Lioness Stories: Choosing Life Through Unyielding Faith | Barb Hollace

What does it look like to keep choosing life after unimaginable loss?

In this deeply moving episode of Lioness Women: Rooted in Christ, Jen Porter sits down with Barb Hollace — one of the featured women in the upcoming book Lioness: Stories to Awaken Your Roar Within — for a conversation about faith, grief, resilience, surrender, and the unshakable faithfulness of God.

Widowed at just 33 years old after losing her first husband to cancer, Barb shares the heartbreak, questions, and spiritual wrestlings that followed. Years later, after finding love again, she would walk through devastating loss a second time when her husband unexpectedly passed away during the COVID era.

And yet, through every season of suffering, Barb’s story is not ultimately one of despair — it is one of extraordinary hope.

With wisdom, humility, and profound honesty, Barb opens up about:

• what it means to trust God when life does not unfold the way you imagined
• how faith is built through relationship, not religion
• why God’s faithfulness becomes undeniable through lived experience
• the hidden strength of women who quietly endure
• and how pain, when surrendered to God, can become purpose

This episode is filled with tender moments, powerful truths, and reminders that courage does not always roar loudly. Sometimes courage looks like waking up one more day, trusting God one more time, and continuing to love others through the pain.

If you are walking through grief, disappointment, uncertainty, or a season that feels impossible, Barb’s story will remind you that you are not abandoned — and that God is still writing redemption into your story.

Chapter 9 of Lioness is Barb Hollace’s powerful story:
“Protected by Unyielding Faith: Choosing to Live a Life Marked by Resilience, Where Faith Turns Survival Into Purpose.”

Find out more at: https://bereadyministry.org/

Connect with Jen: https://www.jenportercoach.com/

Creators and Guests

Host

Jen Porter

Jen Porter is a faith-centered coach and podcast host who empowers women to live boldly from their identity in Christ, rooted in truth, courage, and holy confidence.

Guest

Barb Hollace

Barb Hollace is a writer, prayer warrior, and encourager whose life reflects resilient faith, courage, hope, and deep compassion.

What is Lioness Women: Rooted in Christ?

Welcome to Lioness Women, a space for faith-fueled women to connect with their purpose and amplify their voices. These Lioness Conversations highlight purpose-driven women who share how their faith in Christ shapes their leadership, courage, and calling. 🦁

Hosted by Jen Porter, leadership and empowerment coach, this podcast shines a light on women who are leading with wisdom, strength, and grace — in boardrooms, businesses, ministries, and movements around the world.

Through raw, inspiring conversations, we explore how women of faith are building legacies, overcoming fear, and transforming their industries with bold vision and unshakable belief. If you’re ready to rise higher, lead with purpose, and stay rooted in Christ — this is your community.

Faith-Based Leadership | Christian Women | Women of Faith | Christian Podcast for Women | Kingdom Leadership | Spiritual Growth | Eternal Impact

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (00:00)
Hey friends, welcome to the show, Lioness Women Rooted in Christ. I'm your host, Jen Porter, leadership and career coach for ambitious and heart-centered women who want to put God at the center of everything that we do. This is a space for women who know we've been given only one life. And we want to leave it with full, we want to live live it fully, courageously, and with deep intention. This is a place where strength is shared and courage is found.

If you're a woman of faith, you're in the right place. And even if you're not, I invite you to stay. Because in every conversation, there is wisdom to take hold of, clarity to lean into, and courage for the life you're living and the woman you are becoming. You are welcome here. Today's conversation is deeply special to me because I have the honor of introducing one of the remarkable women featured in the book, Lioness.

Barb Hollace is the embodiment of resilience, faith, courage, and quiet strength. Her story is one of profound loss, extraordinary perseverance, and an unwavering decision to keep choosing life. Even in the midst of heartbreak, uncertainty, and suffering, Barb has walked through seasons that would have caused many to give up. She has endured the loss of two husbands, faced breast cancer, navigated deep grief.

And yet continues to radiate hope, wisdom, compassion, and faith. What moves me most about Barb is not simply what she has survived, but how she has chosen to live. There is a steadiness in her spirit, a gentleness in her strength, and a deep trust in God that permeates every part of her story. Her chapter in Lioness is a powerful reminder that courage does not always roar loudly.

Sometimes courage looks like waking up one more day, trusting God one more time, and continuing to love and serve others through pain. I cannot wait for you to hear her heart, her wisdom, and the lessons she's learned along the way. Barb, welcome to the show.

Barb Hollace (02:13)
Thanks so much, Jen. It's an honor and privilege to be with you today.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (02:17)
It's really amazing to think back on our story, Barb, you and me, because we met through a mutual friend, Michelle Mullins. And I thought for sure you would be my editor for because there was a book in me that that God was was you know had put in me that was trying to get out into the world. And then it ended up being something different than what we originally talked about. And then you were nominated.

