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Words of Life | Ladies Class | Week 13 · Madison Church of Christ Bible Studies

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 5pm or Wednesdays at 7pm if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, you can find us online@madisonchurch.org be sure to subscribe to this podcast as well as our Sermons podcast. Madison Church of Christ Sermons. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope this study is a blessing to you.
• 0:37
  Speaker B: I'm sad to say it, but it's our last words of Life class, and so it has been awesome. I know we have gotten so much great feedback from this class and we appreciate all the encouragement and all the happy words towards this class and what, you know, what it's meant to all of you, what it's meant to us. So we just appreciate all that good feedback and encouragement, especially to the ladies who have been so brave and so courageous to share with us, and we appreciate them. And maybe, who knows, we might do this again in the future. So just pray about that. And I'm gonna read first. I'm gonna pray and I'm gonna. I'm gonna read the bios of the wonderful two ladies who are so excited to be here with us. They just got so much courage. I'm so proud of them. So, yeah, we'll pray and then I'll read those bios. Dear Lord, thank you so much for bringing us all here safely. We thank you for your protection and for the safety we've enjoyed. We pray that this class has been a glory to you, and we know that you have worked through it, and we thank you for that. We thank you for all the words that you have put, not only in your word, but through your word, into the hearts of these ladies who have so generously shared with us from their hearts and their experiences. And we just want to thank you for all the ways that you've worked in these lives, the lives of all the. The women that we know and that you've put us all so providentially together in this one place, at this one time. And we do not take that for granted. We feel so special to be together and we feel extremely grateful and blessed to be in a place like Madison where there's just so much richness and so Much experience and so much wisdom to pour from and to look to. And so many mentors and so many encouragers and so many ladies around us that have their eyes open to see needs. And so we know that you've put that on their hearts, God. And we know that that only comes from you, that that kind of ability to see and to ability to help each other comes straight from you. And so we just thank you and praise you for that and it does not go unnoticed. I pray that you be with Christy and Heidi as they are going to speak to us tonight. We thank you for them and what they mean to us. And I just pray that you give them a peace and give them courage and bravery and just calm their hearts and help them to know that it's you that's speaking through them and not themselves that's necessarily saying these words, but the things that you've brought to their minds and their hearts. And so I just praise you and thank you and we love you so much. In Jesus name, amen. Okay, first we have Chrissy. Chrissy is married to Zach Wood and they've been married for nine years. They have two children, Lincoln age 7 and and Olivia, age 4. And despite their better judgment, they just added a fifth member to their family, a fluffy little cavapoo puppy named Ledger. Chrissy is an HR leader with Boeing here in Huntsville. She supports engineering on the defense side of the business. Her husband is a deacon with the Young at Heart Ministry and they enjoy working with this fun and active group. Chrissy teaches Cradle World Bible classes and hosts our annual Boohoo breakfast for kindergarten moms. She and her family love traveling, playing, sports, camping, biking and hiking pretty much anything outdoors. They have been members at Madison since 2019 and are so thankful for our family here, she says. And then Heidi says, my name is Heidi Romins. I'm married to Jimmy and we've been married for 12 years. We have two children and two dogs that keep us pretty active. I'm a kindergarten teacher and I enjoy what I do most days, she says. I love teaching Bible classes for kids, especially cradle roll. My husband and I often teach a cradle roll class together. I've been a member at Madison for 17ish years and I enjoy any time we get to fellowship with fellow Christians. So we're going to give it to Chrissy.
