The Seed in the Dirt - Finding Expectancy Without Controlling the Outcome | Navigating Cancer

We can respect someone's authority without becoming smaller in their presence. As we wrap up our Character Development series, we explore healthy adulthood: meeting another person as a peer while standing in the space that is ours to fill. We return to the picture of a fruit-bearing tree and consider how attachment, separation, and integration continue to support our growth. Jason reflects on his tendency to resist leadership, while Elizabeth shares how easily she once deferred to others and slipped into a childlike position. We also talk about the shift from directing our children to relating to them as adults.Growth is not a graduation from needing help. We explore grace and truth over time, the patience of transformation, and the hope of receiving what was missing as we mature in Christ. Elizabeth shares why Leanne Payne's Restoring the Christian Soul was helpful in her own growth. We close with guided prayer about the places where we respond as a parent, adolescent, or child, then enjoy a Settled Segment about a bike ride and electric blankets. If you would like to keep growing with us, explore the Settled Community at settledco.com.Book Mentioned: Restoring the Christian Soul by Leanne PayneKEY TAKEAWAYS📌 We can respect authority while relating to one another as adults.📌 We can notice where micromanaging, resistance, or shrinking pulls us out of our adult footing.📌 Attachment, separation, and integration continue to support our growth.📌 We grow through grace and truth over time, not a deadline we control.📌 We can bring our missing building blocks to God with hope.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/

We can be full of joy and sadness at the same time. We can recognize our strengths without pretending our limitations do not exist. As we continue our Character Development series, we explore integration: the ability to hold intense realities together rather than forcing life into either-or categories. We return to the picture of a tree and consider why healthier fruit begins with growth beneath the surface. Elizabeth remembers a season of teaching, graduate school, ministry, marriage, and motherhood, while Jason reflects on living with a cancer diagnosis without letting it describe every part of his life.We look at how our understanding of the cross and incarnation shapes the way we hold these tensions. We also talk about parenting teenagers, apologizing when we are wrong, and allowing our children to see us as real people rather than perfect caricatures. Integration does not require us to call harmful things good. It invites us toward a fuller picture of ourselves and others. We close with guided prayer, then share The Gifts of Imperfection and the comfort of familiar foods. For more about our services and the February conference mentioned at the start, visit settledco.com.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Mentioned in this episode:Settled CohortThe Settled Cohort is a year-long experience starting in February, designed to help you go deeper, grow with others, and put good ideas into practice with real community and support. If you’re ready to turn insight into action, build momentum, and move from knowing to doing, join the journey today.Settled Cohort

We do not have to choose between having no boundaries and building a brick wall. A chain link fence offers a different picture: a clear sense of where we end and another person begins, with room to see, speak, and stay connected. As we continue our Character Development series, we explore separation, distinction, and the worth that makes healthy boundaries possible. We consider how childhood experiences shape our sense of self and why valuing who God made us to be matters in our relationships, parenting, and everyday decisions.We share practical examples of communicating what we want or need, naming a consequence ahead of time, and following through without making anger responsible for change. Our conversations in the car reveal how easily a real need can become a demand that someone else be different. We reflect on accepting ourselves, releasing others from our control, and allowing loving confrontation to help us grow. We close with prayer about worth, identity, and boundaries as containers of love, followed by a Settled Segment about cozy sweaters and wish lists. To learn more about the Settled Conference mentioned at the start, we invite you to visit settledco.com.Books mentioned:Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John TownsendFriedman's Fables by Edwin H. FriedmanResources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Takeaways:Healthy boundaries begin with recognizing your worth and accepting who you are.A chain link fence can define a limit without becoming a wall against connection.Clear communication includes a consequence you are prepared to follow through on.A boundary guides your response rather than forcing another person to change.Loving confrontation can support character development without relying on anger.Mentioned in this episode:Settled CohortThe Settled Cohort is a year-long experience starting in February, designed to help you go deeper, grow with others, and put good ideas into practice with real community and support. If you’re ready to turn insight into action, build momentum, and move from knowing to doing, join the journey today.Settled Cohort

