Podcast

27. Finding Your Identity in Christ. Hannah Conway

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Unshakable Hope Podcast, where real life intersects redeeming love. I’m Kelly Hall, and this is where we wrestle through faith questions, such as, How do I trust God’s heart when His ways and delays are breaking mine? How can I believe God is good when life doesn’t seem good? My prayer is that God would renew our hope in these conversations, and that each of us would experience the very real power of His presence and love.

Hey, guys, if you need to know, God is able to restore what’s broken, whether it’s a dad in prison, a broken identity, a broken relationship, a husband with PTSD, a marriage that looks hopeless, you’re going to love hearing Hannah tell her story today.

You’ll be in awe of what God can do in your own life. We’ll also talk about her identity devotional she’s written for teenagers entitled, In Case You Forget. [00:01:00] Stick around till the end because after our conversation, I have a special blessing I’ll speak over you about your own identity.

So here we go. Enjoy the conversation.

Kelly: Hannah Conway is here on the podcast today. I just love her. We’ve been having so much fun. I mean, it was just a preach it sister kind of morning and I’m sorry you didn’t get to hear it, but you’re going to get to hear some of it now.

And so Hannah, welcome to the podcast.

Hannah: Thank you so much. It is a absolute joy to be here. Thank you so much for having me, Kelly. Like we’re, we are going to have the best time.

Kelly: Oh, I know . Okay. So Hannah start by just telling us a little about your family, where you live. If you could also please include how God is speaking to you right now.

Hannah: Oh, goodness. Okay. So, we are in Clarksville, Tennessee, and we’re about 45 minutes northwest of Nashville. And my hubby, Steven and I have been married for over 20 years. We have three kids. [00:02:00] Jay, our oldest who we adopted not long ago. She’s a sophomore in college. I know our son is 18, and he is actually in basic training right now.

He is in boot camp for the Navy. So I’ve got 25 days, I think, until graduation. We’re counting down and our youngest is 13. She’s at home with us. And so, we’ve got a few years left with her. So we’re like dabbling in empty nesting. I don’t know. It’s interesting. It’s interesting. I serve as communication director and women’s ministry director at our church.

I’m an author, podcaster… just all about some Jesus. Yeah

Kelly: I love it.

Hannah: All right. That’s us. And then scripture that is speaking to me. There, there are actually several, I jotted some notes. So in the season of my life right now, with book launch, with kids growing up, one in basic training, I find myself asking:

Do I still trust you? God, do I still trust you? [00:03:00] And then He’s: do you still trust me? Cause I thought I did. I thought I trusted him. Right? But I feel very much like man: I believe but help me with my unbelief. How I feel that. And so as I read through the Bible I just, I’m looking for God’s Goodness.

Right? So in Exodus 34:6 he gives a definition of himself. He’s: I’m compassionate and kind and slow to anger. So I’m like, okay, this is who he says he is. And I believe this. I’m looking in scripture and I see it all throughout. And then I’m looking for it in my life. I can trust him because He’s good. He’s compassionate. He’s because of who he is. And so, this, it’s a lesson that I don’t ever want to forget. I’m relearning. I’m like, all right, I do trust you in this season of my life. And right now it’s been beautiful. We’re in the gospels. As we read through and just finished reading John 17, which is one of my favorite chapters.

When Jesus is, he’s [00:04:00] praying, he’s about to die. And his last thoughts are for us. He literally prays for us. And something that he prays for is unity. He prays for unity because it’s our unity that makes him known to the world. And so I just sit in that. I trust you. I’m focusing on you.

Help me to be an answer to your prayer. To be a person who’s about unity, right? Because I want you to be made known to the world. So those are the things that I find that he’s speaking to me right now of… you can trust me. I’m still good. Let’s keep the mission and let’s be unified with one another. So.

Kelly: I love that. I’ve never thought of praying that way out of John 17. I have a friend that says if God took away my entire Bible, I would be okay if he just left me John 14 through 17.

