Nov 28, 2022
Kimberly Hobbs
Welcome to Empowering Lives with [urpose. And I'm your host,
Kimberly Hobbs. I'm the founder of Women World Leaders. And today
I'm so blessed to have our guest with us Dr. Marina Hoffman.
Welcome, Marina.
Dr. Marina Hoffman
Oh, Kimberly, it's so great to be with you today and our friends
around the world listening and being encouraged in the
Lord.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. Amen. We're in for a wonderful day, a wonderful afternoon and
can't wait to talk to you and let the ladies get to know you
further and hear about your story. So ladies, this podcast is for
you. And we are here to encourage you and inspire you to walk
closer with Jesus. That's what we're all about it women world
leaders is just a closer walk with our Savior and King. And there
are so many ways just to encourage and strengthen the body of
Christ together. And one of them is by sharing our stories and our
personal accounts of what we've been through our walks. And many of
us have had tumultuous walks, some of us have had a little bit
easier walks, but when we share them and share how God moved in our
life, through our walks, and storms and trials, and sometimes
blessings and wonderful ways to we just see how God moves. And some
of us can relate to each other and therefore be encouraged,
inspired, have hope. And that's our purpose. So that's what we want
to bring to you today. So God is working in you ladies giving you
the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. That's Philippians
213. And we just believe that each of us have a purpose. And God is
going to lead you to that purpose because he's given you gifts and
talents and the power to do what he's equip you to do and his name.
So let me tell you a little bit about Dr. Marina Hoffman. She has
her PhD and she's a professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University.
She is the author of the award winning book, women in the Bible.
And we'll talk about more about that later in the podcast. But it's
a small group Bible study that she's put together and in beautiful
Marina thank you for doing God's work in that way. Marina
illuminates the leadership, strength and character and courage of
women in the Bible to bring an inspirational message of hope and
encouragement to all of us who must navigate today's challenges and
uncertain times, right? Because we are all walking through some
uncertain times in this world. And today's message is a story is a
powerful story. It's a god miracle in marinas life. And we titled
this today trust because I asked Marina, what is that word that you
can equate to your story and she said trust. So it's trust and from
suffering to surrender. So Marina, as we start in to your story,
you survived. You are a survivor. So can you tell us and share
about what God's miracle was in your life through what happened? In
this story you're about to share?
Dr. Marina Hoffman
Yes, you know, Kimberly, before it happened, things were going
quite well in my life. I had been in school for forever. I finally
graduated in September, I got in at Christmas time. I got a job
over January. So I was very excited to start work in the fall. And
just things were so filled with hope. And I thought, wow, I've
spent my whole life in school. Finally, I'm getting out. And I can
do something to honor God and to serve others. Well, would you
believe we're coming home from a trip up north in the middle of
February, and very suddenly, out of nowhere, the car coming toward
us? His head drops, and the car plows right toward us. And the
setting Kimberley is the word driving about 65 miles an hour. He's
driving 60 miles an hour, and the highway is under construction. So
it narrows down to one lane and there was nothing Kimberly but a
few inches between us. So there was really no options. Everything
happened in a split second. And Kimberly I would love to share that
my life paths before me but it didn't. I simply thought Oh, I'm
dead and I thought that was the end of my story. Thankfully, my
husband is a much quicker thinker than I am He responded
marvelously. He controlled the car as best he could. And Kimberly
when he felt that All was about to fail that he would have no
chance of survival. He thought at least he can do his best to save
my life. So very kindly, very sacrificially. He throws his body
across the, the middle of the car and leans over me and protects me
from all the airbags with my own body. And you know, Kimberly, that
simple act of sacrifice started off an avalanche of miracles in our
lives. So in this car crash, our engine ends up getting pushed into
the driver's seat where he should have been, and no one knew how he
survived. Three or four days later, the detective comes and says,
Sir, I can't put unexplained miracle in my report. How are you
alive? And so Larry begins to unravel the story of throwing his
body against me and breaking his own rib doing it because if
seatbelt was still on, and how his body really wasn't fully in his
seat, and that saved his life, although he had many injuries, and
for me, the seatbelt gave me four lacerations. So I was you know,
Bile is pouring out of my system, I'm about to die. If I had had
those airbags Kimberli in a heartbeat, I would have gone on to life
with Jesus in eternity. But my husband's body took all the airbags,
I also had a very significant brain injury. So it was very close to
you know, being a vegetable I couldn't talk I had no memories, I
still suffer a bit with those implications. But my husband put my
his hand on my head. And I believe Kimberly, that that really
prevented me from getting any worse injury, which also could have
led to my death. So here I was alive. Um, God just brought, you
know, retired firefighter, empty worker EMT workers running around
the car to save me to hold me in my place. So I didn't move. I get
to the hospital I near dead, and the nurses doing their job. They
wanted to pull me through all these tests, and that would have
taken two or three hours. Again, Kimberly, another miracle through
the life of the surgeon that comes to check on me and says, No,
this this girl has minutes to live. We're opening her up right now.
