not go as planned
Starting before you feel fully ready
Waiting when faith feels tired
Why small steps still matter
Rebuilding after life changes
What surrender really looks like
Lessons learned from launching the podcast
July Summer Scripture Map episodes
Season Two beginning in August
Takeaways
God meets us in the beginning, even when we feel nervous or unqualified.
Waiting does not mean God has forgotten us.
Tired faith is still faith.
Small steps of obedience matter more than we realize.
God can rebuild something holy, even in a life we did not expect.
Surrender does not always feel like peace at first; sometimes it feels like finally admitting we were never meant to carry it alone.
Life may not go as planned, but God is still present.
Mentioned in This Episode
Romans 8:18
Season 1 Reflection Companion
July Summer Scripture Map episodes
Glory & Grit Summer Rewind clips
Season Two beginning the first Sunday in August
Reflection Companion
Season 1 Reflection Companion
This Season 1 Reflection Companion was created to go along with The Thread Through It All, the Season One recap episode of Glory & Grit.
Season One was about finding God when life doesn’t go as planned. This companion page gives you space to look back, reflect on the threads that showed up throughout the season, and consider where God may be working in your own story.
Inside, you’ll find:
A truth to carry
Season One threads to reflect on
Reflection questions
A simple grit practice
Romans 8:18
Download the companion and take a few quiet minutes to look back before moving forward.
Transcript:
Transcript Note:Due to a transcription/technical issue, a portion of this episode did not generate in the written transcript. The full episode audio is available and includes the complete closing and thank-you section.
Stephanie (00:05)
When I started Glory and Grit, I thought I was starting a podcast about faith and real life. A and I was. But somewhere along the way, season one became more than that for me. It became like this reminder that God is not only in the polished parts of our stories, he's also in the waiting, the breaking.
The stretching, the surrendering, and the slow rebuilding. This season was about finding God when life doesn't go as planned.
And looking back, I think we found him in many more places. Let's look back.
Hi friend, welcome back to Glory and Grit, where faith meets real life. I'm your host, Stephanie Doss Latiner, and today is a little different because this is our season one recap episode. Woohoo!
We made it. And don't worry, I'm not gonna sit here and give you this long episode report like, and in episode four, we talked about this, and in episode five, we talked about this, right? Because nobody needs that kind of spiritual PowerPoint today, right? Instead, I want to take a look back at some of the threads that kept showing up in the season. And
The things that kept bringing me back through the solo episodes, the guest conversations, the messy beginnings, the powerful stories, and honestly, all the behind the scenes learning that came with starting this podcast in the first place. There was a lot.
Because as I said, season one was centered around the idea of finding God when life doesn't go the way we thought it would. And we looked at that from a lot of different places this season. Forgiveness, waiting, feeling unqualified, feeling far from God.
Taking small steps, being stretched, wanting to give up, rebuilding, surrendering, caregiving, courage, identity, and learning to trust God in stories we
Wouldn't have chosen for ourselves. And if I had to sum this whole season up in one sentence, I think it would be this Life may not go as planned, but God doesn't leave the story.
The first thing I kept noticing as I looked back over the season is that God really does meet us in the beginning. And I don't mean that cute, polished, I've got everything figured out in the beginning. Okay. I mean the real beginning. The nervous beginning. The awkward beginning. The Lord, are you sure you meant me?
beginning. The ⁓ I think I'm supposed to do this, but I also might throw up beginning. Starting glory and grit was one of those beginnings for me.
I didn't start this podcast because I felt perfectly prepared. I started it because I felt called. And there is a difference.
Prepared would have been nice. Prepared would have been lovely. Prepared would have come with fewer YouTube searches and research and fewer moments of me staring at Riverside like, ⁓ sir, why are you doing this to me? But call.
called meant I had to take a step even while I was still learning.
And honestly, this season reminded me that sometimes obedience looks a whole lot like shaking hands and pressing the record anyway.
Maybe that's where you are too. Maybe God has been nudging you to begin something, try something, say something, write something, ⁓ to forgive something, or just to take that one small step forward.
And maybe you've been waiting until you felt qualified enough or confident enough, healed enough, ready enough. but one thing I've learned is that feeling unqualified doesn't always mean you're outside of God's will.
