- Speaker #0
Welcome back to Promise Hill, our small little town with murmurs of stories we can all relate to in some way. Hello, I'm your host, Kimberlee Herman. Welcome to Season 1, Chapter 2, Hidden Roots. In our last episode, Mira met Hope Meadowlark, who in turn pointed her towards Grandma Eden, who then gave Mira some great advice and then, on her way home, Mira had back into Promise Hill, let's walk with Mira as she wrestles with questions that feel familiar to all of us. I'll see you on the other side of the story with some reflections, action steps, and prayer. Let's listen in.
- Speaker #1
The morning was golden and still, except for the birds singing to welcome with the weight of yesterday's conversation with Grandma Eden and the memory of the women, the book, and the wind chimes. Just then, a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Mira opened the door, pleasantly surprised to see Grandma Eden standing there, her eyes warm with quiet wisdom.
- Speaker #2
Good morning, Grandma Eden. What a nice surprise. Would you like some tea or coffee?
- Speaker #3
Oh no, thank you dear. I want to show you something. Will you come with me? Of course, let's go.
- Speaker #1
Mira was grateful for Eden's presence, even if she wasn't sure where they were going.
- Speaker #3
We are heading back to my place. I won't keep you long.
- Speaker #1
The walk to Grandma Eden's home was peaceful. The early morning quiet broken only by birdsong and the distant hum of life stirring in Promise Hill. Eden said little, but her presence carried a quiet strength.
- Speaker #3
Ah, here we are. Follow me through my back gate to my garden, dear.
- Speaker #1
Eden's garden was a lush landscape overflowing with flowers, each plant thriving under Eden's careful tending. The scent of jasmine drifted on the breeze.
- Speaker #3
I brought you here to remind you of something.
- Speaker #1
Mira raised an eyebrow.
- Speaker #2
That I'm a project in need of fixing?
- Speaker #3
No, dear. That you're like a seed in the ground, like we discussed yesterday. I want to walk you through that a little deeper. Ha Right. Buried, forgotten, slowly rotting in the dark. You are inspirational. I'll take that as a compliment. Remember this. A seed is not buried. It's planted. And it doesn't rot. It breaks open before it grows.
- Speaker #1
Mira folded her arms.
- Speaker #2
I understand. But what if I'm tired of breaking?
- Speaker #3
Then rest. But don't mistake this season for the end of your story.
- Speaker #1
Eden knelt, pressing her fingers into the damp earth.
- Speaker #3
I could see you were pretty worried yesterday, Mira. A seed cannot understand what it will become. It only knows the darkness of the soil, the weight pressing down on it. It waits, not knowing when the rain will come or when the sun will warm the ground enough for it to break through.
- Speaker #1
Mira swallowed, the sting of tears pooling in her eyes. That weight, the heaviness of uncertainty, the ache of waiting, felt so familiar.
- Speaker #0
Oh yes, I definitely feel crushed.
- Speaker #1
Eden looked at her with kind but steady eyes. She scooped up a handful of earth, letting the rich soil slip through her fingers.
- Speaker #3
While it may feel crushing and I know that feeling all too well, know this. You are not forgotten, dear. You are being prepared, strengthened.
- Speaker #1
Mira furrowed her brow.
- Speaker #0
Prepared for what?
- Speaker #3
For what you were created to be in the next season. A seed doesn't fully understand what it will become. It only knows to keep growing. A mighty oak doesn't realize its branches will one day give shade. A wildflower doesn't know it will bring beauty to a weary traveller, but the Creator knows.
- Speaker #1
Eden reached into her pocket and pulled out a small wooden box.
- Speaker #3
Here, Mira, I want you to have this.
- Speaker #1
Opened the box and saw a small seed.
- Speaker #2
Thank you, but what's this supposed to do? Grow me into someone patient and graceful overnight?
- Speaker #3
Wouldn't that be lovely for all of us? No, dear. It's a reminder that the most important parts of you are forming where no one can see.
- Speaker #1
Mira stared at the tiny seed. Part of her wanted to believe it. Another part felt too bruised to care. Mira closed the box, her fingers brushing over the smooth wood.
- Speaker #3
What kind of seed is it?
- Speaker #1
Eden's eyes twinkled.
