Rooted Rhythms Podcast

Fatherlessness is a challenging reality for many people across all parts of society. For a variety of reasons, many children grow up with an absent father—physically, emotionally, or spiritually. This sad reality, along with his own experience and God’s leading, prompted Ricardo Ramirez to co-found The RIGS Project with Mark Waller in 2025.

Ricardo and his wife Aisa have two children at NRCA. Professionally, Ricardo works as a CRNA, but his passion is to equip older men to mentor young men through a very intentional process.

The RIGS model seeks to disrupt the cycle of fatherlessness by building a multigenerational Christian brotherhood around young men for wisdom, guidance, and accountability. Over the past year, Ricardo and Mark identifiedand trained 14 men to actively mentor young men through a biblical discipleship curriculum. The first RIGS youth cohort is set to launch in October 2026.

In this episode, Ricardo shares part of his own story, which includes fatherlessness, and how God directed and provided to establish this ministry. We invite you to learn about The RIGS Project at www.rigsproject.org andconsider how you could partner in their mission.

As NRCA looks back on 30 years of ministry, we sit down for the first time with Founder and Superintendent Emeritus Dr. S.L. Sherrill, known as Doc Sherrill to many, to hear the remarkable story behind the school's beginnings. From his childhood and journey to faith in Christ to decades spent serving in Christian education, Dr. Sherrill reflects on the experiences that shaped his calling and prepared him for the work God had ahead.

He also shares what many have come to call the "God-Story Journey of NRCA"—the account of how the Lord provided for the school's launch, confirmed His direction time and again, and faithfully sustained the ministry through the years.

Whether you're new to the NRCA community or have been around for decades, this conversation offers an encouraging look at the people, prayers, and providential moments God used to bring the school into existence. Dr. Sherrill also reflects on lessons learned throughout his journey, his ongoing investment in Kingdom education, and his prayer for NRCA's future.

Most importantly, this episode is a reminder that God delights in working through people who are willing to trust Him with extraordinary assignments.

Listen to the latest episode of the Rooted Rhythms podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or access it on the NRCA website at https://www.nrcaknights.com/podcast.

In the midst of the ever-changing circumstances of our days, it can be easy to experience an unsteadiness in our footing of life. Perhaps we have visualized our lives going a certain way and find that things have not worked out exactly as we had it planned in our head. We can find ourselves asking questions like:

• Does God really hear me?
• Can I really trust in His plan for my life?
• Why doesn’t my life look like those around me?

Or we fill in the blank of the all-too-familiar statement of: “If I could only have _____________, then I would be content in my life.”

In today’s episode of the Rooted Rhythms podcast, we are joined by Chelsea Hurst. Chelsea is a successful YouTuber and social media creator who the Lord has used to develop resources and share the hope of the Gospel through her content. In her conversation with Ms. Lilly Wooten, we will have the opportunity to hear her share about what it looks like to trust in God’s plan and navigate the changing seasons of life while rooting our hope in Christ and Christ alone.

You will also recognize Chelsea as one of our speakers at Spiritual Emphasis Week this past fall, where she shared great wisdom with our students on what it looks like to follow Christ in today’s world.

I pray that this conversation encourages each of us toward the truth that we can fully trust in the Lord with both our present and our future and that we would live out of this hope in our daily lives!

We are excited to share with you all another episode of the Rooted Rhythms podcast as we are joined by a voice that will be familiar to many of our NRCA students – Elizabeth Thompson, who recently served as one of our Chapel speakers in Middle School and High School Chapel during our series on the book of Jonah.

We speak often at NRCA about what it looks like to walk with Jesus – establishing the rhythms of our lives in pursuit of the Lord’s direction on our next steps. Elizabeth has a heart for teenagers and parents, and a strong desire to see both pursue Jesus throughout their lives. As an author and speaker, she has the opportunity to share with others the truth of God’s Word – and specifically, has encouraged countless people in the areas of friendship, waiting on the Lord, and obedience to when God calls us to “Go!”.

But for today, I asked Elizabeth to join us to talk about another aspect of life that she is passionate about – how we as followers of Jesus navigate the ever-changing world of our emotions.

Regardless of what age or season of life we are in, we all have emotions. We might experience or process them differently than those beside us, but we all have them. In today’s episode, Elizabeth and I walk through a Biblical understanding of how to identify and navigate our emotions as our desire is that these very emotions would lead us into a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and who He has called us to be.

I pray that today’s conversation encourages and challenges each of us to think deeply about how we process our emotions and begin to establish rhythms in our lives that help us navigate them in way that pushes us closer to Jesus.

From Elizabeth:

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Books:

All the Feels for Teens

All the Feels

When God Says, “Wait”

When a Friendship Falls Apart

Preorder In Season: A 90-Day Devotional for Female Student Athletes to Build Faith, Strengthen Confidence, and Train a Growth Mindset (coming July 14, 2026)

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:” – 1 Peter 4:10

As followers of Jesus, this calling on our lives is one that rings true for each of us – to use the gifts that the Lord has given us to serve those in our sphere of influence; and by doing so, bring honor and glory to the name of Christ.

This episode of the Rooted Rhythms podcast is a conversation that gives each of us an opportunity to hear how one family has used the gifts the Lord has given to them to impact both their immediate community and communities across the country. Michelle Norwood is the founder of “A Little Something Extra, Inc.” which is an event based, ice cream truck that she and her husband created as an opportunity for her son Hunter, who has Down Syndrome. Through today’s conversation, you will have the chance to hear how the Lord orchestrated the creation of this company and the ways that their ministry is now impacting families and communities all over for the sake of the Gospel.