Hannah: It’s so good. It’s so good. And you see he’s in Exodus when he defines himself, you [00:05:00] see it. I mean, you see it all throughout scriptures, but it’s highlighted. It’s highlighted in John 14 through 17. It’s highlighted in Matthew five through seven, which is the sermon on the mount. And so you just see his goodness. And so when he’s talking about, even the greatest commandments, to love God and love people essentially, right.

Two sides of the same coin. It’s reflective of his character… of his heart. And I want to reflect that. So, with the seasons of my life changing, I find this is, it is centering. It’s steadying to focus on that, on his goodness. I can still trust him. I have a mission and I want to be an answer to that John 17 prayer, right?

Amen. Yeah.

Kelly: You have such a big story, Hannah, and it’s so powerful. I love seeing God’s faithfulness in it. Take us to your childhood. I know your mom, your home was full of love, but you had some hard with [00:06:00] your dad. Just talk about how you navigated that and how you came to know Jesus through it.

Hannah: Yeah. So, Gosh, I grew up in Kentucky, born and raised, and I love my Kentucky home, love my Kentucky family, and I did, I grew up in a wonderful home. Mama stayed at home. She made everything from scratch. Like just, I look back at my childhood and think, wow, that is amazing. Wow, what a woman, but my daddy, I love my dad, I was a daddy’s girl but…

What I did not know, was that dad had come from a really horrific home life. And so he had experienced just years of abuse of every kind. And so my mom knew he had a rough home life and knew he had been hurt. They married young and it took them a while to get pregnant. And so, when they had me and then eventually my brother, dad just…His childhood starts coming back and he’s…He just makes choices that land him in jail. When we were at a really young [00:07:00] age, my brother and I were very young. We’re 11 months apart. And so I just remember being in 1st grade and knowing my dad was gone.

He was in jail. And so visiting him there was…It was, I still have these memories of visiting him there. But that was a very hard season. All of a sudden my daddy’s gone. I was very embarrassed. I was ashamed. I felt marked in some way, this little girl, and I didn’t want to talk about it.

I just want to pretend like nothing was wrong, but my brother talked about it all the time and I was like, Oh, stop talking about it. Mama kept bringing us to church and we were a faith filled family and I was. embarrassed and felt less than and so I don’t think people made me feel that way.

I think that was just something as a little girl, just developmentally, you’re very egocentric. And I think that’s just what…what was, part of my development, but I remember being 8 years old and knowing I needed a [00:08:00] savior. My, my dad was gone. My family felt chaotic. Mama cried a lot.

She had to take a job working in a factory. And so I remember hearing her cry. Her hands were cracked and bleeding. Financially, things were difficult. We had a hard time, putting food on the table and we were recipients of the church families’ love and outpouring. I remember them bringing boxes of food to mama and mama just crying, which is a beautiful picture of what the church does and should do.

And it makes me happy every time I’m able to serve and give back. But at eight years old, I knew I needed a savior. And I, essentially just ran to Jesus was like, please, I know that I’m broken. I need a savior and at eight years old, I asked him, I say, asked him to be the boss of my life, but that’s what it was.

I knew I needed him. And from those years forward, I’ve followed to the best of my ability and daddy ended up he was in jail for several years. He came home at the end of our fifth grade year. If my memory serves [00:09:00] correctly, right before middle school. And those were hard times. Cause all of a sudden he comes back and I’m almost a teenager and he’s been gone and I’m angry and bitter and hurting.

But he had met Jesus and God radically changed his life. And the man is…he’s wonderful. And so it’s funny, the stories that I hear about how my dad was, I can’t mesh those in my mind because I know how he is and I know what God did in his life, but it took me several years of just processing and working through that anger toward him.

And it really wasn’t until after high school that dad and I mended our relationship and became that daddy’s girl again, right? It’s been a beautiful journey, but during those middle school years and even high school years, I was still struggling with: Who am I? I am a girl whose dad was in jail.

I’m poor. I’m just less than. I felt a call to ministry on my life. And being from [00:10:00] the just the conservative denomination that I was in at the time, it was like, Oh, you can’t cause you’re female. Right? So I just felt a lot of shame over even my gender. And I just remember going to God and being like, what do you say? Do you really think this? These things about me? What do you say about me? And I ran to him and started reading the word for myself. And when I would find something he said about me, I was like, Oh, and write that down and write the scripture. And if there was something he asked us to do, I would write that down.