And she knew that maybe God spoke to her. She said it was just
unexplainable. How she came to check on me out of order, and
canceled all the tests opened me up, found all my injuries closed
me up. And that was Kimberly, life saving. But I will also share
with our friends today that I had a long road ahead of me with
severe PTSD, severe anxiety. You know, we've shared before how the
beautiful verse have no anxiety, right? We have nothing to fear in
the Lord. And yet Kimberly, I feared every single thing all the
time, I was shaking around the clock with fear and anxiety after
all the trauma that this created in me and my brain being a mess.
So I had a long road of recovery. But God was with me every step of
the way.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. He sure was and just seeing that and what gave me goosebumps
when we were talking. We had the privilege to have dinner last
night together and we're gonna see each other again tomorrow but
I'm just hearing more of this miraculous story and you were sharing
how when when you were impacted you were forced to stay in your
seat and the paramedic that just happened to be in one car that
jumped out and then the firefighter like if you would have gotten
out of that car the doctor said you would not be alive if you stood
up you would have bled out and that would have been it you would
have been done and so these miracles I can just blows my mind how
God had everything step by step by step plant and ordained to make
sure that you were okay. And I we just thank God for that. But yes,
you did. You had suffered day to day about the overcoming anxiety
and the the debilitating fear that you are constantly feeling like
PTSD. And so the Bible tells us to be anxious for nothing. But in
everything with prayer and thanksgiving. let your requests be known
to God. That's Philippians four, six. Ladies, when you're suffering
from fear and anxieties, God wants us to let our prayers and
petitions be known to him because he's there to listen. But he says
also with thankfulness. So you had a heart of thankfulness. Can you
talk right now about overcoming the anxiety and fear in your day to
day?
Dr. Marina Hoffman
You know, there are so many tips that professionals give us
Kimberly and I think there's a place for them all. They were very
helpful to me all kinds of techniques that helped me to live to
start to live on the path of a normal life and to at least begin to
take care of myself again, which itself was a major accomplishment
just to get out of bed in the morning seemed impossible with
through all that, and alongside all the things that we can do, to
help ourselves as human beings, really my anchor was Christ. And I
know the only reason I could get up in the morning was because I
knew that Jesus Christ had a plan for my life. And I could not see
it. And Kimberly, I did not feel it. I did not feel my faith in
those weeks. Initially, I didn't even feel my faith really in the
hospital and ICU, I thought I was all by myself, I felt utterly
alone. I didn't know if my husband was alive. And none of that was
true. I was surrounded by family. And they told me over and over,
my husband was alive. But in my world, Kimberly, I was so utterly
alone. And yet, despite the feelings of feeling isolated as a
human, I knew God was with me. And Paul talks about, you know, to
live as Christ. And that's my testimony. I remember very little,
but I remember hour after hour laying in the bed saying, I know
that right now, the power of Jesus Christ is literally pumping
through my body in my house. Yes. And it was not the feeling that
God had a plan for my life, but the knowledge of it. So I've been a
Christian forever. I, you know, from the age of three, I was aware
of the Lord, and wanted to commit my life to Him. And all those
years of drilling those verses in me on some deep level, Kimberly,
I really feel God used that to help me to keep going.
