How to be Rooted Despite a Hard Season of Pruning

I can now see God was asking me to step out in faith.

Back in fall of 2024, I was thriving in ministry and overflowing with joy. At church, I served as a greeter, poured into hospitality, discipled women, and met regularly with the leadership team to launch a new ministry for women healing from trauma. At work, I was a witness of God’s goodness, praying with fellow teachers during breaks.

In my community, even neighbors noticed the light in me.

One said, “Your joy makes me want to go to church again.” Even my ex-husband had recently given his life to Jesus and was coming to church with me. Life was full and fruitful.

Then it all stopped.

One November night, while getting ready for bed, I felt dizzy. My vision blurred. A strange tingling crept slowly down the right side of my body. I instinctively reached for my phone—only to realize my right arm wouldn’t move. My body buckled to the floor beside my bed.

In desperation, I used my left hand to tap the microphone button, slurring words through what felt like marbles in my mouth: “Call Brian.” My phone kept saying, “Calling Ryan…” But finally, it connected to my ex-husband. I could barely say it—“Call 911.” He immediately did, and was on his way. I tapped the phone again, and I called my neighbor. She unlocked my door for the paramedics.

Peace. A wave of calm washed over me.

I wasn’t afraid to die. I was actually expecting it.

I had suffered a TIA—a mini stroke. But within three weeks, I was back to work. I decorated for Christmas. My kindergartners needed to finish their angel ornaments, after all.

But just days later, I collapsed again. My principal called 911 from her office. This time, I spent a week in the hospital. Tests revealed a serious heart condition—Junctional Bradycardia. My heartbeat was dangerously slow. I would need a pacemaker.

That news broke me in a different way.

I went from being a five-days-a-week Pilates girl to needing help getting out of bed. I stopped tutoring, teaching, serving, everything.

I feared being alone. I was afraid I wouldn’t wake up. My ex-husband slept on the couch just so I could fall asleep at night. I went from taking zero medications to seven a day. Depression hit hard.

I asked God, “I don’t understand. Why would You let this happen? Why now, when I was doing so much for You?”

I had nothing left but questions and silence.

Eight months later, I heard God speak.

In April 2025, I attended the Rooted women’s conference with author and speaker Jodi Snowdon. Her book, Depth, and the message that weekend felt tailor-made for me. God used it to finally answer the question I’d been asking for months.

He was not punishing me. He was pruning me.

He wanted me to go deeper—so my roots could go out and help others. I didn’t need to be busy to be fruitful. I needed to be grounded.

2 Corinthians 12:9 reminds me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

In that season of stillness, God was refining and redefining me.

He stripped away the noise and filled me with purpose.

Stepping out in faith, I wrote my first Healing T.E.A.R.S. Bible study for women in May, and I led the first group through it in June.

The T.E.A.R.S. acronym stands for: Trauma, Emotions, Abuse, Relationships, and Shame.

Each session highlights a woman in the Bible who endured pain but encountered healing. This second group is about to begin—and I now know what God was doing all along.

He allowed my heart to break, so that He could rebuild it.

Even my relationship with my ex-husband has been restored. We’re now engaged again—planning to remarry next year on the anniversary of our original wedding after being divorced for 10 years. Only God can write a story like that.

Once broken, I am now being made whole. Once weary, I’ve been strengthened.

Isaiah 40:31 says: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles…”

From heartbreak to strength, from sorrow to purpose—God has been with me every step. I no longer measure my strength by my schedule, but by His Spirit working in me.

I am rooted and ready to see the harvest!

Kimberly Franklin is a lifelong educator, author, and advocate for healing. With over 40 years of experience in both public and private education, she has served as a Disney Institute Manager and helped design STEM curriculum for NASA. She is also the author of a children’s book on internet safety, created to protect and empower elementary students in today’s digital world. A survivor of both childhood and adult trauma, Kimberly has a deep passion for walking alongside other women on their own journeys of healing. Having followed Christ since the Jesus Movement revival in the late 1970s, she now combines her personal story, faith, and teaching gifts to lead Bible studies that speak to the hearts of those who have experienced abuse, trauma, emotional wounds, or shame. Check out her Bible Study, *Healing Tears, which released in September 2025.