I was like, okay, if I learned something about him, I’d write that down. And so, by the time I had graduated from college and then I got married young. My husband was in the military. And so then I became a military wife and now I’m asking, well, who am I now? And I’m a military wife. My husband’s gone all the time.

Now we have a little kid, like who am I now? And so I kept asking all of these questions. Who am I and going to God for that answer. And eventually what I found [00:11:00] out is: I’m his. Right? I’m his. And the question that I now ask is who are you, God, who are you? and focusing on him helps me see, it helps me see him rightly, but it helps me see myself rightly.

So that’s a long story.

Kelly: Oh no, that’s beautiful. That’s exactly right. When we see God as he is, our minds expand to understand…Who we are, how deeply we’re love, how intricately we’ve been created. We’ve been anointed and appointed and chosen and called for such a time as this.

Hannah: Oh, yeah.

And it’s funny when I think back, I can see God’s hand all over it and all over my life, all over my childhood, all over just everywhere. And when in Exodus 34, we were talking before we hit record. A little bit about this, but even who God is and his definition and we’ve already talked a little bit about that, but I can see how he has been kind and compassionate and faithful and slow to anger and merciful in my life and [00:12:00] my parents’ life and watching their marriage be restored.

He’s. He’s everything he says he is and more, and I don’t ever want to get over that.

Kelly: Yes. Absolutely. It’s stunning.

Hannah: Yeah, it is. It brings tears to my eyes. I’m like, ah,

Kelly: yes. Well you just talked about how you saw that in your parents marriage and in their lives, their transformation. So talk about how you saw that in your own marriage after your husband came back from being deployed.

Hannah: Yeah, so we spent several years apart. He was an infantry soldier. The war, 9-11, had happened. I was…we were young and then he was an infantry soldier and we were a couple who we thought we’re going to be missionaries. That’s what we’re going to do. He’s going to do his three years and get out and we’re going to be missionaries somewhere in Africa, right?

Because that’s where all missionaries go. And he comes back and….He didn’t want to talk about God. He didn’t want to go to church. He was so angry. I was like, who are you? I don’t know [00:13:00] who you are anymore. And what we discovered later was he was suffering from PTSD and TBI and really just broken, just a broken person.

And so I immediately go to God, why? Why? I don’t understand. We’re living for you. I’m living for you. I’m trying and what’s going on here. And then just our relationship just really started to break and fall apart.

It was some of the hardest years of our life, and then it was like, I don’t even know, a punch again to my identity of, I’m not good enough. I’m not. I’m not making him happy. I’m not, it was just this, I’m less than again, It was guilt and shame. And so that was on me. And so I went to God and was like, I’m feeling this way, but I need you to help. And so God started to help me. It was funny when I went to God complaining about my husband, he started focusing on me.[00:14:00]

And He started to teach me what love was about and love is patient and it is kind and it is gentle and it is forgiving and it doesn’t keep record of wrongs and it always perseveres and always hopes. And I had this, I’m just saying the Holy Spirit helped me recognize that love was not a feeling.

Love was a choice. And in our culture we get those mixed up. We think that love is just this…Mushy feeling of puppy dogs and butterflies and great days, sunny days all the time. But actually one of the deepest forms of love is I’m going to choose to stay with you. I’ve seen your brokenness and I’m going to choose to stay.

And so, there were. Some moments in our marriage that I thought this is it, we’re not going to make it. But I remember my mom and dad persevering and I remember how beautiful their relationship had become. And God was like, if you’re willing to stay, I’m willing to help. And so I had to make a [00:15:00] choice because I had every reason to leave. Like I had every reason, I was justified in leaving. But I don’t know if it was just stubbornness or just the Holy Spirit… I’m gonna go with Holy Spirit.

Kelly: Yeah, that’s a good choice

Hannah: But I thought I can’t and I just kept thinking I can’t leave this man who is so broken right now He’s self destructing and I’d seen…We’d had some friends that had Taken their own lives…they were in the military, we, and I thought it can’t end this way. It can’t end this way.