Kimberly Hobbs
Yes, yes, God says in His Word, and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. And that's what you had you had that peace of God,
even though yes, you're in the flesh, you experience we all
experience these things that we have to go through fears and
anxieties and things like that, but but the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, right, it guarded your heart through
that time, and it carried you through. So as God led you into,
deeper into your life, there was one thing you were told when that
surgery was performed, and all of this, and that was that you
wouldn't have children, you know, you're impacted so severely Can
you talk about that?
Dr. Marina Hoffman
Yeah, the chance of having a child was more or less zero. And of
all the things that happened to me, I knew God somehow the way
God's Kingdom works is that suffering is never in vain. And we see
that in story after story of Scripture. So I knew somehow God would
use all my suffering, for His glory, whatever that meant for me.
But one thing I could not accept was that someone falls asleep at
the wheel. And suddenly, I can't have a family and I can't be a
mom. And I just felt that that was so unjust. It was very hard to
walk every day I prayed and prayed and prayed in this reality. But
there was a point when I was at the doctor, and they showed me this
the results of all these tests, and it was way less than, you know,
1%. It was 0.000. And I thought in that moment, you know what, it's
no longer about me trying and what I had for dinner last night. And
if I did a whole mile of walking or not, I can be as healthy as I
can, Kimberly, but this was so major. This was in God's territory.
And you know, I had prayed so hard, Kimberly. But in that moment, I
felt the burden lifted off me, even the burden of prayer. And I
remember on the way home, I said, God, I have prayed so much, I'm
actually going to stop praying, I'm just going to leave it with
you. And I'm going to leave it with a few of my close friends that
promise to continue to pray every day for me. But Kimberly, I
couldn't keep living my life, in a sense, obsessing over prayer for
this. So I was able to trust God. And you know, there's a verse in
Hannah where this happens. she bakes God for a child. And then it
says, she got up she ate and drank. And her face was no longer
downcast. And that spoke to me so much. I said, that's what I need
to do. I need to start living life, and not where the burden of
this on my face anymore. And of course, you know, in the way God
works, sometimes, sure enough, in a couple of months, I did get
pregnant.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen, amen. And I know that Hannah was just a so closely related to
your story. And so that became special to you. And even as you
wrote about women in the Bible, and you turned it into a Bible
study, you know, that was somebody that really stood out to you and
wow, God performed miracles in your life miracle upon miracle. So
now, let's talk about the miracle that God performed with
Willow.
Dr. Marina Hoffman
You know, there was so much prayer from my own heart and my husband
and my Family But dear friends as well. And I think sometimes God
does something really special in those circumstances. And she isn't
an ordinary child. And again, um, what an answer to my prayer like
Hannah, I believe she's already becoming a leader among others. And
you know, Kimberly, she has been an instrument of joy and healing
to so many people. And that's even when she was a little, she would
say the things that would just pierce people's heart. And I
remember one time a dear friend of mine who lost his daughter at
19, he was broken, he couldn't bear with his family to have
Christmas up in Canada and their home. So they came down here just
to change things and help them through. I remember he held her for
two hours, and she slept. And he near wept. Kimberly, there was
something he said about the power of healing that touched us very
hard just holding her. And that has marked her whole life as well.
So sometimes out of our suffering, are come something more
beautiful than we could ever have imagined. And for me, as a mom,
it is never a day goes by where I take her for granted. Every
night, I tell a little story of how I prayed and prayed and prayed.
