The Human Experience
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of grief and loss of siblings. Please proceed with care. In this episode, Jennifer sits down with Marina Mendez, a 24-year-old Panamanian educator and woman of deep faith, in Panama City, Panama. Marina’s story begins in the shadow of unimaginable loss: by the time she was twelve years old, she had buried both of her brothers, and she didn’t pretend to be okay about it. What follows is a journey of grief, doubt, determination, and a faith that was tested to its limits. From growing up in Panama West in a large, tight-knit family to earning a full scholarship to study in Pennsylvania, Marina shares what it meant to chase her dreams across hemispheres, and what it cost when those dreams were rerouted. Just two months before her wedding, Marina called it off, leaving her to cancel the venue, make painful phone calls to family, and, ultimately, start over. She did it with prayer, therapy, and grace. This is a conversation about what it looks like to truly trust God when the evidence makes it hard, to be honest about your anger, and to find that your life’s detours might just be pointing you somewhere better than you planned. 📍 This episode was recorded in Panama City, Panama. MEET MARINA MENDEZ Marina Mendez is a 24-year-old Panamanian educator, dancer, and woman of contagious faith from Panama West, Panama. Raised in a deeply Christian household with five sisters and two brothers, Marina’s life was marked by grief early on. Rather than letting that grief define her limits, Marina turned it into fuel, excelling academically and earning a full scholarship to Wilkes-Barre University in Pennsylvania in 2020, where she graduated with a degree in English Education and a Spanish minor, and was named Teacher of the Year. Marina returned to Panama four months before this conversation after a broken engagement upended the life she had carefully planned. Today, she lives with her grandmother in Panama City, serves actively in her church, and carries a clear-eyed dream of seeing Panama invest more in its people - starting with education. KEY TAKEAWAYS Here’s what stayed with us long after this conversation ended: * Grief doesn’t wait until you’re ready. Marina was nine years old when she lost her first brother and twelve when she lost the second. She didn’t have the luxury of being “old enough” to process it. But she also didn’t pretend she was fine, and that honesty became the foundation for everything that followed. * You’re allowed to be mad at God. When Marina’s second brother died, her faith shattered. When her wedding fell apart, she told a church leader to keep the God-advice to himself for a minute. Jennifer and Marina both affirm what many faith traditions quietly know: God is big enough for your anger. You don’t need to perform peace you don’t feel. * Pain with purpose still hurts. Marina believes everything happens for a reason, and she’s honest that she doesn’t yet know the reason her engagement ended. Holding both truths at once - “I trust God” and “I don’t understand this” - is not a contradiction. It’s the real work of faith. * Don’t lead with platitudes, just show up. When Marina was devastated, what helped wasn’t theology. It was her friend Darling, who picked up the phone at any hour and didn’t ask questions. Sometimes the most faithful thing you can do for someone in pain is simply stay. * Healing lives in service, not in solitude. Marina found her way back to herself not by closing the door and crying over photos, but by going back to church, pouring into others, and dancing. Moving toward people was what finally moved her forward. * You can be happy now. In one of the episode’s most memorable moments, Marina breaks down the math of happiness: about 70% of life is ordinary moments - commuting, cooking, school drop-offs. The big celebrations are maybe 20-30%. Joy isn’t something you earn at the Eiffel Tower, it’s a decision you make in the car on the way to work. * Compassion is putting on someone else’s shoes, and meaning it. On her way to this interview, Marina saw a man experiencing homelessness in the midday heat and started crying in the car. That’s her definition of compassion: not a concept, but a gut response. What if that were someone I loved? STAY CONNECTED The Human Experience Podcast [https://www.thehxpod.com/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehxpod/] | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/getthehx] The Human Experience Legacies [https://thehxlegacies.com/] | Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/thehxlegacies/] Connect with Jennifer on Substack [https://jenniferpeterkin.substack.com/?r=3zi6na] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-peterkin-04b92b1b/] Support the Podcast [https://ko-fi.com/jenniferpeterkin]
116 episodios
Comentarios
0Sé la primera persona en comentar
¡Regístrate ahora y únete a la comunidad de The Human Experience!