And so I just asked God to help me love him…Like you love him. How do you see him and help me love him. And that’s what we did for several years. And then finally, one day, he had an outburst at work and one of his buddies said, this is it. Like you either get help. Or we’re going to make sure you get out of the army, like you’re done. And so [00:16:00] this just some stern love and Steven went and got help. He went to Walter Reed for about 30 days and got the help that he needed. And it was a game changer. So he comes back. We’re still, I’m hurt. I’m like, what does this look like?

How do we mend? But slowly and surely, steady. Little by little, God just started to piece our lives together. We moved here to Clarksville. We were stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and lived in the Tennessee side. And we found a church family who just wrapped their arms around us. And we just started to grow back together.

And that friend that helped him and made him get help is stationed. Well, he’s here now, he was stationed and got out and still very close to us. But when I was writing my first book, the Wounded Warrior’s Wife, I was. Hey, babe, can I ask you just how you were doing, just for book purposes, like, how are you and God? I don’t know. I don’t want to start a fight.

And he said we’re good. And I was like, okay, you want to talk a little more about it? And he said,[00:17:00] , I know that I’m forgiven. I know that God loves me. I know that, there’s a plan for all of this. And I was like, Okay. I said, and this has been like three years or so into all of that, just trying to work it out.

I said, how do you know that? And he said, cause you loved me when you shouldn’t have…

Kelly: Oh my goodness. That is so powerful.

Hannah: And it’s I was like, man, it just stuck with me. And I thought the only reason I knew to do that, was because of God who I knew, he was good. I knew what he said about me, and I knew what he believed about Steven.

And so, I love that, right? I just, I got to show him love and it’s funny because they were just choices that I were making. I was like, I’m going to be kind when I don’t want to, I’m going to hold my tongue when I don’t want to, I’m going to go out of my way to do sweet [00:18:00] things for you, even when I don’t want to.

Anyway, God restored and then eventually those feelings came for a while. It was, I’m going to choose to do this.

Kelly: That was an answer to the prayer you prayed. I thought this prayer was beautiful. I wanted to highlight it. Help me see him through your eyes, God, that is such a powerful prayer that can help us in every single relationship.

And every single situation, God help me see this, help me see this person, this situation through your eyes. The way he sees is so much bigger than what we see.

Hannah: So that’s right. And when it shifted and I do want to say this for those that may be listening, I was not in an abusive situation. I was not being hurt.

And so, that’s not my story. And if that is someone’s story, I’m going to encourage you to get to someplace safe, get to safety. I’m not asking any woman to endure abuse. Don’t hear me say that. I did not feel unsafe. [00:19:00]

Kelly: So important distinction.

Hannah: It is, yes, it is. So, it’s funny. We had… we weren’t….at one point we’re separated and it was so interesting. I had went up to visit his mama in Ohio and taken the kids because I wasn’t sure when she would see them again. And I didn’t tell her anything that was going on. I’m pretty sure she felt it, but I didn’t say anything and I didn’t even know this, but about a week later…when I was up there, I’d found pictures of he and I up in the attic. And I was just looking through and crying of just all these years and telling God, I don’t understand. I don’t understand. How is this us right now? And I just threw the pictures. So it’s…. And when I left, I just left them up in the attic at her house and he came about a week later to visit her. And I didn’t know that. And for whatever reason, he goes up in the attic and sees all of our pictures, just. Scattered and starts picking them up and looking at them and [00:20:00] he ends up calling me later and he’s: can we work it out? Can we fix this? Can we, and I just thought, wow, God, wow, God it’s just never too late.

God is in the business of restoring and making all things new and he’s faithful and he’s good and he’s kind and not that Steven and I have this perfect marriage, but I love that man and God has done a work in his life and to be able to be part of that, even at times when I was just doing it begrudgingly, right? God still honored that obedience. Yeah, that’s our story.

Kelly: Oh, that is so powerful. You had this huge shift, your dreams, your expectations, a different man came home from war and he didn’t really understand that he needed help and you didn’t understand, it was a long journey, but I love how you had the example of your parents to look at.

