May 30, 2022
Welcome to empowering lives with purpose. And I'm your host, Kimberly Hobbs. I am the founder of Women world leaders. Ladies, we are so grateful for every time you join with us on our podcast. Today, I have the privilege to introduce you to our guest today. Christina Hjort. Christina is from Winter Haven, Florida. Thank you, Christina, for joining us.
Christina Hjort
Thank you, Kimberly. It's an honor to be here. I'm excited about
the word that God is bringing through this message today.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. And we're excited to hear. Ladies, God is working in you.
He's working in me, Christina, he's lurking in you, giving you the
desire and the power to do what pleases Him. That's Philippians
2:13. So today, ladies, we believe that God will strengthen and
encourage each of us as we walk through this podcast together. And
just listen to the story shared by Christina. We're going to talk
about comfort today. So our it's our hopes that we can encourage
you to be comforted in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, because
that is where our ultimate comfort comes from. I want to share a
little bit about our guests Christina York today. Christina served
honorably as a veteran of the United States Marine Corps for five
years. Thank you so much, Christina for your service. God bless
you. Thanks. She served in Operation Desert Storm and I am sure you
have stories to share with that. But Chris has a bachelor's degree
in business administration from Warner University in Lake Wales,
Florida. And she has been a small business owner for seven years
and she is an AA certified professional life coach. She's a break
water professional ministry, marriage coach, and currently studying
to be a Board Certified Master mental health coach. Wow. Chris has
a passion for serving in this part of the welcome team at High
Point church and Lake Wales. She's been married to Matt since 2015,
and has a blended family with four children and three
grandchildren. And together they believe that the Christ Church
relationship provides us with a model for our own marriage. And
through the husband wife relationship, we have the opportunity to
mirror God's love and His will for mankind and the world. We
believe that today ladies, as we talk about comfort, the word
comfort, I want to start off with sharing some scripture that I
believe is going to carry us into Christina's story. 2 Corinthians
1:3-4, I'm reading from the Passion Translation says that all
praises belong to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For
he is the father of tender mercy and the God of endless comfort. He
always comes alongside us to comfort us in every suffering so that
we can come alongside those who are in any painful trial, we can
bring them the same comfort that God has poured out upon us. And
ladies, those of you that walk with Jesus know, the beautiful
comfort that we come that we can have that only comes from Him. And
it's here that I want to have Christina, introduce her story to you
that starts off with growing up with a very abusive father. Good
times from a mother with love. But she was not comfortable in her
home life. And Christina, can you share a little bit about the
brokenness?
Christina Hjort
Yes, so the only memory I have of my father Jerry and mother Peggy
together with them arguing. Remember one time in the kitchen they
were arguing fiercely and my father threw my mother against the
refrigerator out of anger. My father had been severely abused as a
child, and now he had become the abuser. My mother left that
relationship at five years old. My mother and my father were
divorced. I don't remember a lot from those days that I do remember
some good times with my mom and I do remember some weekends with my
father. My father he, he called me his princess. I mean, when I was
at my father's house, he would take me for doughnuts and ice cream.
He liked the finer things of life. But for my brother, life was
just how on earth it was filled with abuse and pain. He was
physically abused by my father. So when I was eight years old and
my mother, she met Ronnie Ashley's, the master sergeant of the
United States Marine Corps, he was being reassigned to a military
base in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is a long way from San
Diego, California, where I was born and raised. My mom and Ron,
they had a whirlwind romance. They got married in January of 1980,
and relocated to Virginia. Rod was a good man, he was willing to
take responsibility for a single mom, two children. He had a
wonderful sense of humor and a very strong protective way about
him. But over the years, I found out that he suffered with PTSD
from being a Vietnam veteran, excuse me and suffered and struggled
with alcoholism. He could be a very hard man to please. That summer
in 1980, after they were wed, my brother was flown out to visit us.
One evening, shortly after my brother had arrived, we were sitting
at the dinner table. So sorry, my mother, my mother, she had handed
my brother a plate of food, which she just commenced to shoveling
down as fast as he could. My mom said to Jeremy, you don't have to
eat so fast. No one's going to take your plate from you.