Attachment begins with a simple truth: we need to need. From infancy onward, trust grows as our cries are heard, our needs are recognized, and we learn that connection is safe. When those early experiences are disrupted, the effects can follow us into adulthood through difficulty naming feelings, identifying needs, or asking for help. We explore attachment as part of character development and consider how family experiences can shape the ways we relate to God, ourselves, and other people. The good news is that our earliest patterns do not have to be our final patterns. In Christ, we are welcomed into secure relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit, and we are also given community where healing and growth can continue.Healthy attachment develops in practical steps. We learn to identify what we feel, connect that feeling to a need, ask the right person for help, and become safe people who can respond to the needs of others. We close with a guided prayer for secure attachment, wisdom, and courage, followed by a Settled Segment about the gift of taking a real vacation. If you would like to learn more about the Settled leadership cohort, we invite you to visit settledco.com/cohort.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Takeaways:- The need for attachment does not disappear when we become adults.- Early experiences can shape whether we expect anyone to respond when we ask for help.- Feelings can point toward needs without defining our identity.- Healthy growth includes naming a need and asking the right person for help.- Secure attachment includes receiving care and creating safety for others.Mentioned in this episode:Join Us in Settled CommunityA closer connection to the ideas behind the podcast. Members can take part in monthly live teaching, a book club, and conversations with us on Zoom—turning listening into a more personal, interactive experience.Settled Community

Character development is not only about behaving well or producing visible results. It is a set of skills and abilities that help us meet the demands of real life, including the realities of relationships, work, home, and our inner world.We picture this work as a tree. Its fruit appears in our people, performance, and personal lives, while its trunk reflects attachment, separation, integration, and adulthood. Grace and truth form the roots. This image helps us see why lasting growth cannot come from polishing appearances alone. Healthy fruit grows from a healthy trunk and root system, as fruitfulness becomes a natural expression of who we are.As we begin this series, we reflect on how difficult realities can produce perseverance, character, and hope. We consider the importance of community, healthy interdependence, meaningful work, and care for our mental, emotional, and spiritual lives. We close with a guided reflection, then share a little about calendaring and our kitten, French Fry.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Takeaways:- Character is a set of skills and abilities needed to meet the demands of reality.- The three areas of fruit are people, performance, and personal.- Healthy fruit depends on a healthy trunk and root system, not surface-level polishing.- Leadership should attend to the whole human being, not only the employee.- Romans 5:3-5 connects tribulation with perseverance, character, and hope.Mentioned in this episode:Settled CohortThe Settled Cohort is a year-long experience starting in February, designed to help you go deeper, grow with others, and put good ideas into practice with real community and support. If you’re ready to turn insight into action, build momentum, and move from knowing to doing, join the journey today.Settled Cohort

We are learning to hold together the reality of illness and the deeper spiritual identity that remains true through it. In the middle of cancer treatment, changes to the body can affect how we see ourselves and how others see us. The reminder "I'm still in here" has helped us remember that a diagnosis, weight loss, fatigue, or another outward change does not tell the whole story of a person.As we reflect on 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, we talk about the image of a seed planted in the ground, unseen roots, and life that can emerge through fracture and loss. We also share why surrendering a preferred outcome is different from giving up hope. We can release our expectations about how healing must happen while remaining expectant of God's goodness. This conversation does not dismiss treatment or the reality of suffering. It makes room for appointments, care, grief, and spiritual hope together.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Takeaways:- Physical changes can affect how we see ourselves, but they do not express the whole person.- 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 offers perspective amid outward hardship.- The seed image gives language for unseen growth through fracture, waiting, and loss.- Surrendering a preferred outcome can coexist with hope and expectancy.- Spiritual hope can be held alongside medical care and the realities of treatment.Mentioned in this episode:Join Us in Settled CommunityA closer connection to the ideas behind the podcast. Members can take part in monthly live teaching, a book club, and conversations with us on Zoom—turning listening into a more personal, interactive experience.Settled Community

When a diagnosis, disappointment, or season of sorrow leaves us without the strength to hold on, we can rest in the truth that God loved us first and is already holding us. In this conversation, we reflect on how that reality has steadied us through Jason's stage four stomach cancer diagnosis. We talk about the difference between trying to hold tightly enough to God and receiving the comfort of being held by him.We explore mercy as a friend who sits with us when we do not have what it takes, and we consider how God's nearness does not depend on our performance, feelings, or religious effort. Elizabeth and Jason also reflect on declaring what is true about our identity when disappointment and sorrow feel louder, and on finding Christ even in the darkest cavern of fear and loss. The conversation closes with a guided prayer for recognizing God's presence in discouragement, confusion, and sadness, followed by a Settled Segment about family, books, and the simple things that bring rest.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Takeaways:God's initiative and love hold us even when we lack the strength or focus to hold on to him.A hard diagnosis does not make God's presence conditional on our emotional response or spiritual performance.Mercy can be received as a companion that meets us in sorrow, disappointment, and failure.Naming the truth of our identity in Christ helps us turn from fixation on untruth toward what is already true.Rest is an embodied posture of trusting God's nearness in the middle of mystery and confusion.Mentioned in this episode:Settled CohortThe Settled Cohort is a year-long experience starting in February, designed to help you go deeper, grow with others, and put good ideas into practice with real community and support. If you’re ready to turn insight into action, build momentum, and move from knowing to doing, join the journey today.Settled Cohort