Hannah: Yes. And [00:21:00] it’s funny, I was just talking with mom recently, we’ll still have stuff that comes up every now and then just, there are just consequences from the hurt of life, right? They’re like, I still deal with this because of that. And so there, there’s no, I’m like, mama, you made a choice to stay with daddy.

There was no easy choice here. You were in a really hard situation, but you made it. And yes, we still have some struggles with, abandonment or whatever that…is that feeling. But I’m like, that’s when we’re able to speak God’s truth to that wound and say, God I need you to make this into a Romans 8:28 moment.

I need you to work all things out for the good. Right? And he does. I was like, mama, you’ve done a great job. You’re an excellent mama. You did wonderful. And any scars that we have from choices that you made, or we made, God’s going to use those. He’s not going to waste any of it. And so just let’s. Thank him for being a God who uses that for his glory and to help someone else. So

Kelly: yeah, [00:22:00] nothing is impossible for him. That’s right. Yeah. Oh, that’s your whole story speaks to that truth. You were describing how you came to believe your identity was in Christ and not in all these other labels that life had thrown at you, right? So how can you describe a defining moment or something that really broke through and helped you truly believe that your identity was in Christ and not in what life had said you were.

Hannah: I don’t know if it was a defining moment, but it, I really believe that these hard things in my life, these labels that I got that were difficult pushed me into God’s. Word. Yeah. So it was, I was homecoming queen. So that’s a label, right? You could say, Oh, she’s homecoming queen. Oh, she’s class president. Oh, she’s, an author. And those are great labels, right? Those are fun labels.

But when you [00:23:00] get labeled the daughter of a prisoner or white trash, or when you get labeled these other things, those. Those are ugly and hurtful and you don’t want to believe them. Right? And so I, those hard labels, those labels that made me feel shame or guilt or ugly or less than, or whatever, pushed me to God’s word. And so, I’m thankful for those, I’m thankful for those. So when we have these times in our life that make us feel a certain way, I just, my natural response or I don’t know what it was to be like, no, I’m going to run to God.

I’m going to run to him. So not that I could think of a defining moment, but I’m just thinking, I want to know what God says. Because if he’s the creator, he’s the one I’m going to, I’m going to go with the guy who rose again. Right. I’m going to go with the guy who created everything. That would be my answer. I want to know what he says.

Kelly: Absolutely. And that started really [00:24:00] young in your life.

Hannah: It did. So that I’m thankful for, right? I’m thankful for all of that. I wish it didn’t take me so long in some ways, but I’m also thankful.

Kelly: We’re all right there in that journey. Yeah.

I wanted to add to that. Even the good labels are not our identity. Homecoming queen…. things like that…because those things fade, right?

Hannah: Yes. They go. And, and this is fun to find in a funny, interesting way. I’m a mom, but that’s not who I am. Right. And now that even my kids are growing up, I’m a mom whose kids are leaving.

Like they’re the seasons of my life changes. So these labels that we put on ourselves aren’t lasting. They’re just adjectives or I don’t know. They just and wax and wane and all of that. But Who God says that I am is who I am. And so when all these things surround me, whether it’s good labels or bad labels or whatever, I’d be like, none of it.

What does God say? I want to go [00:25:00] with him.

Kelly: Yeah. Okay. Well, that leads us to talk about your devotional book that you wrote, which is called In Case You Forget, which I love so much because we all know that you’ve been describing this, remembering. Practicing a lifestyle of remembering what God says so that you’re believing his word over what you feel is so key to walking in your identity in Christ.

So tell us about the why behind that book and what readers could expect.

Hannah: Yeah. So the why behind that book, I think when I write, it’s something for myself, right? It’s like writing this for myself. And honestly, it was a topic that I had taught on at women’s events

And so when my agent had come to me, I had been in the fiction world for so long, the Christian fiction world. And she’s Hey, do you have anything nonfiction? And I was like, I don’t think so. And she’s Hannah, let’s be honest. What are you doing in women’s ministry?