Apparently, I pulled my mom aside and politely advised her that
Jeremy regularly had his food taken from him as a form of
punishment at my father's house. My mother, she was shocked and
heartbroken. She contacted our father and informed him that their
son was not leaving Virginia, and that she would be assuming full
parental custody. After that day, I did not hear from my father for
another 21 years. Wow. Yeah. Even at the early age of 10 years old.
It was just it was too late for my brother and he was so broken
from the abuse of our father. As years passed, he was in and out of
counseling. He struggled in school, he used marijuana to ease the
pain from the past. He was broken and manic depressive. I was not
aware of any of this at the time to me, my brother was the most
amazing person. I knew he was funny. He was popular. He was
athletic. He was a brilliant artist. He did everything right in my
eyes. He used to wake me up in the morning tickling me until I
couldn't breathe. He was the first person to tell me about Jesus.
So for a while, I thought things were gonna be okay. You know, we
were trying to make it work as a family. After high school, Jeremy
went into the Army and I went to the Marine Corps. Of course, I was
trying to live up to my stepdads standard. I'll never forget
getting a phone call from my brother Jeremy. For Thanksgiving, it
was 1990 I was on duty. He called me and he told me to resolve any
issues or disputes that I had with my mom and my stepdad and to
take care of them. He told me that he loved me something that he
rarely said. And then on December 6 of 1990, I got the news that
would change my life forever. My brother was dead from suicide. My
world just came crashing down. I'm so sorry.
Kimberly Hobbs
I'm so sorry. And I know you're even struggling in this moment to
share, to share but your pain started right there. Like you said it
changed your life. And because of that pain, you act it out. And
you are even sharing with me, Christina and I'm sure ladies you can
relate to this pain. If you've lost somebody so dear to you and you
don't understand why and then all of the things that created this
perfect storm in her life for her to act out. She was
uncomfortable. She wasn't comfortable in her life. There was no
comfort around her know where to turn. So Christina, you You told
me that you started acting out in different ways alcoholism, men in
your life divorce, different things started happening. You said at
one time that you the woman in the well, at the Bible, we are in
the Bible. We know that story about the woman in the well. You said
that she looked like a saint compared to your life. So we know that
there was acting out in this pain, this horrible pain and
understandably that you were going through rough times rough years.
But you told me that you experienced shame and guilt. And I'm
thinking, Okay, you experience shame and guilt. Why is that? Can
you explain the shame and guilt that you felt?
Christina Hjort
Yeah, I think that the the abandonment from my, my father, and then
the inadequacy that I felt for my stepdad. And then, you know, the
loss of my brother, it just broke me. I had so many questions. I
was wondering, Was it my fault and lied and blame? What can I do
differently to be worthy of love? I just had so many questions and
no answers. I spent the next 20 years going from relationship to
relationship and religion to religion trying to fill that hole in
my heart I was I was in relationship with the alcoholic and the
addict, the abuser. The adults are trying to fill the emptiness
that only God can fill each relationship ending in disaster. I was
baptized three times in three different denominations trying to
just wash off. The shame and guilt of my life only did come up out
of those baptismal waters just feeling dirty than dirtier than
before. I went to counseling for five years trying to put the
puzzle pieces of self destruction and shattered heart back
together. I just I didn't believe that I deserve goodness and
peace. I just wanted to read out of limitations. Chapter one
lamentation Chapter One Two says she leaves bed early in the night,
and her tears are on her cheeks. She has no one to comfort her
among all of her lovers. All her friends have dealt treacherously
with her they have become her enemies. And lamentation is when nine
says her uncleanness was in her skirts, and she did not consider
her future. Therefore she has fallen in Astonishingly, she has no
comforter, see, oh Lord, my affliction for the enemy as the enemy
this magnified himself. I just love this because Jeremiah was
calling God's people to repentance. After this, but years ago of
disobedience. We see God's compassion and comfort. In this, you
know, and how he experiences people. I mean, no matter how bad or
how devastating our sin is, our father invites us to repent, and to
be healed by the blood of Jesus. So somewhere through all of this,
even deep down, I knew that God was always there. He was watching
over me. He was walking before me and he would make a way I love in
Jeremiah 2911, where he says that vein is the status works for I
know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD plans to prosper
you and not to harm you plans to give you a hope and future.