When a hard season makes the future feel uncertain, we can wonder whether the good things God has spoken over our lives are still true. In this conversation, we reflect on 2 Corinthians 1:20 and the reassurance that every promise of God finds its yes and amen in Christ. Jason shares how that truth galvanized him to return to the work God gave us, with practical limits that honor his treatment, appointments, and endurance.We also talk honestly about outcomes we cannot control. Some dreams may not materialize in the way or timing we expect, but we find comfort in the conviction that what is true in Christ is not limited to what we can see right now. We are learning to do what we can, when we can, with what we have, for as long as we can, without letting fear decide whether it is enough. If you are carrying something that feels lost or unresolved, we hope this offers a place to breathe, pray, and remember that God's yes and amen endures. Join us in the upcoming Settled Cohort as we practice living from what is true.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Takeaways:- God's yes and amen is in Christ, rather than in a diagnosis, a body, or our personal capacity.- A clear sense of purpose can coexist with recovery, medical care, and needed limits.- Rest can include leaning into the work that is meaningful and possible today.- We can hold hopes and promises without demanding certainty about their timing or outcome.- The image of a seed offers comfort when something feels unrealized, lost, or beyond our sight.

When life brings us face to face with what we cannot control, we can spend so much energy rehearsing worst case scenarios or trying to force every problem out of the garden. In this honest conversation, we share what has steadied us through Jason's stomach cancer diagnosis: the reminder that we have what we need when we need it, and the freedom to be present rather than live inside foreboding dread.We also sit with Jesus' parable of the wheat and tares. What if some weeds are not ours to uproot? We talk about partnering in the care and treatment that is ours to do, asking God what should be removed and what may need to remain for a purpose, and turning our attention toward the life that is still growing. If you are carrying a hard thing, we hope this gives you a picture of a faithful Lord of the harvest. Join us in the Settled Community for monthly live classes, replays, book clubs, and a growing library of resources for living from your settled self.Takeaways:- We do not need to live inside imagined worst case scenarios.- When difficulty arrives, we can meet it with the help available in that moment.- The parable of wheat and tares gives language for trusting God with what we cannot uproot ourselves.- We can participate in wise care and still relinquish the outcome to God.- There can be more life to notice and nurture, even in the presence of disease and loss.

We can carry a surprising number of assumptions into marriage: who should work, who should clean, who should make the decisions, and what it means to be a husband or wife. But a role is not an identity. Roles are activities that can flex and change with the season, while our identity is something deeper that deserves clarity and care.We are talking about the family models we inherit, the expectations we can unknowingly put on each other, and why boundaries are not meant to restrict us. They help us recognize where we end and another person begins, so we can live from self-control rather than control of one another. We also explore headship as service, the freedom of unity with distinction, and what it looks like to let our children discover who they are rather than forcing them into a part. Join us at our website to learn about upcoming Settled conferences in the Grapevine area.Resources:Settled ConferenceFor Updates on Jason's Journey: settledco.com/jasonReclaim What's Real 5-Day JouneySettled Design CourseLinktree - https://linktr.ee/settledcoConnect with us:Website - https://settledco.comInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/settled.co/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552836102590YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@settledpodcastLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/settledco/Takeaways:A role is an activity, not an identity. The work each person does in a home can change without diminishing who they are.The assumptions we bring from our family of origin can quietly shape our marriage until we examine them together.Healthy boundaries clarify where one person ends and another begins, making room for self-control instead of control of someone else.Headship is best understood through Christ's example of serving, creating safety, and making space for others to flourish.Children benefit when we show them that a marriage can have unity with distinction instead of one rigid pattern they must repeat.Mentioned in this episode:Reclaim What's Real 5-Day JourneyThis FREE 5-day journey helps you silence the noise, reconnect with your soul, and rediscover the presence of God already dwelling within you. Reclaim your inner world, confront false voices, and discover the Kingdom of God within. Reclaim What's Real 5-Day Jouney