What do you have? I said, well, I have this one thing on identity. And she’s like that, that, and I guess some publishers had [00:26:00] talked with her and ask her if they had anything specifically on that. And so, But yeah, so honestly, it was like, I’d compiled this list of just truths that I had found in God’s word.

And that’s what it was. It was like, here, ladies, this is what God says about you. And then he calls and commissioned you to go and make disciples. So let’s go do that. And so really the whole Devo is, I’m going to tell you what God says about you. So that you can go. I don’t want you to be stuck and frozen thinking, I don’t know who I am.

So we’re going to fix that. And then he tells you what to do. He says to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the father, son, Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all of his commandments. Right. And it’s a great commission in Matthew 28. So. That’s the whole purpose is you are going to find 42 truths and there are more, but we had to cut the book off at some point.

Right. So there are 42 that I’m [00:27:00] focusing on and then it’s now go, yeah. Go live in that call. Your life on mission. It doesn’t mean you have to be in full time vocational ministry. It means wherever you are. That is your mission field and you are to as representatives of God and this world, because you are made in his image and you are to reflect who he is and this world.

So his definition, remember he’s good and he’s kind and he’s merciful and forgiving and faithful and then all the fruits of the spirit, all of those things are what we are to reflect in this world. As I don’t even know, managers of this place. Right. And one day we will rule with him in heaven, which is a whole other weird thing to think about, but true.

So, that’s what you’re going to get. You’re going to get who you are. You’re going to know whose you are. You’re also going to know that you’re a part of the body and our culture. It’s all about like me, I, my success, what I can do, my dreams, but in the body of Christ, there’s no just individual like your faith is [00:28:00] personal, but it’s not private like we are very much together.

And so, it’s communal and to keep in mind that we are a part of one another and the body of Christ. And we serve together. We read the Bible together. We live out our faith together. Yeah, but that’s what you’re going to get who you are in Christ and then be like, and go. Okay.

Kelly: And so it’s written like a devotional, right?

Hannah: it is. And there’s layers. So how deep you want to go? There’s always a fun little story. I love stories. I’m a storyteller and there’s scripture reference and you can. Dig a little deeper in the scripture. And then if you want, you can go a little more in the scripture. So depending on where you are in your faith or how much time you have in your day, you pick your level and go for it. And you can do it individually,

but I’m always a fan of going through through God’s word together because the Bible was written to a people for a people, and it was meant to be digested and read and process together. [00:29:00] So find a group, go through this there’s a free plan on you version. It’s five or seven days. And several of our students at our church, they all got together and did it. And that was such a neat thing to be able to, that they did together. So, Oh, yeah, that’s cool. It was neat.

Kelly: Now, I know you geared it toward teenagers, but it’s these are biblical truths that can apply to women of all ages.

Hannah: yes. Yes. And that’s what I found by my lady friends that were reading it. They were like, this is for me. This isn’t just for a teenager. And I was like, I know. And I want that. But I figure. One, mamas are probably going to be buying these books for their daughters, right? And I want the women not just moms, women. I want them to know who they are because what I have found in working in women’s ministry is women don’t know. They don’t know who they are in Christ and what that means and how empowering that is. So I want them to know so that they can tell others

And they don’t have to spend 20, 30 years trying to figure it out. Like they’re like, [00:30:00] Oh, this is true. Now I’m going to go.

Kelly: Absolutely. I remember teaching, I, this is a huge deal for me to God has healed me of lies about my identity, healed me from shame. I have this personal identity list that I read and pray through all the time. But I taught this to women at my church when I was a ministry director and I had them write down the lies and tear them up and put them at the cross. And they, then they would grab hold of God’s truth.

But later I collected all the torn up lies and brought it home. And I read through those and I wept. Yeah. I was so heartbroken at these horrible lies that they have picked up from their childhood, from spouses, from friends, just from life. And it absolutely broke my heart. And so I’m just so grateful for works that preach the truth to women’s hearts about who they are, who God says they are.

It’s so freeing.

Hannah: That’s right. And it’s not frilly, sometimes, right.[00:31:00] I don’t know how to say this. It’s not cutesy. It’s not, Oh, you’re beautiful. You’re, precious. Okay. Sure. Absolutely.