• 5:34
  Speaker C: So as she mentioned, this is our last class this quarter and in true Heidi and Chrissy style, we procrastinated right to the end and signed up for the last session of the quarter. So that's always fun. So glad to be with guys. Thank you for having us. Someone said earlier this quarter how they need to start ignoring their notifications when Cindy or Laurie Ann's numbers pop up on their phone and I have never felt more seen. Even though I said yes. I have really struggled trying to decide what to talk about. So much so that I have tried on more than one occasion to talk others into taking my spot for tonight. But despite my persistence, you can tell by me being in front of you right now, my efforts have failed. I don't mind talking in front of people as much the struggle I've had is more so about what I would be talking about. I've been lost on what I wanted to speak to you all about tonight. To be perfectly honest, it's been pretty intimidating. So hear me when I say that I'm so thankful for this. But the words of life that have helped me through have not been related to a significant event or situation that I've endured. And hearing these people, these powerful stories that's been shared by so many of you this quarter has left me questioning what I could share that could possibly have an impact. So with that, it kind of led me to thinking the trials that I have undergone are what I would consider the typical struggles of life. You know the saying that you are either coming out of a storm, going through a storm or about to go through one, or sorry, coming out of a storm, going through one or about to go in one. So hate is a strong word. So I'm going to say I strongly dislike that saying, but because it makes me fear that because I don't feel like I fall into any of those categories, that I may be about to be faced with a major faith testing storm. So I've never liked that saying for that reason. So anytime that I do have those anxious thoughts, instead of allowing them to lead me down a dark mental path, I or to be anxious about that, I try to lean on scripture and remind myself of something a good friend once told me. She reminded me that thoughts that cause us to worry over the unknown and the what ifs are negative thoughts that are produced by the devil and him trying to tempt us and cause us to turn away from trusting God and what a great reminder that is and can help us to not dwell on those negative thoughts and be anxious. Psalm 94:19 says, when anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. I just love the thought of replacing negative thoughts and anxiety with positive thoughts and choosing joy in Him. Isn't the mind so amazing that we can choose to be joyous in him. That doesn't mean everything's always going to be rainbows and butterflies. But no matter the circumstances, knowing that we can have joy because we are his gives me so much comfort and peace. This is something we've been trying to instill in our son, Lincoln. As most kids do, he has started to develop an attitude. He can talk back, be disrespectful, and can be so moody at times. Those of you who know him may not believe me because outside of our immediate family, he is typically the happiest, most energetic and fun kid. He has even been given the nickname of Hype Man. But let me tell you, at home, he gives us a run for our money. Many that say. Or many say that kids act out the most when they are at home or when they are with their parents because that's when they feel the safest. Well, let me tell you, when he's at home, he must feel bulletproof. And our message to him lately is that he can choose what kind of day he's going to have. He can be ugly to his family, have an attitude, not have privileges and fun activities, or he can choose to be respectful and kind and have a much better, better day as a result. One of my favorite things to hear come out of his mouth these days is, mom, I've decided I'm going to have a good day today. And when he says that, he means it. And he's such a joy to be around. So those are definitely victory win days for us. We share with him what the Bible tells us about our attitudes and how they impact our daily lives. In Proverbs 17:22, it says, A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength. This is the new living translation. I like this translation because of this particular verse, because it speaks specifically to a poor attitude negatively impacting your strength. And anyone who knows Lincoln knows he's very competitive. And so if you ever want to motivate him, make it a competition or something about proving his strength and he will be 100% on board. In fact, his last speech this year was about just that. He shared how jiu Jitsu helps you build resilience and mental strength and how this related to Joseph's resilience when he was treated badly throughout his life that we read about in Genesis, which, as many of you know, is our lad's theme this year. Meant for good from Genesis, chapter 50. So remembering this and leaning on Scripture helps me remain calm and grounded in God, throughout my life I've had different people tell me that I'm always so even keel and I do not seem to get frazzled easily. I've never been about drama and I strive to always get to the root cause issues, to resolve them and try to move forward in a healthy way. I think this is why my career in human resources leadership has suited me well. Colossians 3:15 says, Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts since as members of one body you were called to live in peace. This is one of my favorites because it so plainly teaches us that we were called to live in peace, even though in the context of this chapter they are being called to live in peace with one another. We know that God calls us to live in to live with inner peace as well. That only comes from Him. So not only should we strive to live in peace because that is a more comfortable state, but also more so because that is what God tells us to do. He tells us to lean on him and have faith that he will carry us through. So I want to talk to you about transitions Seasons of transition primarily around my career how leaning on scriptures regarding faith and living in peace like we read about in Colossians 3 has helped guide me through different seasons of many transitions. So after Zach and I were married, we moved from our hometowns to Mobile where we lived for a few years. I left an