Barb Hollace (02:30)
I thought so too.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (02:45)
be a lioness in this book. And so we transitioned from you being, you know, putting taking off your editor hat and and putting on, you know, your your lioness, your warrior story and allowing that to be told through the the book. So thank you for trusting me with it. I'm sure there were some really awkward and uncomfortable moments not having control over the book and the story. But you you just walked with me through that was such

Barb Hollace (02:52)
Yes.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (03:13)
Encouragement for me, but but also the transparency in in this story that God has written across your life. So what was it like to to be nominated and then to be selected for the book?

Barb Hollace (03:27)
So first of all, I'm gonna speak as an editor into your life and say that book that you thought was a project, it's probably still there and it will probably still come to light. But God is really good about realigning things and it's like, no, Jen, this comes first. So yeah, when I found out I was nominated, I was like, what? Like, what are you talking about? Like, why why would I be part of this book? so I learned some valuable lessons over the course of the writing of this book and really like the selection and all of that, because

so another privilege I have is to pray for you. And so maybe taking off the editor hat, but never taking off the prayer warrior hat. So to encourage you as we walk that space and then just like how you were gonna select, who we're gonna select, and finding out, yeah, that I was part of the possible team. I mean, like a nationwide search, and you think like what? I live in Spokane, Washington. I came from a little town of Lynden with like 4,000 people when I grew up. And so sometimes, you know, and the end this is partly the enemy, right? Where he's like,

Yeah, so you just you're this girl that came from this little town. So like, you know, it's almost like what good comes out of Nazareth, right? That kind of thing, right? And the and the Lord is like, let me show you what kind of good comes out of Lynden, Washington. So then to be selected and you know, meet some of the other people that are gonna be part of the project. And you're right, some of the things I believe as a woman of God, that there are places where the Lord says you may be equipped in all these areas, but sometimes you have to lay that down.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (04:33)
⁓ no.

Barb Hollace (04:50)
So you can pick up the mantle to walk in the space that I have for you. So for this book, it was as author to tell my story and to release that. Cause I remember we even talked about it. Like, would I be editor and author? And that's a really awkward place to be. So I'm really grateful that the Lord exercised his great wisdom and we said, no, she will lay down her editor hat, as difficult as it may be, and to be not just just an author, because the author part is a huge part of the storytelling.

So it's been an amazing experience, Jen, to walk with you and just such an honor and privilege. Again, so many times I'm like, Lord, why I'm at the table here? And he's like, because it's exactly where I placed you. And this is where your story needs to be shared. as it has touched so many lives previously, but there's more women that need to hear my story. So I'm grateful for that opportunity.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (05:37)
Yeah.

I mean, you know, to be widowed at such a young age was probably so s it's foreign, right? 'Cause we think of widows as as being in their senior years and not a in their thirties and in that era as well, I'm assuming. And so who who do you how do you deal with it? Your life is turned upside down. I don't know if you felt like, well, I guess

Barb Hollace (05:48)
Yeah.

Absolutely.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (06:06)
Love is over for for me. what were you going through at that stage? And just to give a little insight, you know, you were married at 30 and widowed at 33. Very young.

Barb Hollace (06:18)
Yeah.

so, you know, for many, right, in in our culture, is something and we'll just say it this way, that if you're thirty and you haven't gotten married yet, it's things have changed, right, as as the years have gone on. But at thirty you think like, is the woman ever gonna get married? and you know, and so then I did get married at thirty. And then to be widowed three years later was I mean, we knew he had cancer when we got married, but still believed that God had brought us together for

reason we had no idea it would only be three years, but God did. And so sometimes you can rest in that spot. but I'll tell you what, I just have such an empathy for young widows. and I think maybe that's part of the story that the Lord was saying again for most of my life, right? It's like it's not about it's not just about you. It's about what I'm going to do in your life that you trust me with your life so that what I do can also benefit others. So

I as I look back and especially now as I written the story, I think, yeah, there's there's way more to our stories if we have the eyes to see, right? With the eyes of God. So, so kind of once again, you know, like I share in my story that there were places I felt like I didn't belong in my life, like that I was sort of like off pace. And the Lord is like, maybe just need to get used to the stride because that's kind of where I placed you. And

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (07:35)
Mm.

Barb Hollace (07:35)
And not

that it is not a punishment or anything like that. So for anybody listening today that maybe walk into a space and you think like, yeah, this isn't the way I thought my story was gonna be. And is God angry with me or something? It's like, no. he trusts you enough. This is this is my take from it. He trusts us enough to walk in those spaces because of how he's equipped us and because he loves us so much. And if we love him and trust him, then he'll take us by the hand literally and walk us through it. So was it comfortable? No.

did I feel kind of like I didn't know what my footing was because of course I was just a couple of years out of law school. I graduated in ninety-one and so like two years later he passed away. So like the trajectory I thought how things were gonna go, even before I went to law school, it was like, yeah, not that. but interestingly enough, I really believed through some conversations with the Lord that he had a hope and future for me and that he had someone in mind for me later on, which you know, you think like

Really? What does that look like? So there was a promise.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (08:33)
Yeah.