Kimberly Hobbs
That is so good. Oh my goodness, that is so good and so powerful.
And yes, those words. God doesn't want to leave you where you are
ladies, none of you. He doesn't want you in that uncomfortable.
Self Destruction feeling like, like Christina was experiencing.
It's a horrible place to be. And especially when we're struggling
there with shame and guilt. It's like the enemy just heaps it on us
more and more and more. So, Christina, again, as you described, you
know, there was no comfort around you, you are all alone. By God
key had a plan. But the enemy was trying to keep you from being
comforted, right because he knew you were going to be this powerful
force for the Lord Jesus Christ because look at your life now But
God kept trying to get your attention while the enemy kept
pounding, the discomfort, the misery everything that you were
experiencing, which made you go to alcoholism and all of this. It's
not an excuse, ladies. It's just it's that reality. When you don't
know where to turn, you turn to these things hoping to find
comfort. Bert, there. So ladies, please, please listen closely
right now is we're going to share, don't find your comfort in other
things, men. Alcoholism, yep, blaming it on everything else. But
look to God, He is the only source of your comfort. So God kept
trying to get your attention, Christina, and he wanted to comfort
you. So he used your daughter in the car, which you're going to
share about and he also used your friend Lisa. So tell the ladies
just how God loved you where you were. He loves you in your guilt
and shame. And he used these two incidents powerfully.
Christina Hjort
He did. He absolutely did. So in 2012, I had just bought a house in
Winter Haven, Florida. I was divorced yet again. And I had three
children Austin, was 13 Ryan, who's 10 and Maggie who's nine. I, I
was trying to fresh start, even though I was still stuck in my ways
and and blind to God's will for my life. One day while driving to
school, my daughter said, Well, why don't why don't you stop
listening to this kind of music on the radio and turn on the joy of
them, which is our local Christian station. Jesus tells us in
Matthew I love this out of the mouths of babes you have perfected
praise. And how true is that? He used my daughter to to, to change
the direction of my life. So she reached over at that moment, she
changed the station and she started saying...
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen, amen daughter. Yeah, you go girl.
Christina Hjort
She started singing the next Christian song. I just remember that
morning being so amazing. Just filled with just words of hope and
joy and love. I vowed to leave that station on in my car. Psalms
118 14 says the Lord is my strength And my song in victory. So that
was a life changing moment for me. But in my life, I always
struggled with right versus wrong, good versus evil. I love when
Paul says in Romans four, I do not do the good I want but the evil
I do not is what I keep doing. I mean, how do we relate to that? I
know I do. I wanted to be holy, but I didn't understand how to get
there. I still imagine the God of the universe in heaven ready and
waiting for me to screw up again. So he could rain down as rats
like something that I certainly felt like I believed I had such a
wretched life. I mean, I love Jesus. But did I really believe that
I deserved the gift of His death, His burial in his resurrection? I
didn't. Oh goodness. How could How could a good God love a person
like me? It was just a struggle until 2013. I had a dear friend
Lisa. Oh, I love her. She pulled me aside and told me something I
just needed to hear my soul needed to hear. She told me that God is
not like my earthly father, who fell short. And at the end of me.