And one day God answered my prayer, and wow, I was pregnant. And it
was a girl and we call her Willow. And I say that every night and I
remind my own heart, this thing that I prayed for so much, and I
suffered so much with to be attuned to what God has to do in my
life as a mother and to make sure that my suffering will always
have a purpose. And I think that's a beautiful reminder in our
lives, Kimberly, the things that we suffered with and through the
trials we had, God wants to use for His glory. But I think we also
have a role in continuing to be humble, and allow God to use that
even if it means opening up and sharing our stories of hurt and
suffering with others to bring them healing, as we testify of God's
faithfulness.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. Amen. And there, there are so many stories of pain in
purpose, and that God teaches us through those times he he starts
to equip us to go forward into the future with these amazing
testimonies. And how would we do that? How would we be able to
testify to others unless we walked in those steps, you know, and we
suffered through it. And now we have these tremendous stories of
faith and perseverance, strength, you know, honoring God, no matter
what. And I praise God for your story. I praise him that you are
testifying and sharing that. And Revelation 1211 says, they
overcame him the enemy, he wants to take us all out, he wants to
destroy our life. He he wants nothing more than to conquer somebody
that is destined for a life of following Jesus. But revelation 1211
says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, and
the word of their testimony. So Marina, as you go out into the
world, and you continue to share these miracles upon miracles, and
the tragedy you went through is horrible, and the suffering you and
your husband endured. But the faith that you had the mustard seed
faith, brought you to have this precious little girl, and I met
Willow and she is beautiful. And she does melt your heart, and says
the most amazing things. And I know that she is going to be part of
your serving as she grows in your family. And can you tell us about
women in the Bible? Because you were talking about the there were
certain women in the Bible that stood out to you? And I know Hannah
was one of them. But how are you inspired to write this book and
turn it into a Bible study?
Dr. Marina Hoffman
Yes, so until this acts, and I had been studying women of the Bible
academically as a scholar, and publishing articles, and it was
lovely. But you know, these stories, took on a whole new meaning
after my brain injury. And all this trauma I went through when I
read them again, simply for personal encouragement, I felt so
lonely, Kimberly, I needed someone to walk alongside me. And I
didn't know where to turn. So I opened up my Bible to some of the
stories that I had studied academically. And of course, as your
listeners will know, I mean, the story of Hannah, she became my
friend. She understood my sorrow because she had walked through,
and she exemplified what it means to be faithful in the various
situations I faced. And I found many women like this had gone
through things just like we're going through today. It's
incredible, isn't it 1000s of years ago, but we say we face the
same challenges, and especially in the last few years, with the
change we've undergone and culture and society. These are hard
times, and what beautiful friendship and encouragement I found in
women of the Bible. And as I spoke to women about it All of them
kept asking me to write it down. And so that ended up in the
devotional, the small group study women in the Bible. And on my
website, there's a free video series where I share really how these
women impacted me personally. And that video series is free women
in the Bible dot info. And if the for the women who want to dive
into these stories and say, what are they really about? What did
these woman's struggle for? What Can God speak to me through their
lives and their examples? This is a wonderful little book, you can
go through it alone, eight studies, or I always say Kimberly, with
a friend, because we all need friends,
Kimberly Hobbs
That's for sure. Oh, my goodness, I that just like brings joy to my
heart, women in the Bible. Because, you know, we all hear about,
you know, the top two or three, you know, but there are so many
significant women in the Bible that had amazing purpose in their
life, and God chose to put them in his word for a purpose. So what
you've done Marina by drawing, you know those stories out and
unpacking them in a Bible study form is just so special. And I just
thank you, I thank you for not balling up in a in, balling up in a
ball, curling up in a ball. And just wallowing in your fear and
your anxiety. No, you, you walked forward by faith and what you
knew and God led you, and then you fulfill this amazing purpose and
started writing for him. And I know you you teach at a Christian
college at Palm Beach Atlantic, I know you are raising a daughter
with such just beauty in the Lord Jesus Christ and how you pour
into her. Can you just look at the women that are here on this
podcast and speak directly to their heart. And give them something
from your heart today that can inspire them to walk in their
beautiful purpose, to run after God with all their heart, despite
those moments that they're curled up in a ball in their bed, just
crying out to God, you know, like, how do they get out of that ball
and just go running after God like you did?