HR management position where we lived at the time to relocate. I started a new job in Mobile and we enjoyed the adventure. The relationships developed while living in Mobile our church family, but we longed to be back home closer to our family, especially after our first child Lincoln was born. We were not sure what was in store for us next, but we prayed and left everything up to God to point us in the right direction if that was where he wanted us to be. We continued to be pulled in the direction of being back in North Alabama. Neither of us wanted to grow roots in our hometowns, so we began to research communities. Our top priorities were finding the right church, family and a good school system. So our search quickly narrowed us down to Madison and we are so glad and thankful that it did. But this meant another change in employment. God lined things up with our work opportunities and in 2019 we relocated to Madison. Zach was able to transfer with his current employer, but I again was starting over with a new company. I had faith that this area is where God wanted us to be and I did make great friendships and was working on HR strategy, which is where my passion lies. But in 2022 due to many cost saving initiatives and reduction in forces that the company was doing. That year, my role was impacted and I lost my job. That was a scary time not knowing what the future looked like for our family and for my career. In addition to leaning on Colossians 3 reminding me to live in peace, additional words of life that helped me through this time of the unknown was from Hebrews 11:6 that reads, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek Him. Reminding myself of what the Bible tells us here helped me to keep the faith during this valley. Another season of transition and a lot of unknowns. Through it all, even though I could not see it yet, I knew God had everything under control. Hebrews 11:1 tells us, faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. James 1:2:4 says to count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. These words of life helped me keep peace even though I had no idea what the future looked like for my career. After several months I found another opportunity. It was a great opportunity and a way to help provide for our family. I worked with this company for about two years. This role wasn't in the focus areas of my field that I was wanting to continue to pursue. So over time it started to be evident that it wasn't the long term opportunity. Doing the type of work that I'm most passionate about. I didn't take any immediate action and just began to pray and listen for signs from God on where he wanted me to be. I would very sporadically look at job postings online, but would call my job search casual at best, just looking here and there. One evening I decided to look online and I proceeded to read a job description that was very in line with the areas of business that I loved the most. It was late that night and normally I would have just saved the job posting and apply the next day, but I happened to scroll all the way to the bottom and saw that that day was the last day of the job posting. The job description was too much in line with what I wanted to do to pass up, so I made sure to stay up that night to finish my application before the posting expired. I heard from the recruiter a couple of days later. The company was wanting to decide quickly before the holiday break that was coming up for them. They scheduled me for an interview a few days later. I have never prepared for an interview as much As I prepared for this one, the description of this role was very much in line with the strategic side of HR that I love as well as the project management that I enjoy. As I was getting excited about the possibility of this new opportunity, there were moments of anxiousness and worry that would come over me. Remembering Colossians 3 and many of the other scripture that I've shared tonight regarding faith, these are what helped recenter me and allow me to remain calm and at peace through this process. In the moments leading up to my panel interview, that was virtual. I was sitting at my computer waiting for the time to join the call and I just took a deep breath and I said a prayer telling God that whatever his will be, please let it be. Praying that prayer beforehand gave me so much peace and truly put me at ease for the interview. In Mark 11:24, Jesus says, Therefore I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it and it will be so for you. The interview went well and after some time of waiting, I was offered the opportunity. This is the role that I have today and it has been such a blessing. From the type of work that I do, to the benefits that it provides for my family, to the relationships I've made and continue to make, it has truly been an answered prayer. I share all of this to say that it feels like we are constantly going through transition. Getting married, moving to Mobile, a new church family, new jobs, growing our family, moving back to North Alabama, more new jobs, finding another church family, growing our family again, losing a job, taking a new job, more and more transition. And maybe that's just life, ongoing transition. And that is not even to mention that all during this time since we've been married, Zach has been with the same company. But he has advanced and grown and held seven different roles in the nine years he's been with his current company. So there has been a lot of career coaching and development conversations over the years. I joke and tell him that I'm going to start charging him an HR consultant fee. So my prayer to God now is asking us for us to be settled for a long, long time. In all of this transition, leaning on Scripture and prayer has provided me the peace that we can only find in Him. I'll leave you with this 1 from Isaiah 43:2, 3 when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When through the rivers they won't sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you won't be scorched and flame won't burn you. I am the Lord Your God and the only one of Israel, your savior. If these examples in Isaiah don't sound like transitions and trials of life, I don't know what does. When I do go through the unknown, I always try to read and remember to keep the peace that only comes from God and to have faith in knowing that no matter what the outcome is, God is holding it. Thank you.
