About Kim and HER WALK with Jesus

Hi, I’m Kim.

A wife, mom, photographer, and woman who has walked through fire, climbed mountains, and finally found her peace in Jesus.

I didn’t grow up in a religious home. As a child of divorce, I often felt unanchored, like I didn’t truly fit anywhere. I made choices that made life harder than it needed to be. At 19, I became a mom. I carried deep shame around my pregnancy and rushed into a marriage I hoped would make everything better. Instead, it became toxic and abusive, and I found the strength to leave.

Leaving saved me, but it also broke me.

It pushed me into poverty, into uncertainty, into nights where I wasn’t sure where my son and I would sleep… and nights where I chose hunger so that he didn’t have to.

But my son became my fire. My purpose. My reason to rise.

I worked full-time at a preschool because it allowed me to bring him with me. I attended community college full-time because California offered support. I sold my own clothes so he could have a fishing pole. I went without, so he never had to.

Eventually, I earned enough college credits to transfer—and shortly after, I got my first tech job in San Rafael, CA. I worked hard and moved fast, surrounded by brilliant minds in Silicon Valley. I simply refused to let hardship define my future.

Later, I met my husband at work. He came from a similar background, shared my ambition, and most importantly, chose to love my son as his own. We built a life together, moved to Seattle, and built careers that allowed us to travel the world and buy homes I never imagined owning, even after my car was repossessed years before.

We had two more children and raised them to value independence, education, and resilience.

From the outside, I had everything.

But on the inside, the weight of life’s twists and wounds had hardened me. Anxiety and depression lingered. Whenever I fell emotionally, spiritually, I somehow always ended up back in a church. Like a child running to a parent after falling off their bike, I would run back to God. He would dust me off, steady me, and send me forward again.

Even though I didn’t yet live for Him, He was always near. His hand was on my shoulder long before I acknowledged Him.

Then came Coeur d’Alene.

I visited for the first time in October 2023, and before I even understood why, it felt like home. On my second visit, we found a house, made an offer, and pushed escrow to close in just two weeks. By Thanksgiving, we were living in our new neighborhood near Sanders Beach.

In March 2024, I was laid off from the career I’d given 13 years of my life. I decided to pursue wedding photography full-time… and immediately broke my arm in three places. A few months later, my husband went part-time and then was laid off completely.

Everything we had built in our “old life” was being stripped away.

And yet… I wasn’t devastated.
I wasn’t afraid.
In truth, the last couple of years have been the best of my life.

Because this is when I found God, truly found Him.

His presence, His guidance, His signs, His steady reassurance… they became undeniable. Every day, I saw Him move. And for the first time, I understood peace. Not fleeting, circumstantial peace, but the kind that anchors your soul.

Money couldn’t buy that.
Success couldn’t give it to me.
Only Jesus could.

Accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior became the most significant milestone of my life. I was baptized as a declaration that my old life was gone, and a new one had begun.

Today, my priorities are different:

1. God

2. My husband

3. My children

4. My family

5. My community

My heart, my home, and my purpose have been reshaped completely.

This blog - HER WALK with Jesus - is an offering.
A place to share what God has done and what He continues to do.
A place for testimony, healing, and honest conversations.
A place where you can bring your story too.

I’m not perfect. I’m not polished. But I am proof that Jesus redeems, restores, and rewrites lives in the most beautiful ways.

Thank you for being here.
I pray my story reminds you that no matter where you’ve been, no matter what you’ve carried, no matter how far you’ve wandered -
God has a plan, and He is already reaching for you.

Let’s walk with Him together. 🤍

Kim Kallinger