But I’m talking about truths that are to your core, empowering you and quipping you to go and make disciples to fulfill that great commission.

Right. Cause sometimes. More is caught than is taught. And if we do not have men and women in our society speaking, what is true, like to be intentional about speaking, what is true over our girls and boys, we’re just going to pick up on what’s not said or what other people have said.

And so I do believe that I caught a lot of assumptions about who I was as. As a Jesus follower, a female Jesus follower, I really do believe that I caught a lot of it because I didn’t see other women [00:32:00] serving or leading, or I didn’t know. So when I look at my spiritual gifts, I’m thinking, Oh, that can’t be right.

Oh, there must be something wrong with me. And that’s not true. So, I want to be very intentional about speaking. What is true because again, more is caught than taught. And so, and if we’re quiet, whether we do it on purpose or not, it’s doing something damaging,

Kelly: right. And fears and lies that are not addressed. That’s what’s going to hold people back walking in their God given calling, whatever it’s called them to do. They’re going to think I can’t do it because I’m afraid or because I don’t believe I am who God says I am.

Hannah: Or no one told me that I could , right? Or no one said that I was this.

And so I just assumed that I wasn’t or couldn’t or didn’t or, whatever that is. And so I’m like, Oh, if. If this is something I struggled with, odds are, there are others that are struggling with it. And so to be able [00:33:00] to shed light, provide a list for these ladies, say this is true and let’s meditate on those things.

And also I’ll say this to realize that I may not feel a certain way does not mean that’s true, right? Like I’m not going to let my feelings dictate what is true. I’m going to go to God. But if I feel less than why would I hold on to that? My feelings are going to change in 24 hours, if not sooner.

Right? So I’m going to go to God and see what he says and hold on to that because it’s true. And it’s reliable. It’s steady.

Kelly: Right. I’m reading a book right now called Worthy by Elise Fitzpatrick and Eric Schumacher. And they celebrate just what you’re talking about. This high view of women that God, God declares in his word. It’s biblical.

Hannah: And yeah, I’ll have that book somewhere on my shelf over here. It’s. Fantastic.

Kelly: It is so fantastic. I highly recommend it. Okay. I want to ask you, I’m all about story too. I’m a storyteller girl and I love hearing stories. And so I’m wondering if you heard, had any feedback from someone [00:34:00] who read your devotional and how God used those truths to transform her life.

Hannah: So I’ve had a couple of little stories. They’re super sweet. One sweet little girl at our church, actually I had a really wonderful opportunity to share the book launch with the students in our student ministry, the female ones, we were on fall break together.

And my husband and I cook for the students every year, we go to Panama city beach with them and we cook for them. And one of the other sweet ladies had a song for the book and we were releasing the book and the song on the same day. And it just so happened, we got to be with our students and we got all the girls together and I read a little bit from the book and Taylor played her song, which is so beautiful.

It’s called In Case I Forget and one of the girls came up with just tears in her eyes. And she’s, Miss Hannah, I have struggled with this for so long and just gave me the biggest hug and what killed me, what [00:35:00] killed me was. She looks like she would have it all together on the outside, but on the inside, this sweet young lady was struggling with self hate and so I just gave her the biggest hug and I’m like, girl, you keep reading these truths.

And when those thoughts, those other things, those lies come in, you replace it with what God says and that just stuck with me. And so I got to have that very special moment.

And another was it was a grandmother. A grandmother read through the, you version devotion and wrote me and she said, I’m raising my granddaughter. Thank you so much for writing this. She was so excited. But she said. I usually just don’t write people, but I had to write you and I need to tell you that you have to change your biography. You have to change your little “about me” thing.

It needs to say, I’m Hannah Conway, daughter of the king, instead of going into, I’m a communication director. I’m a women’s ministry director. [00:36:00] And I just thought that was so funny. She was so emboldened and passionate but I love that she’s using it. To help raise her granddaughter. Yeah, just beautiful. Yeah.

Kelly: I love that. So Hannah Conway, daughter of the King. I have another question for you.

Hannah: Yeah. I was like, alright, I’m gonna start introducing myself that way. Yeah. Conway, daughter of the King .