Sometimes it means you're exactly where you'll have to rely on him. And listen, I'm not saying go out there and be reckless. Please do not say that. Stephanie told me to do things unprepared. I did not let the record show. But what I'm saying is that sometimes we use, I'm not ready yet.
As a reason to stay still when God is asking us to move. And if season one taught me anything about beginnings, it's that God can work with a willing yes. Even if the yes is nervous, even if it's messy, even if you have to learn as you go.
Another threat that kept showing up this season was waiting. And waiting is not a favorite spiritual activity for me. I mean, and I don't know who loves it, but if you do, please teach the class because some of us are struggling, all right? ⁓ we talk about waiting when nothing seems to be changing. We talked about waiting when prayers feel unanswered.
Waiting when God feels quiet. Waiting when your faith is still there, but it feels tired. And I think that matters because sometimes we treat tired faith like it's failed faith. Like ⁓ if we were really faithful, we'd feel strong all the time.
We'd have the perfect answer. We'd be calm and peaceful and quoting scriptures with soft background music play.
But real life doesn't always feel like that. Sometimes faith sounds like, ⁓ Lord, I'm still here. Sometimes faith is just not walking away while you're still waiting to understand. Sometimes faith is tired, quiet, tearful, confused, and still reaching.
And this season reminded me that faith is not fake just because it's tired. If you're in a waiting season right now, I hope you hear that. Waiting does not mean God has forgotten you. Quiet doesn't mean he's absent. Slow does not mean wasted.
And I know that can be hard to believe when you're in the middle of it. Because when nothing seems to be moving, it can feel like nothing is happening. But sometimes God is doing things under the surface. Sometimes He's preparing us, sometimes He's softening us.
Sometimes he's strengthening us in ways that we wouldn't have chosen on our own. Because honestly, who signs up for that, right? Not me. But he is still there. The waiting season may not be wasted even when it's uncomfortable.
And I think that's one of the biggest reminders I wanna carry out of season one.
We also talked a lot this season about small steps and honestly I think that matters because most of life
With God is not made up of huge dramatic mountaintop moments. I mean, those are great. We we we love a good mountaintop moment. We won't reject it. But most days, most days, faith looks smaller than that. It's like choosing to pray again.
Choosing to show up again. Choosing to forgive. One more layer.
Choosing to get out of bed. Choosing to do the next right thing. Choosing to believe God can still work here, even if here is not where you want to be.
Sometimes we want a the big breakthrough. We want that moment where everything changes, everything makes sense, everybody apologizes, the bank improves, the health issues disappear, the family situations resolve, and suddenly, we suddenly understand the entire spiritual purpose of our suffering.
And sometimes God does do those big things, but a lot of the time he works in small obedience. The little steps, the quiet choices. The I don't know how this is going to work, but I'm gonna do the next right thing anyway, moments.
And I think that matters because small steps can feel unimpressive. They don't always make a great testimony story while you're in them. Nobody is usually clapping because you answered one email, you drank some water, you prayed for 30 seconds, or made one good choice when you really wanted to quit. But those small steps matter. They add up.
They shape us, they keep us moving. And sometimes the miracle is not that everything changed. Sometimes the miracle is that you kept going.
That was true for me with this podcast too. There are so many little steps. Learning Riverside. ⁓ Learning editing. I knew a little bit about editing because I edited with ⁓ Da Vinci for my YouTube videos that I used to do. but
Learning for the podcasts in Riverside was a whole new editing story. Trying to figure out social media clips. What are the best clips to share on social media? ⁓ which I'm going to do much better job at getting them out there in season two because I've learned a lot. ⁓ trying to make show notes and reflection guides. By the way.
The reflection guides are getting an upgrade in season two. Hello. ⁓
And one of the biggest things, trying not to sound like ⁓ I was being held hostage by my script, right? Because I want to have ideas of things to say, because I want to know that I do have my ideas together, but then I don't want to read it and feel like a zombie or ⁓ you know, a teleprompter hero, right?
There was also trying to make sure that each episode actually posted when it was supposed to post. And I'm very grateful and thankful that every episode posted when it was supposed to. I think in the beginning there might have been one little slip-up, but the red they all posted when they were supposed to.
Okay. And every small step I took to make those things happen mattered because in the end it made them happen. It helped them to happen. Even the clunky ones, especially the clunky ones. Because God was teaching me in the doing. Kind of like on the job training, right?