• 20:06
  Speaker D: Well, you got me last. So exciting. Hey, y'all. I know a lot of you, Some of you I don't know. This is way out of my comfort zone because you should all be like five and wiggling a lot by now. So feel free to do that. If you need to make a little bit of noise, it's fine. Whew. It's a lot. Do what you need to do. I, like Chrissy, had a hard time thinking of what I could say. So many great lessons this quarter. So many of you that I've gotten to know over the years have such beautiful stories. And I was like, I have no idea what I want to say. I mean, I could talk to you about our journey through parenthood. We have two children who have neurotypical disorder adhd. You probably know that. Actually, I probably didn't have to tell you that so we could talk about that. That I know. Words of life, words of wisdom. Oh, there's. I'm not old enough to know a lot of wisdom, but we're going to try. Hopefully the pictures that'll come up here before too long. Maybe we'll give you something to look at. I know Wednesdays are hard, so just bear with me, you know, at the end of the day, at the end of the. Getting closer to time. We've been working on labs with our kids. You know, we're doing all these things that kind of did just fall into place. You know, I kept praying, like, what am I about to say to these ladies? And it was like. It was just like, God put it on me. It was right before ladies retreat. And I'm just gonna share a little bit of my story, like the Cliff Notes version, because really, at the end of the day, one word sums it all up in its perspective. It has taken me a long time to get to that. You know, when you're a little kid, a little girl, and you're learning about God and you're learning about things, you see it from very, like rose colored glasses and you sing the songs and it's all happy and you feel the love and it's so exciting. And then when real life starts happening, it doesn't always Feel happy. And it doesn't always feel the way that you or look the way that you want it to. And so in me thinking about, like, my story and how I was going to talk to you about things, I really just wanted, like, perspective to be the catchphrase. So that's what we're going to talk about. So my main scripture is Romans 8:28. Now, I know that Romans, that particular verse, which. That's the next slide. I don't know if you want to. It's fine, but. And for those. It says, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Now Paul is writing to the Roman church and he's trying to encourage them. He realizes they're going through difficult things, and if they're not going through difficult things or about to go through difficult things. And so he's trying to be an encouragement to them. Little girl, me, college age me, read that verse and thought everything is working out. It's supposed to work out for good. Like, this is all good. But real life isn't always good. And Paul wasn't telling them that life is going to be rainbows and unicorns and you're going to get to eat ice cream for every meal and not gain any weight. That's not what he was saying. He was saying that God can take things that are messy and hard and difficult and use them for good. Which comes to the next verse, which is what we talked a lot about because it was our last theme. And I'm so glad that it is Genesis 50, verse 20. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. To bring about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. That's Joseph, Paul, going back a little bit to Paul. Paul had perspective. He had persecuted Christians. He had done some things that were terrible. And then he learned the truth, was baptized, and he changed. And then he spent his days trying to guide people in the right way. So hence Romans letter back to lads. Joseph goes to his brothers. His brothers come to him and they are completely humbled, thinking they're talking to this ruler. They have no idea who he is. And all they want is for their needs to be met and for mercy to be shown on them. And when they find out that that's their brother, that they're talking to, the one that they intended to harm, they're fearful, and I mean rightfully so. And Joseph not only forgives them, but he greets them with these beautiful open arms. And in his youth, I mean he's the, he's younger than all of them except for Benjamin obviously. But you know, he's younger than them and has the wisdom to say you meant evil against me, but God used it for good. I saved not only all of our family, but I saved all these people. God gave Joseph perspective. He gave him the wisdom to see the need to do what needed to be done so that lives could be saved. Joseph had perspective. So how do I fit in with these giants? 37 year old me, I'm not that, but I think, I think I can relate a little bit and I can understand and maybe gain some perspective now that I can see what has happened. So as a little baby, I was born May 23rd. Look at her, she's so cute. So I was born May 23rd. I was loved. I was the oldest grandchild or the only. I was the only child. I was the only grandchild. I have been given the name Golden Child now because there's so many pictures of me as a baby. My grandparents were faithful members at church and for a while things were really good. My parents got married and before I was born life was good, as far as I know. I mean, obviously look at me. I had not a care in the world, but things didn't stay that way. Divorce happened when I was about 18 months old. My parents divorced. It was not pretty just from stories that I've been told. We moved in with my grandparents and again, wonderful. Like I was loved, needs were met, everything was great. God provided for me before I even knew who he was. And he was putting people in my path who were ministering to my mother, ministering to my grandparents, ministering to me before I even knew. Creating this foundation that kind of was like a cloud of information. I really don't know how to put it into words but like really building a foundation for the future. So life happens. My mother gets remarried, we move out and we stopped attending church regularly. I was about 5. Started hearing things when I would, we would ask, can we go to church? Can we go to Sunday school? We would hear things like we don't have the right clothes or we didn't look the part or we just don't have time or you know, different