Kelly: Yeah. So I’d love for you to speak into the question that we always ask in the opening segment of the podcast. How have you learned to trust God’s heart more deeply when his ways and delays were or are breaking yours?

Hannah: Oh, my goodness. That is such a great question. A very deep question. So I have to say, remembering when I stop to remember how he has been faithful in the past, how I see his faithfulness in scripture I have no other option but to trust.[00:37:00]

And so my question is, it’s funny with my son, being in basic training and leaving that was, it was so challenging. It was. I trust you help me trust you more. It’s saying, I know that you were faithful here in the past. You’ve been faithful. And all these other ways, you’re going to do it again, and even just the past few years, we’ve had some crazy financial things, just some crazy expenses. And it’s stopping and being like:

You provide, You are our provider and when I remember that I’m able to be generous, I’m able to move forward because it’s not on me. It’s on him. and I trust him. So whether I fall or not, like he’s got me.

Kelly: Amen. Thank you. It’s been so much fun to share this time with you.

Hannah: Oh, it’s been great.

Kelly: So why don’t you close out by just telling people how they can connect with you

Hannah: yeah, absolutely. So you can visit me at hannahrconway. com. You’ll [00:38:00] see my books there. You’ll see a link to the podcast that we have called What’s Your Story? with Hannah and Stephanie, and we share stories…we invite women on who share their faith journeys because stories are so incredible and they just make you, I don’t know, just so in awe of God.

So that’s there. You will be able to see Bible studies that have a little link… you to youversion, to the studies that are going on. You can find me on Instagram. I hang out on Instagram a lot. I’m on Facebook too,

Kelly: well, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing this time with us today.

Hannah: It’s been great. Thank you so much.

Kelly: Oh, I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. And now I want to share this special blessing with you about your identity in Christ. I’m going to read something that God has given me that has helped heal my heart from shame.

First John 3:1 says, See how very much our father loves us, for He calls us His children. And that is what we are! And there’s a great big exclamation point there in the Bible.[00:39:00] It’s said with such enthusiasm. And the Bible says that if you confess, that means if you tell the truth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead, you’re saved.

Right away in that moment the moment we say yes to Jesus his spirit moves in Indwells us lives with us Nothing can ever change that and we become children of God in that moment and suddenly we’re invited into this heavenly conversation. We can hear God’s voice. We can see our lives through his eyes.

We start to become transformed so that even when we read the Bible, we begin to hear from his Holy Spirit. So I want to declare your identity in Christ over you from my personal identity list, which God has used so, so deeply in my own life. You can get it off my [00:40:00] website. It has verses attached to each of the 31 declarations. I will just be reading the declarations. But I pray that you would receive this as God’s words to you.

You are wildly loved. May you find your worth in the heart of God who calls you his own. You are a celebrated child of God. You are chosen, not rejected. You are fought for, not forsaken. You are loved, not a disappointment. You are pursued, not ignored. You are a masterpiece, not a misfit. You are strengthened, not helpless.

You are comforted, not crushed. You are full of courage, not fearful. You are cherished, not tolerated. You are fiercely protected, not neglected.[00:41:00] You are God’s constant thought, Not an afterthought.

You are the object of God’s affection, Not an inconvenience. You are lavishly supplied, Not just scraping by. You are gloriously adorned, not tattered and torn. You are seen and known, not overlooked or forgotten. You are rescued, not relinquished. You are invited in, not excluded. You are cared for, not cast out.

You’re an heir, not an orphan. You are treasured, not deserted. You are empowered, not hopeless. You are indwelled, not alone. You are forgiven, not condemned. You are held, not abandoned. You are praise filled, not silenced. You [00:42:00] are radiant, not ashamed. You are satisfied. Not depleted.

You are sustained, not shaken. You’re an overcomer, not overcome. You are His. You are a daughter and a son of the King. You’re no longer afraid. Amen.

May you come to know Jesus in these ways. May you come to believe that these are true about you through the power and love of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to the Unshakable Hope Podcast. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe and leave a review. To continue the conversation and for free resources, be sure to visit me at kellyhall. org. Thanks so much.