Dr. Marina Hoffman
You know, there's a time for us to be quiet before the Lord and to
just heal and to be one with God and to shut out the world to the
point where sometimes we need to silence everything around us to
hear from the Lord. But then I think Kimberly, and friends who are
listening today as God begins to work in your life, and as Kimberly
shared today, there is power when we share our testimony. And to
begin with that might be just a few words. But as we begin to share
our testimony more and more, and to share the faithfulness God has
shown us as we walked through the valley of the shadow of death,
and as we struggled, something incredible is released within us. I
will say one practical example. You know, I was lonely for two
years, you can imagine what two years right, we're all cut off from
each other. I was so lonely that it hurt me, not just my heart, but
my body was hurting with loneliness. And finally, Kimberly, I was
so desperate, I began just to tell people that I'm so lonely. And
you know what happened? Friends, I found community because there
was all kinds of wonderful women around me who were lonely too. And
I boldly invited them to come to my house, which was not the thing
to do during those days, you know what they showed up. So even
showing the little bit of way that I was suffering, and showing
God's faithfulness to me opened up my heart for more healing from
God, because I was able to expose my heart and say, Lord, heal me.
And the Lord spoke such words of life to me, even from the women I
will share with, but I also gained friendships. And you know, I
think that happens when we open up our heart to others, to share
our sorrows, and to share God's faithfulness, what happens, they
open up their hearts back to us, and of course, being wise about
who we share with but there are wonderful women of God all around
us. And I think it's a worthy prayer to say, Lord, show me who they
are. build me up that we can bless each other and grow in you
together.
Kimberly Hobbs
So beautifully said so beautifully said. Community is so important.
Friendships are so important and the correct ones those that love
the Lord, surround yourself with those people that are going to
lift you up before God that are going to pray over you that are
going to speak life into you and not death and that woe is me talk
but they are going to lift you up in Jesus and those are the
friends that you want. And I'm so thankful that God brought
community at a time where you were so just desperate for love and
connection and you were just like suffocating because you didn't
have it, and God provided those that he knew or not afraid and
still reached out to you during that time. So I just thank him for
that. I'm thankful that you and I got to meet Marina and that we
were able to become friends and this just short amount of time. But
when you have abandoned Christ, so deep and you're, you're just
connected because of him. Things like this just happened so
quickly. And ladies, that's for you to go out, go outside of your
doors and reach out there are so many people out there that just
want to connect with you that God is going to allow into your paths
for his greater purpose, trust Him for it, and ask him for it. So I
just want to thank you, Marina for sharing with us today. And how
can women reach you if they want to reach out to you if they want
to get your book? How can they reach you?
Dr. Marina Hoffman
Yes, please visit womenintheBible.info and you'll see my free video
series, my email address, if you want to connect my testimony, if
you want to share with others, and lots of resources to encourage
you, I would love to hear from you. And you can get the first
chapter for free as well. Or you could buy the book. It's like I
think $13 on Amazon here in the US, but it's distributed
internationally. So that's womenintheBible.info.
Kimberly Hobbs
That's wonderful. That's wonderful. So thank you for sharing that.
Thank you for being a guest today on empowering lives with purpose
and also look for Marina more because we are connected here at
women, we're leaders and we're just excited to see what God has in
these future friendships that are made through this amazing
ministry. So ladies, I just want to leave you with the scripture
that God tells us to call on me when you're in trouble, and I will
receive you and you will give me glory. Oh my goodness, when we
call on him, he he just encompasses us with His love, right? And he
turns us around and we're going to glorify Him by trusting Him. He
is amazing that Psalm 50 Verse five. So ladies, as we close out
today, just know that God loves you so much. He has a purpose for
your life, a plan for your life, even when things may look dark and
dreary. Please don't let the enemy lie to you. God has a plan for
you. From his heart to yours. We are women, world leaders all
content is copyrighted and cannot be used without expressed written
consent. Thou bless you Marina thank you again for sharing
today.
Dr. Marina Hoffman
Thank you so much. And ladies, just embrace the love of God today.
And whatever you're suffering you know, surrender to the Lord and
I'm praying that you find community as well as you're willing to
share God's faithfulness with others.
Kimberly Hobbs
Amen. Amen. We prayed over you today ladies before we even started
this podcast. Marina and I and my husband we pray before every
podcast and and also you were prayed for today and we will close
praying for you too. So God bless you all have a beautiful day.