Another threat this season was rebuilding. And I think rebuilding is hard because it usually means that something has ⁓ been broken or changed or lost, delayed, or even taken apart in a way that we didn't plan, right? ⁓ we talked about what God was doing while nothing seemed to be happening. We talked about new beginnings.
We talked about caregiving, exhaustion, unexpected diagnosis, single motherhood, loss, uncertainty, and even what it looks like when life pushes you into a version of your story that you would never have picked for yourself. And one thing I kept coming back to is that God rebuilding something doesn't always mean.
He gives you your old life back. That's hard for some people. Or maybe in times for all of us at some point, because sometimes that's exactly what we want. We want God to restore things, putting them back the way they were, right? That's what restore is, putting it back the way it was.
Before we got the diagnosis, before we had the loss, before the heartbreak, before the decision, before the phone call, before everything changed. And sometimes restoration doesn't include things being returned. But sometimes God rebuilds us in a different way. Sometimes peace.
Before he restores the circumstances. Sometimes he restores courage before he restores clarity. Sometimes he restores trust while we're still in that situation, while it's still unfolding.
Sometimes he helps us become steady in a life we never expected to be living. And that doesn't mean that loss doesn't matter because it does. It doesn't mean that grief wasn't real. It doesn't mean that we have to pretend we're fine. But it does mean that God is not limited in the old version of our lives.
He can still rebuild something holy here. He can still meet us here. He can still help us become whole here. And that isn't always the answer we wanted. But it can still be a testimony.
Rebuilding with God doesn't always look like getting your old life back. I'm sorry. Sometimes it looks like learning how to live faithfully in a life that you never would have expected.
We also heard stories in this season about surrender. This has become one of my favorite words. And throughout the course of the summer from my own personal study, I think I'm going to do a deep dive into the word surrender. and I don't know, maybe in the next season or a season later down the line, we'll do a deep dive episode into surrender.
And when I say surrender,
not that cute churchy kind of surrender where everything immediately feels peaceful and everybody smiles softly and learns their lesson in 22 minutes. Okay. I mean real surrender. The kind that ⁓ that happens when you when you reach the end of your own answers.
The kind that happens in parked cars, hospital rooms, and hard conversations and consequences and grief, in moments when you finally say, Lord, I cannot carry this by myself anymore.
And I think surrender can be hard to talk about because sometimes we make it sound prettier than it feels, right?
Sometimes surrender feels like relief. But sometimes, at first, it feels like loss. It feels like admitting you don't have control. Really? Did you ever really I mean, come on. But okay.
I move on. it feels like letting go of the version of your story you were trying so hard to force into place. It feels like saying, God, I don't know what you're doing.
But I cannot keep pretending that I can carry this without you.
Mm. And what I loved about the guest stories this season is that they weren't polished little, you know, packaged testimonies. They were real stories from real people who walked through real things and still found God there. Awesome.
I'm so grateful for every guest who trusted me with their story this season. Because testimony ⁓ doesn't always come through pretty words. Sometimes it comes through tears. Sometimes it comes through pauses. Sometimes it comes through messy middle chapters. Sometimes it comes through someone simply having the courage to say, this is where God met me.
And that matters. Because surrender doesn't always feel like peace at first. Sometimes it feels like finally admitting you were never meant to carry it alone.
Surrender. It's a good topic. I hope you'll take some time this summer to really delve into what surrendering means in your life. And please, by all means, share your stories with me or your favorite scripture or your ⁓ moments with me because I would love to.
hear your testimony, whether it's through a letter, through an email. even if you aren't a guest on the podcast, I would still love to hear your testimony,
Now, as the host, I learned a lot this season as well. Some of it was spiritual, some of it was technical.
A lot. Some of it was me realizing that podcasting is apparently ⁓ a ministry and a group project with every app, microphone, platform, Wi Fi signal all involved. Okay. I learned that obedience can be messy.
I learned that starting something new can be exciting and terrifying at the same time.
I learned that tech will humble you repeatedly with enthusiasm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I learned that people are carrying stories we may never see on the outside.
I learned that sometimes the most powerful moments in a conversation aren't the perfectly worded ones.
Sometimes there are the quiet pauses, the deep breaths, the moment someone says something that maybe they didn't even realize someone else needed to hear. I love moments like that.