This episode will also be our first episode of the Rooted Rhythms podcast that is hosted by NRCA’s Christian Life Director, Ms. Lilly Wooten, whose personal connection to the work the Lord is doing through “A Little Something Extra, Inc.” is sure to be both a blessing and encouragement to you.

I pray that this opportunity to hear of how the Lord is working through the Norwood family will encourage each of us to reflect on the rhythms of our own lives as we seek live a life of faithful service, using our gifts to bring glory and honor to the One in whose image we are made.

Season Three of the Rooted Rhythms Podcast is officially underway!

 This year’s school-wide theme at NRCA is centered on this word, “Worthy”; specifically, talking about the worthiness of Christ. As we kick off this season of the podcast, we wanted to start by spending some time diving deeper into our understanding of the worthiness of Christ and what it looks like to live a life of obedience to Him. 

 For this conversation, we have invited a new friend to the NRCA community, Nick Hurst to join us! Nick is an evangelist with a heart for preaching the Gospel to the nations and most recently, served alongside his wife Chelsea as our speakers at NRCA’s Spiritual Emphasis Week. Through his faithful preaching of the Word, the Lord did some incredible things in the lives of our students!

Mia's dedication to helping others has built her career through countless conversations dealing with social and emotional health. In each encounter, she seeks to help individuals establish their own narrative to move toward their full potential. By creating a safe space for dialogue, Mia helps each individual feel comfortable by showing her own transparency while displaying her ability to listen and facilitate conversations with others. The result is a truthful conversation with each individual leaving with their own value and worth. Mia's expertise has her seated in the arena with powerful leadership overseeing intentional choices to move towards an understanding of power and productivity that come from attending to the emotional and mental health of working and learning environments in the education, corporate, and non-profit sectors. 

A licensed professional counselor for over 25 years, Mia is a certified parent educator and a trained facilitator for the Anti-Defamation League. Her career has been dedicated to helping others. It has evolved into a facilitator of organizational wellness, specifically regarding leaders' mental and emotional health, often with a specific emphasis on matters of diversity and inclusion. Mia facilitates healthy conversations about relational health, mental and emotional wellness, diversity, faith, awareness, and self-improvement. 

Mia holds a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Family Psychology with a minor in Education and Communication. She is also a published author and has recently written "A Sticky Story" - a children's book about navigating emotions and feelings when hard things happen. In response to a world that has brought anxiety and grief to the forefront, this book was created as a tool to evoke life-giving conversations with a young audience. 

If you enjoyed this conversation with Mia Mbroh, I hope you will check out more of her resources that she is developing. You can find more about all that the Lord is doing through Mia’s ministry at MiaMbroh.com.

Shaq Hardy serves as the Pastor of Students and Families at Red Bank Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee, while also traveling to preach at church retreats and summer camps throughout the year. With a passion for students and God’s Word, Shaq engages those around Him by sharing the truth of who Christ is and the ways that He has called us to live.

Shaq’s experience growing up as a foster child stirred an affection for the orphan in Shaq’s life and through that passion has led Shaq and his wife to start their ministry “OrphanNoMore”.

 “OrphanNoMore” exists to help families that have the desire to adopt be able to do so by telling their story, helping them fundraise, and surrounding them with a community meant to encourage and pray for them throughout their journey.

 You will get to hear more on this episode about OrphanNoMore, Shaq’s intentionality in ministry seeking life-change and discipleship; AND most of all, Shaq shares with us today a beautiful picture of the Gospel and the ways that we as believers can answer the call we see in Scripture to care for the orphan and the widow.

 You can hear more from Shaq through his podcast: “Jesus, instead of me”, and check out more information about “OrphanNoMore” at orphannomorefoundation.org.

In this world that we live, we can so often find ourselves experiencing feelings of discontentment and restlessness in our soul. The temptation of the enemy is a familiar one to us all: to replace these feelings with anything but Jesus. As we reflect on the rhythms of our lives, we might recognize those things that take up the most weight in our hearts, that overwhelm our thought life; those things that we will reprioritize the schedule of our lives because we so desperately believe that they will bring us fulfillment. 

This bent in our hearts toward the addictive is no stranger to any of us and in this episode of the Rooted Rhythms podcast we are joined by Chris Dew, who served as one of our speakers at NRCA’s Spiritual Emphasis Week this year. Chris’s story highlights his own pursuit to fill the void he felt in his soul and the ways the Lord so graciously and mercifully rescued him from his addiction.

Chris’s story is one that we can see parts of our own story in. While the pursuit or idol may not be the same, the inclination to chase after things that we think will bring us peace, joy, or contentment is something that we can all recognize in our own lives.

And I am so thankful that we serve a loving and merciful Creator who meets us in our mess and offers restoration and true peace that is only found in Him.

I pray that this episode encourages each of us as we are reminded of the faithfulness of God and that this conversation would spur us to deeper reflection on those areas of our lives we might be chasing, that we might instead turn our eyes back to Jesus.

Allison Creagh is a Raleigh native and an NRCA mom. Allison has been married to Jim for 10 years and they have 3 kids together, Lily (2nd grade), Paxton (5) and Stella (3). Allison and Jim live a very entrepreneurial life while Jim runs a furniture business full-time, Allison is at home with the littles and running a non-profit organization for moms called Thrive Motherhood.They love to host people in their home and cook delicious food together. Allison thrives off of connecting people and making relationships. They are very involved in their church, Bay Leaf Baptist.