She told me that God is the best father a girl can ask for a daddy
was his daughter more than words, consenting. He's the Papa who
will never leave me. He will never abandon me. He will always take
care of me. I mean, he's the father I can trust. I can have a
personal and intimate relationship with him. And the light bulb
came on that day. It's, it's a day I'll never forget that. My
father was not condemning me. I was condemning me. And then Isaiah
4110 This is my life. Verse. God says, so do not fear for I am with
you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God, I will see you and I
will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. So
from that day, little by little things started to change. I
remember when they in 2015 I found myself just spaced down weeping
on the floor of my bedroom. I was just I was alone, worn out from
years of self abandoned innocent and I cried out to God and I told
him that I fully surrendered my life to him. I had been, you know,
a religious Christian for many years, but now I wanted a
relationship with him. And I felt like he wanted to relationship
with me. Yes, yes. I made a commitment to him that day to get to
know him better. I made a commitment to wait on Him and to obey him
i That verse in John three, He must increase but I must decrease I
would say less of me and more of you God. I believe in that omit
that I felt his arms wrapped around me while I was laying there
just completely broken. And I ultimate comfort, the ultimate
comforter. And somehow I just knew that day that things were going
to be different. So it Nehemiah he says, Do not greed for the Lord,
or for the joy of the Lord is your strength. And then Paul, he
writes in Corinthians and says, our hope for you is firm because we
know that just as you share our suffering, so also you share in our
comfort. Yes, yes, ladies, all of us have difficult days where we
are struggling, and we're stressed, but do not lose hope. Share
your stories, sharing your suffering, and ask your father in heaven
to be the god of comfort for you today.
Kimberly Hobbs
What a good word, what a good word, Christina, God loved you where
you were, in that guilt and shame. Ladies, if you are there, if you
can relate to anything this precious woman of God is saying, you
know what it's like to be in that discomfort, and hurt and pain.
But God says when the eight when the enemy is aiming his arrows at
you, ladies, when you are feeling that, and you're feeling right
now that oh my gosh, I hurts so bad, and nothing, nothing is making
me feel better. The Lord is my strength and shield, I trust him
with all my heart, he helps me and my heart is filled with joy. I
burst in songs of Thanksgiving, Psalm 28, seven, God knew what He
was doing when he provided your daughter Christina, to turn that
radio station to worship music, which you never changed again. And
you started changing through that music. God was comforting you
with his words with his love. And that was only the beginning until
Lisa came into your life and introduced you to the loving father
that was going to comfort you permanently. And again, your heart
burst into joy of song and thanksgiving. It's a total new way to
walk in freedom, right? Because God wasn't condemning you,
Christina, you were condemning you, ladies, God doesn't condemn
you. Don't be stuck in that guilt and shame. We bring that upon
ourselves. So just like some of you are carrying that, know that in
his love in his grace, He brings you out of that life and into
everything that He has for you. And that's what we're here trying
to comfort you with, is that God loves you, He will never abandon
you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Christina, there's a
listener out there who's hurting, and she's full of discomfort from
a wound that just won't heal. And we all know those wounds that
just won't stop. So what can you offer her in the form of hope,
honey,
Christina Hjort
I'm going to encourage her to step out in victory, that there's a
God who loves us in, in everything that we are, all the past hurts
all the sense. Everything that we've been through, there's a guide,
a daddy in heaven, who, who loves us and wants us to be victorious.
And he's bigger, with his arms wide open, ready to comfort us and
to give us a joy and a peace that does pass all all understanding.
It's true. It's true. And I encourage you if you don't know, if you
don't know that Jesus, I would be happy to introduce you to
him.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. Amen. And I know you had some scripture that was so important
to you about comfort in 2 Corinthians. Can you share that
scripture?