- Speaker #3
That, my dear, is for you to discover.
- Speaker #1
She gestured to the garden around them.
- Speaker #3
You can't see it yet, Mira, but the waiting is not wasted if you do something with it. Every moment in the soil, every struggle, every storm is shaping you, strengthening you. So when the time comes, when you break through, you will not just grow, you will flourish.
- Speaker #1
Mira exhaled, the weight of those words settling over her. Maybe she didn't need all the answers right now. Maybe she just needed to trust the process.
- Speaker #3
Let me tell you a story.
- Speaker #1
Eden said, settling onto a beautifully carved garden bench with a red flower pot filled with soil. Mira sat beside her, intrigued.
- Speaker #3
There's an ancient story from a faraway desert land where water meant everything. Where water was life and every choice carried weight.
- Speaker #1
Mira lifted her eyes as she gazed ahead to listen.
- Speaker #3
Two wells were begun there, too far apart to share. They were dug by people who were weary, parched, and longing for relief. The first well was shallow. It bubbled up quickly, gave just enough to quiet the thirst, for a time. But the desert has a way of testing what's shallow. Each day, the people returned, cursing more about the heat and the water growing thin. They did not try to change anything, and hope was leaving them.
- Speaker #1
Something stirred in Mira's heart.
- Speaker #3
The second well was slower. Its builders dug in silence, past the place of certainty. For a long while there was nothing to show for it. But when the water came, it came from somewhere deep and ancient, clear, cool. moving. It did not rush. It did not disappear.
- Speaker #1
Eden's eyes held Mira's.
- Speaker #3
The desert didn't change, and this well remembered where the water was, while the first well dried up shortly after discovery.
- Speaker #2
So the land didn't betray them?
- Speaker #3
No, it revealed them.
- Speaker #1
Mira leaned forward as if her heart
- Speaker #3
When life strips us bare, we can drink from what's close and familiar. And that may work for a while. Or we can dig deeper to get a new drink to help heal and grow us. Do you understand, Mira? I think so. One choice feeds the moment. The other changes the soul.
- Speaker #1
Mira exhaled, a quiet knowing settling in her bones.
- Speaker #2
So what you're saying is I need to work a little differently to get through these hard times? Like the men working on the second well.
- Speaker #3
Exactly, dear. You are walking in very hard times. Coping skills are good, but you are going to need healing now. And that takes different tools, so you can dig deeper.
- Speaker #1
Just then, the sound of footsteps on the garden path made them both turn. A man stood at the gate, smiling and waving. Eden Eden's face lit up.
- Speaker #3
Oh, Nathaniel, hello Come in, come in.
- Speaker #1
Mira turned to see a man with light brown, unruly hair, his eyes carrying a quiet depth she couldn't quite place. He wore a leather apron dusted with sawdust over a white T-shirt, the scent of freshly cut wood clinging to him. He looked like someone who built things with care, someone who understood the weight of patience.
- Speaker #3
Mira, this is my dear friend Nathaniel Ember. He's a carpenter, the finest craftsman around. You can see the intricate work he did on this bench.
- Speaker #1
Eden gestured to the wooden bench they were sitting on.
- Speaker #4
I'm not so sure about that, but I will take the compliment.
- Speaker #1
Nathaniel's gaze flickered over Mira as he extended his hand. As they shook hands, a curious calm settled in Mira's chest. There was something about him, something familiar, though she was certain they had never met.
- Speaker #3
And Nathaniel? This is Mira. She moved to Promise Hill about four weeks ago.
- Speaker #4
Nice to meet you, Mira. You're in great company when you're with Grandma Eden.
- Speaker #3
Oh dear, you are sweet, Nathaniel.
- Speaker #2
Your bench is amazing. I can see why Grandma Eden thinks highly of your work.
- Speaker #1
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sudden ringing of her phone.
- Speaker #2
Excuse me, I'm sorry, but I need to take this call.
- Speaker #1
Mira walked away for privacy.
- Speaker #2
Hello?
- Speaker #3
Hi, Mira. It's Rose from Whispering Pines Home. You need to come soon. Your mother is asking for you.
- Speaker #1
Mira swallowed hard, gripping the seed box tighter in her palm.
- Speaker #2
Really? I don't understand. She hasn't really recognized me for the last few months.
