“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.

“What is Advent? 

Is it simply an extension of the Christmas holiday or does the “Advent season” hold a purpose for our lives? 

How might we see God’s sovereignty and grace throughout the Advent season as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior?

In this episode, we will get to hear from Zach Mabry, a teacher and program director at Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters – a Gospel-centered camp ministry who are committed to the relational ministry approach that is focused on proclaiming the glory of Jesus through their work. Zach serves as worship leader for the SWO band, session speaker for summer camp and retreat seasons, and is the director of the Snowbird Institute Program, while also serving as an adjunct Professor for Liberty University Online.

In addition to his roles serving at Snowbird, Zach is also the author of the “The Things Concerning Himself”, which is an Advent Guide from the ministry of Snowbird Wilderness Outfitters. Throughout this episode, you will not only get to listen to a conversation diving deeper into the purpose of the Advent season, but also how this great resource can come alongside you and your family as we look forward to celebrating the birth of Christ this Christmas season.”

https://swoutfitters.com/25-day-advent-bible-study/

Zachary Roberts is the Fine Arts Director at North Raleigh Christian Academy and is an alumnus of NRCA’s class of 2002. He is married to Shannon, also an NRCA alumnus, and has three beautiful children: Lila, Oliver, and Truman. His family attends Redeemer Presbyterian Church where he serves as a deacon. He holds an MFA in Directing and has been teaching theatre and directing professionally for over 20 years. Serving at NRCA for the past six years, Zachary is grateful for the opportunity to teach students to integrate art and faith through theatre.

Lilly Wooten is a resident from Beulaville, North Carolina. She graduated from the University of North Carolina Wilmington with a Bachelor of Arts, where she studied Psychology and Applied Behavior Analysis with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities. She is currently furthering her studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Lilly serves as the Christian Life Director at Liberty Christian Academy in Richlands, North Carolina, and has a burning passion for missions, people, and the Word of God.

With her intentional heart to see others be challenged and encouraged in their faith, she is an incredible voice to speak on our topic today of excellence.

Join us as we look at our calling as image bearers to live a life in pursuit of knowing Jesus in deeper ways and making Him known to the world around us.

Jaelene Daniels is a wife, mom of two girls, and former professional soccer player, and most importantly, a devoted follower of Jesus. As a collegiate soccer player coming out of Texas Tech University, Jaelene was drafted seventh overall by the Western New York Flash in the 2015 National Women’s Soccer League College Draft and spent the majority of her professional career playing with the North Carolina Courage. Through her time at Texas Tech, playing on the North Carolina Courage and being called up to the United States Women’s National Team on multiple occasions, Jaelene navigated a variety of circumstances where God would display His goodness and faithfulness as she sought wisdom and direction from the Lord.

While Jaelene’s story is one that is sure to both challenge and encourage you, her story also opens the door into questions that we all so often face in our daily lives: Questions like…

• How do I know if the Lord is leading me a particular direction?
• How do I recognize His voice over my own voice or the voice of others?
• How do I love those around me well, even if their beliefs and actions are different than my own?

We navigate these questions and many more as Jaelene shares her story and seeks to encourage each of us in our daily rhythms of following Jesus and living out our faith within the circles that God has placed us.