I learned that listening is a sacred work.
and
Actively doing it.
And I learned that God can use imperfect offerings because that's all he has is imperfect people to get it from. So, you know, we have to stop holding that against ourselves. And it's not because, again, we do everything perfectly. It's not because we have the perfect setup, the perfect voice, the perfect plan, and the perfect schedule.
But it's because he's gracious enough to work through our willingness. And yes, I've also learned that editing a podcast can be sanctifying. I'm not saying it belongs right up there with the pioneer suffering, but there were moments, there were definitely moments when there was some serious suffering going on and crying.
Thankful for all of it. Mm-hmm. I am. The learning, the stretching, the mistakes, the guests, the listeners, and the messages. The moments where I wondered if I knew what I was doing, and God gently reminded me that He did.
Mm. That might be the biggest lesson for me personally. I I didn't always know what I was doing, but God.
So before we close season one, I want to turn this back to you.
Because this was never supposed to be just a podcast where you hear someone else's story, you nod your head, you say amen, and then you move on with your day. my hope has always been that these episodes would help you notice God in your own story too. So as we wrap up this first season, I want to ask you a few questions.
Where has life not gone as planned for you?
Where have you seen God in the middle of it, even if it was small?
What part of your story are you still afraid God cannot use?
What small step might he be inviting you to take next?
And what would it look like for you to keep showing up with both glory and grit?
You don't have to answer any of these questions right now. ⁓ but maybe you take one with you. Write it down, pray about it, talk it through with someone you trust. Let God show you where He's been present, even in the parts of your story that still seem or feel unfinished. Because sometimes
We can see God more clearly when we pause long enough to look back.
Stephanie (27:48)
I created a season one reflection companion to go with this episode.
It's just a simple page to help you look back over the season to notice the thread God may be weaving through your own story and to carry one small step forward.
Stephanie (28:11)
Now, as we wrap up season one, I also want to let you know what's coming next. Glory and Grit is going to take a little vacation for the month of July. And honestly, I think your girl could use a minute. But I won't be gone gone. No worries.
During July, I'll be sharing a short summer scripture verse mapping episode each week. Now, these will be a little bit different from our regular episodes. kind of a lot different from our regular episodes. Instead of full testimony style conversations or a regular solo episode, we're gonna slow down with one scripture.
And look a little deeper, dig a little deeper into that scripture.
Because I love doing these deep dives into the scriptures. And I don't know if you're familiar with the term, but it's called Bible verse mapping. And so you can Google that or look it up on YouTube to give you kind of an idea of what we'll be doing.
I love looking at what was happening at that time, what certain words meant, what was the context, and how that helps us better understand the message that God might be giving us. if you're new here.
And one of those July episodes is the first thing you hear. Just know that those are special summer episodes that happen between seasons. Okay. Season two will begin on the first Sunday in August. Woohoo. And as you can see, I'm already excited about what we're going to be doing next.
⁓ I'll also be sharing some of the glory and grit summer rewind clips from season one on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. ⁓ and threads during this break. So if you missed any episodes or if there was a moment that you want to revisit, July would be a good time to catch up.
And if one of those clips makes you think of someone, please share it with them. This is one of the easiest ways to support the podcast and helps those stories to reach the people who may need to hear them. And I appreciate everything that you do to help the podcast get out there. I
Wanna close season one with a scripture that has been tied to glory and grit from the beginning. And that is Romans eight eighteen, which says
For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. I love that scripture because it doesn't erase the grit. It doesn't pretend that suffering is small. It doesn't
say that hard things aren't hard, but it reminds us that God is still working toward glory.
There's glory he can reveal in us. There's glory he can bring from places we wouldn't have chosen. There's glory beyond what we can see right now. And that's the hope I want to carry from season one and whatever comes next.
Friend, if season one has reminded us of anything, I hope it is this. Life may not go as planned, but God is still present. He is present in the waiting. He's present in the rebuilding. He's present in the surrender.
He's present when your faith feels strong, and he's present when your faith feels like a whisper.
Thank you for being a part of this first season of Glory and Grit.
This is not the end of the conversation. It's just the end of season one. Until next time, keep looking for God in the real story, the glory, the grit, and everything in between.
Bye now, my friend.
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