- Speaker #5
She said something else, Mira. What did she say? She said, She remembers.
- Speaker #1
The line went silent. Mira's pulse thundered in her ears.
- Speaker #2
What does she remember?
- Speaker #1
And yet, deep down, she knew. Whatever was happening... This was just the beginning. Life has a way of leading us exactly where we need to be, even when we don't understand the path. For Mira, what felt like an ending may just be the beginning of something deeper, something unseen, waiting beneath the surface, ready to be dug out. As one door opens, another mystery stirs. The past is calling, the future is uncertain. And Mira is about to discover that sometimes the truth doesn't wait to be found. It finds you. See you in the next chapter, dear listener. Take it away, Kimberlee.
- Speaker #0
Now let's walk that story home. Mira left Eden's garden with more questions than answers. The tiny seed resting in the box was a mystery, much like the changes stirring within her. Was she really planted, as Eden had said, or simply lost in the dark? but there was no time to dwell on those thoughts. Life had a way of interrupting the stillness, and today it arrived in the form of a phone call. Let's dig deeper into three reflections and three live-it-out action steps. 1. Hardship doesn't create character; it reveals it. When pressure enters Mira's life, fear, fatigue, a little sarcasm. Hard seasons don't make us weak. They show us where we've been relying on shallow wells. That revelation isn't condemnation, it's information. And information gives us something we can actually work with. Hear it and hold it. Proverbs 27 19. As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart. When life gets still and hard, the reflection becomes clearer. What surfaces is an invitation to honest self-examination, not self-judgment. Reflection number two. Growth happens where we stop resisting in this season. Mira isn't struggling because she's failing. She's struggling because she's fighting this chapter she's in. Eden doesn't ask her to understand Some seasons or hardships aren't about effort or clarity. They're about allowing yourself to be where you are without self-judgment. Growth doesn't always begin with action. Sometimes it begins with permission, permission to yourself, to just acknowledge that you're going through a hard time. Hear it and hold it. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1. There's a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. This verse normalizes waiting. It reminds us that timing is sacred and not accidental. Reflection number three, the desert tests the depths and reveals where we've been drinking. Eden's well story cuts straight to the heart. Shallow sources work for a while until they don't. Hardship exposes whether we've been drawing from what's quick and familiar or whether we've done the slower work of digging deep. When things fall apart, it becomes clear what truly sustains us. One choice soothes the moment, the other reshapes the soul. Hear it and hold it, Jeremiah 17 verses 7 and 8. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes. The heat still comes, the difference is the roots. Hardships still come and go, but fear doesn't have to have the final word. Live it out action steps. Number one, name what the pressure is revealing. Set aside five to ten quiet minutes and ask yourself this question without fixing anything yet. When hard seasons press on me, what keeps rising to the surface? Notice patterns, not just feelings. Irritability, numbing, control, withdrawal, people pleasing. Or maybe courage comes out that you didn't know was there. Hardship doesn't lie. It shows us what's been living just underneath the surface. Grow what you won't name. Awareness is the doorway to change. Number two, identify your shallow well. Well, like Eden's desert story, take an honest look at where you've been drinking from lately. Ask yourself, what do I reach for when I feel overwhelmed? Does it actually restore me or just quiet me for a moment? Write down one shallow well you've been relying on and one deeper source you want to begin digging towards, such as prayer, stillness, truth-telling, asking for help, or reading more scripture. Just remember, quick relief feeds the moments, but deep nourishment reshapes the soul. Number three, practice trust in the waiting. Mira doesn't get clarity right away. She gets a seed and a reminder. This week, choose one small act that says, I'm planted and not buried. This might look like holding an object as a physical reminder. Heavenly Father, I come before you for the one listening right now, feeling lost, waiting for clarity and searching for hope. You see them, you know their quiet prayers and weary heart. Father, your word says the one who trusts in the Lord is blessed and they will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no worry. in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Remind us to trust you so our roots run deep in you, so your fruit can grow within us. Thank you for loving us and showing us you are our help and that you will never leave us. In Jesus's holy name, amen. Until next time friend, may you find peace in the presence and hope on the hilltop. This is Kimberlee Herman cheering you on from Promise Hill. must be.