I have it right here actually I do. Because it was so when when we talked about it in our conversation, Christina, it just got me right in the heart. And ladies, listen to this. It is just beautiful. If trouble weighs us down. That just means that we will receive even more comfort to pass on to you for your deliverance for the comfort pouring into us empowers us to bring comfort to you. You can endure victoriously the same suffering that we experienced Now, our hope for you is unshakable, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings you will also share in God's comforting strength. And again, that's Second Corinthians 1627. That's the passion translation. And I'm sorry, Christina, I didn't mean to put you on the spot. But you know what, thankfully God said, Kimberly, prepare that that Scripture because I wanted to emphasize it again, hoping that you would share it. That yes,
Christina Hjort
That when we were talking about this upcoming event, God had
brought those to my attention, and how, you know, he really does
want to come for us and how He wants us to live victorious. And I
love that I love that he's there for us, and he's ready to receive
us. We just have to surrender our will. And I love it. I love it so
much. I love our Father God.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. And you know, ladies, beauty of how he has changed her life,
Christina and this woman is such a joy and we are so grateful that
you are part of women world leaders and and as we were sharing and
preparing for this podcast, wow, God came in powerfully did he not
Christina. And through her sharing the story, my heart was
pounding. We at women were leaders are putting together a book this
year called surrendered, yielded with purpose. And her story was a
beautiful story of surrendered. And so I get to share with you that
Christina York is going to be one of the authors in surrendered,
yielded with purpose, and you're going to hear her full story or
read her full story when that book comes out, hopefully by the end
of 2022. So please be praying, ladies as we do these writings with
amazing women of God that he brings. And you may be one of those
women that are listening in right now that have a story that you
want to share. And through coming on these podcasts, ladies, you're
just helping others to relate to you and identify with you. On the
internet. Let them have compassion and hope through your story of
finding Jesus that they could to and all of our stories are
different, right? Yours doesn't look like Christina's nor does it
look like mine. But God gave you a story. So I pray that as you've
listened to today, and you have found comfort, even if you are in
that uncomfortable place, we pray that Christina sharing her story
has allowed God to bring comfort into your heart through the
scriptures that she shared. Oh my goodness, ladies, you each carry
powerful testimonies, and you may not even know it. And God wants
to use you an incredibly powerful ways to serve and glorify Him.
That's what we do here at women. We're leaders, we're here to come
together and help each other and encourage each other to Jesus,
right? So please, if you're listening ladies, jot down women world
leaders.com Go to our website, search us out, you can email me like
Christina said, if you want to know Jesus, and you don't please
contact Christina. Christina how do they contact you?
Christina Hjort
You can email me at CHJORT15@Gmail. I'd love to hear from you. If
you want to write I'd be happy to be your pen pal.
Kimberly Hobbs
That's so beautiful sweetie. And you can always reach Christina
through womenworldleaders.com as well. And ladies if you want
to.
Christina Hjort
Also I'm so sorry Kimberly but through Breakwater Ministries, we I
can be reached through Breakwater Ministries as well where my
husband and I are serving, you know, a mission marriage for or
other marriages.
Kimberly Hobbs
That's right. She is healed. She's comforted. She's serving in a
ministry ladies if you need marriage coaching if you need life
coaching, that's why she is so open to have you contact her reach
out to her. She's a beautiful woman of God and she's here to help
to help. That's what we're all here to do. So ladies, we love you.
We pray that you were encouraged today, strengthened by this
podcast and you can tune in each Monday, Wednesday and Friday to
our podcasts and be uplifted in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
and ladies, we also want to invite you to receive voice of truth
publication that's the magazine that comes out every quarter. And
ladies, it's available digitally on our website, as well as if you
are in the United States, you can get your free copy every quarter
and it's beautiful table top quality. And you can be uplifted and
encouraged by other women in the ministry that right from their
heart and share scripture that God has laid on their hearts to
share with you. I also would love to invite you ladies we have a an
event coming up. And it's coming up this week. So please, please,
you don't have to live in Palm Beach County, but we June 4, at nine
o'clock at Kaiser University, the flagship campus. We are having
our first Renu event where we are gathering together with women
that can come and just be blessed. And listen for three and a half
hours to praise and worship prayer, encouragement, speakers fun,
we've got everything and ladies that are listening from other
countries because we've got you listening and over 70 countries
now. We are not leaving you out because you are women, world
leaders. And you know what, we are live streaming. So the live
streaming will start after the praise and worship because of
copyright. But we want to include each and every one of you into
this event. And let you know that you can join right in with us
from wherever you are, get a party together, have a watch party,
whenever you can watch, we just pray that you'll join in. Because
we know that God has called us to gather again for a purpose and
we're including all of our listeners from around the world. Ladies,
catch us on Facebook, that's where it's going to be live streamed
to the women world leaders Facebook group. And if you're not
already on it, please ask or request to come in women world
leaders. It's a private group. So you have to request to come in
and we will see you on Saturday June 4 at 9am. Eastern in person or
930 if you're joining us for live stream. thank our guests today
Christina hort. We are so grateful that you came on to share your
story today. God bless you all.
Unknown Speaker
God bless you.
Kimberly Hobbs
God bless you all and have a beautiful and blessed day.