Yeah. And how how was I think some people struggle with faith because it is very elusive. It's it's it's mysterious. You it's not tangible like we can touch something physical in our world. And so what was it that was allowing you to how did you hear from God during that time? What gave you hope?

In such a devastating stage of your life.

Barb Hollace (09:02)
Really great questions. so I guess a couple things. so faith really is not about religion, it's about relationship. And when we think about any relationship in our lives, it takes time to build that. And we build trust. And as we walk with the Lord, and so really I'd walked with the Lord my whole life. at 14 had a really powerful encounter with him. And as I'd move forward, and even

You know, and the story when I tell about how I ended up here in Spokane, Washington, going to law school was in in itself an Abraham journey. It's like she's gonna go to a place she doesn't know. And so I had already seen evidence of God making a promise and then keeping a promise. And I think that's how we build trust in a relationship. And sometimes that's how faith is strengthened, right? Even though we can't see tangibly, we see his fingerprints in our lives. And so I had learned about that, I had walked in that.

And continue to grow in that kind of relationship. And so that's part of what gave me hope in the future. And then being grounded in the word of God. So the Bible, you know, if you're not reading it regularly, it's the bestseller. It is the best selling book in the world, says from an author. And and there's great meat in there, stories of other people's lives, how things got really messed up in their lives too. And God said, Hey, let me help you out here.

And so I think that's another way that we learn is by what's happened in the past to those who've gone before us and knowing that his promises are the same for us too. So, and getting to know him more, as we talked about relationship, the more I know Jesus, the more I go know God as my heavenly father, the more I can trust him and I've seen him to be trustworthy. ⁓ good friend of mine, Pastor Mark Batterson said, I've experienced too many miracles not to believe for the next one. And I would say yes and amen to that.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (10:38)
Yeah.

I love that. I I haven't thought of faith in that way exactly before. I love the way that you said that. So I kind of want to put an exclamation mark on it because what I heard you say is the our faith is really relationship with God. And it's not about reading about God, although that is important. It's not about reading about or or hearing about other people's experiences.

We have to really experience it for ourselves, don't we? In order for it to become real. And I love the part that I love what you said is in any relationship, the only way that a relationship can be strong is if there is trust. And the trust is repetition of faithfulness. It's over time. It's not just one quick fix, like one quick miracle of he answered my prayer.

It is the daily living and daily surrendering and seeing what does God do when he asks me to be obedient. What is what does he do as a result of that? And watching him work in our lives over years. And you're right, that is what builds faith and trust is experiences over and over and over with a God who never changes, is completely faithful, will never let us down.

And it is one of my very favorite characteristics about God is his faithfulness because there is no one else who is like him. No one else faithful as faithful, no one else trustworthy like him, never changing. And so I I love the way that you describe that as relationship and trust.

Barb Hollace (12:22)
There was a beautiful moment to the morning that my second husband died, and it was during COVID lockdown. There were three hours from home to the hospital to heaven. It was a very expedited departure. but when the Lord says it's time, it's time. And so after Bill died, I'd called, I'd been on the phone with our pastor, and he said, Do you want me to come to the hospital? I said, Absolutely. And another good friend of mine came. And so when Pastor Dave walked in the door

and he said to me, he said, I was trying to figure out what to say, like as I'm driving here to the hospital, because he was in as much shock as we were. And and he said, this is what he said. He said, God must really trust you. And I thought, I don't even really know what that means right now. and so my friend, as she drove me home, she said, What do you think that meant? I said, I'm really really not quite sure. She said, It kind of feels to me like a continuation of well done, good and faithful servant, like the beginning of that.

So we actually talk to him about that later. And so what the Lord really has shared with me over time is that it's about trusting God, but it also that he trusts us to walk in situations that we feel like are really difficult because he knows that with his help we can do that. So for example, I mean, and you think like, okay, so this is a privilege. And sometimes it takes a real mind shift, right? For that, like, yes, to be a widow twice. Wow, God, thank you so much. but

But really it is. I mean, when I see like the opportunities I've had then to walk with people through difficult places, like I have an empathy because I know the pain, but I also know the joy. And so that's like the double edged sword, right? Where the Lord like, Yeah, I trusted you enough to walk through it, to see me with you through it and to see that something good could come out of it. Even, you know, as we describe in the book about the joy that came through my cancer journey. And you think like, how is that possible?

