Out of the Poisoned Pond: Jennie’s Story [343]

Flying Free

Natalie Hoffman

Emotional, Narcissism, Christianity, Abuse, Religion & Spirituality, Spiritual, Christian, Self-improvement, Education, Divorce, Marriage

5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What happens when you grow up in hyper-conservative church culture, marry your Bible camp sweetheart at 20, and then spend decades swimming in a poisoned pond of patriarchy, affairs, gaslighting, and spiritual abuse? Jennie’s story is a real look at what it takes to finally climb out of the muck and into fresh water.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Is it me? Or is this whole thing just completely bonkers?” then pull up a chair. Jennie’s journey from silent suffering to empowered freedom will resonate with every woman who’s ever been told to “submit more, pray harder, and wear longer skirts” while her husband runs wild and gets a pat on the back from church elders.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

How a “perfect Christian marriage” turned into decades of betrayal and control.
The role toxic church teachings played in keeping Jennie (and her kids) trapped.
Why standing up for her daughter was the unexpected turning point that led Jennie toward freedom.
The difference between swimming in poisoned pond water and finally breathing fresh air.
How Flying Free gave Jennie the tools, words, and community she needed to rewire her brain and rebuild her life.
The power of “just the next step” (because I hate to break it to you, but God doesn’t hand out the whole escape plan on a silver platter).

Read the full show notes and/or ask Natalie a question here

Related Resources:

Some other survivor stories to give you hope: “Military Marriage Abuse: Elizabeth’s Story,” and “Escaping the Man Everyone Admired: Lisa’s Story.”

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, this is Natalie Hoffman of Flying FreeNow.com, and you're listening to the Flying Free
0:07.8	podcast, a support resource for women of faith looking for hope and healing from hidden
0:14.2	emotional and spiritual abuse. Welcome to episode 343 of the Flying Free Podcast.
0:23.1	Today we are going to hear a survivor story.
0:25.7	Her name is Jenny, and she spells her name the way my mom and my daughter, who I named after my mom, spell their names.
0:31.9	Do you run into that spelling very often?
0:33.8	I don't see it very often.
0:35.3	No.
0:36.0	Yeah.
0:36.5	It's J-E-N-N-I-E. My mom was, she always dealt with people who
0:40.5	called her Jeannie. So do you deal with that sometimes? Yes, all the time. Jeannie. My daughter does too.
0:45.6	Anyway, it's Jenny. And she has been a member, I think, since 2021. Is that when you, do you know when
0:52.2	you doing it? I think it was different than that? I think it was 18. When did you start?
0:55.6	Did you start out in flying free? Yes. Yeah. Okay. And you've been to flying higher than for four years, I think.
1:02.2	Several years, yes. Yeah. Wow. Okay. So Jenny has a story to share. Let's dive in and hear it. Why don't we first talk about how and when you first
1:13.2	noticed that something was off in your relationship? Well, we began dating my ex-husband and I
1:21.6	at we were 15. We were married by 20. We didn't argue about anything. It was a seemingly perfect relationship. And yet,
1:31.7	one year into our marriage, almost exactly, he had an affair while on a business trip. And
1:38.0	this wasn't just like, you know, he went out and had intimate relations with somebody that was,
1:45.9	it was he actually fell in love, which my mind I was heartbroken and you guys can I just ask were you guys Christians at this time
1:51.9	or very much into the church we met in Bible camp we were constantly in that environment we played
1:59.2	pinnacle every Sunday night at church. And I mean,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Natalie Hoffman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Natalie Hoffman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.