But again, with God, all things are possible, as we know, but also that that there can be joy in the journey and that as we trust him more, he's like, okay, here, I've given you little, now I can give you much because I know that I can trust you in this place.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (14:24)
Yes,

yes. I remember in one of our conversations before before this book, ⁓ I was I describing something that felt impossible to me. And it's just like a ch a challenge, you know. This I feel like this is what I'm called to do, but I it just felt really impossible in the moment. And you so matter of factly were like, that's no problem for God. It was so stuck with me. that's no problem for God.

Barb Hollace (14:29)
Mm-hmm.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (14:49)
And you're right, you're right. If God calls us to something, he will actually create the way. And in oftentimes in ways that will blow our minds. Okay. So we've given some teasers about the book and what people are going to read in your story. And I highly encourage everybody. So I'm to tell them, tell the audience which chapter. So this is chapter nine, okay, Barb Hollace's chapter.

Barb Hollace (14:58)
Absolutely. He loves to do that the best.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (15:15)
And it's called Protected by Unyielding Faith. Protected by Unyielding Faith. And the subtitle is Choosing to Live, a Life Marked by Resilience, where faith turns survival into purpose. So check out the book. Barb, tell us what you're focused on now in this season.

Barb Hollace (15:35)
Cool stuff. As you can see, I'm wearing my t-shirt today that says Be Ready. Adriano Ferraro and I are ministry partners in Be Ready Ministries, and this started just a few years ago with his brother's last words, Be Ready, be ready at all times, where Adriano was ready to give up on his singing career, which would have been a great tragedy for all of us. And then I met him just a few months into the tour, and God brought our giftings together, and now we reach out to those who feel lonely and forgotten.

senior living communities. We have about 25 communities that we minister to on ongoing relationship, veterans' homes. just not that long ago, we also have a door open to those with mental illness, and like the gift goes on. so more books, more books with Adriano, books that I need to write as well. Cause you know the cobbler's children have no shoes. So there's books that are in me that need to be unleashed as well. But seriously, I would say.

that in the last even five years of my life. And it seems like almost like counterintuitive, right? So my husband died now six years ago. And do you think like, wow, life is a widow. Cause I mean often we have this mental picture of like back in the day we'll just say, I mean my grandmother, my grandfather passed away, I think when he was like sixty four. So she had many years of life without him. she didn't pass away until she was eighty seven.

And so we think that maybe widowhood can be like very isolating or you know, like you're kind of knocked off the path kind of thing. As like the Lord says, Yeah, I don't think so. That is not your story. And so I would say I'm more engaged with life. There is a passion, there is a fire in me. and really this ministry we see going not only nationally but internationally. So I'm like, okay, bring it on. I'm I'm ready. and so it's an honor and privilege. And at the same time, I have people

Close to me. I lead many prayer groups, opportunity because prayer is the golden thread through my life. What I do every day. and you know, as a lioness, as an intercessor, it's the place where God's called us to stand. And so we get to stand with others, we get to fight for them as a lioness will, and then we know when it's time to just come alongside them and just to be quiet and

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (17:39)
Yeah.

Barb Hollace (17:44)
To be like Job's friends were in the first week and not how they started chattering after that. but when you've been through the fire yourself a couple of times, you know, you know that there's a time to speak and there's a time to listen, and there's a time to be quick to action and there's a time to rest. So just learning that balance of life and kind of that unforced rhythm of his grace, but also learning, like, you know, there's an Isaiah 40, 31 moment where we wait on the Lord and then we soar.

⁓ and then we run and we're not weary and we walk and we do not faint. and it's a beautiful verse and it's a beautiful reality. And actually an eagle is often something that comes across our landscape as Adriana and I go out into the world and do what he's called us to do. So he's like, just want to remind you, like I am here and as you wait, I will have you sore. So yes, it's it's a blooming, blossoming time of my life, and I am just excited.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (18:10)
Mm.

Amen.

Wow.

It's so so incredible. And people are going to be encouraged and inspired by your story of what you've endured, what you have walked through, how you've held on to your faith. And not just, you know, like in the introduction I did, not you haven't just survived. You've actually allowed it to form you and transform you and to now give every single day of your life to others and for the kingdom. And

Barb Hollace (18:59)
Yeah.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (19:01)
You know, you're you're you're just you're like this faithful servant and and warrior for Christ for whatever he calls you to do. It's a beautiful thing.

Barb Hollace (19:11)
It's fun on this side too. ⁓ You're welcome. Thank you.

Jen Porter - Leadership Coach (19:12)
Thank you. Thank you for being you. ⁓

and just thank you for trusting me with this process and and trusting us with your story, for your honesty and transparency and for your just daily faithfulness because it is so inspiring. And thank you for your prayers for me and for so many. So thank you so much. everybody check out the book, Lioness: Stories to Awaken Your Roar Within. Barb Hollace is chapter nine.

Until the next episode, the lioness in me sees the lioness in you.