excuses. It didn't stop my grandparents from trying or my aunt and uncle. They took us to church as often as they could. We usually spent every other weekend with my grandparents. The best weekends of my life. They made sure that I went to camp when I was old enough. Camp Nayadi will forever hold Dear place in my heart. It was a place where I got to be a normal kid. It was a place where I got to see God working through so many people, some of you in this room, some people who were ministering to kids, both theirs and other people's children, all with one goal, to put the word in our hearts. I saw things that I wished I saw on a normal basis. I wished we were normal. I wished that we could go to church like all these friends at church camp did. I wished that when I went to Bible class every other Sunday, that I knew the stories, too. And that was hard. You start to feel a little bit like an outsider, and you start to question things like, why is this my life like normal kids do? Why is this me? Why is this happening? Why can't we go to church every Sunday? Do clothes really matter all that much? And you start to hear these things, and then you start to think, well, maybe it's truth. Well, while I was at camp in the summer of 2000, things kind of changed. And I just started seeing that it was on me to chant, to feel different, to feel more of a part of something, to be something greater, to be a part of something greater. I was going to have to. You know, I started seeking, that, started questioning. And I was baptized by my uncle. And it was a beautiful, glorious evening. Morning. It was like midnight. You know, camp is kind of weird like that, but I was. I still remember how I felt. I was relieved and elated and excited and nervous and really unsure of what that even meant for me moving forward, going back to the past. But that morning, everything felt right. The response I got from everyone at church camp was. It was amazing. But that's really not what I got at home. And what I got at home was negative. But this slide shows that God sends help. So this picture right here is my grandmother. She didn't live much longer after that. She was there from the very beginning. That's my aunt and uncle, of course. That's my husband. God sent help for me throughout my childhood, throughout my adolescence. I can't tell you how many teachers, how many employers, community mentors, people who knew what our family life was like, and they were ministering little bitty ways, like things that I didn't even realize were happening were happening. I always wanted to go to college, honestly didn't feel like that was ever a thing that was truly going to happen, but I wanted to do that. And I didn't really have the support at home to kind of push me in that way. So nothing really happened until 2005, January 2005, our life changed drastically. Our family split into so many pieces. And it was pretty sad. It was a time of uneasiness, it was a time of disappointment. It was a time of really not knowing from day to day, week to week, what was going to happen. But it became such a blessing for me because in January 2005, my sister and I moved in with my aunt and uncle. Because we moved in with them, we went to church every Sunday and every Wednesday. Because we moved in with them, we gained friendships and relationships with people at church. And because of that, I learned about Faulkner, which is where I went to school. And because of that, other doors opened and I met some of the greatest people ever. And I was able to take what little bits about God that I knew and like just learn so much more about him. Since college, life has changed drastically. I've gotten married, we have two beautiful children. We're surrounded by a beautiful church of wonderful people who know us and love us despite us. And we know that we are surrounded by a plethora of people who have the same goal that we do. We want to go to heaven, and you want us to go to heaven and you want our kids to go to heaven. And it's a beautiful thing. And bonus, I get to do what I love. I get to not only teach kids, but I get to teach them about God. Something that I wanted so much when I was younger. This is not something that I've come to easy. This is the product of many years of counseling, the product of many years of praying and seeking guidance and how to see things in a positive way. And I was teaching a lesson to my students a few weeks ago. And I've taught this lesson multiple times. And something about this time it just hit different. And so I was the message, the lesson was about Jesus being a good shepherd and how Jesus talked to the disciples about leaving the 99 to seek the 1. And yeah, we hear that story and maybe you've heard that story and you've gotten the perspective I got this time. But it's taken me a long time to get to that point. But I started thinking about how valuable the sheep were. It was their livelihood, it was part of their daily life. And you know, the shepherd risking his life at the sheep gate, keeping the wolves out, keeping the thieves out, That's a dangerous position to be in. Very vulnerable position to be in. When I started thinking about what I was going to talk about, when I started thinking about that story, when I started thinking about My life. I started seeing that I am the One, the one that God continued to seek for years. And I am so blessed that he did. And as I'm more aware of that, and I read more, read about Joseph, read about Zacchaeus, read about the Samaritan woman, read about Paul, how he actively was seeking these people, I started thinking like, wow, do I really fit in with that group? But I do. And we all do. Sometimes it's easy. And you know, we're raised in church, but you still are sought after, no matter what the situation is. One thing that I talk with my students about when handling conflicts is the same Jesus who died for you died for them too. Too. How amazing is that? And he knew me by name even when I felt like I was on the outside. Sometimes it just seems so unreal. There were so many challenges and disappointment through childhood and adolescence that sometimes I could find myself dwelling on that. That yucky feeling. I could still, like, smell smells and feel feelings. And that normal life seems so far, normal. I know that normal isn't real. It's a fallacy. Okay, it is. Just so you know, it's not real. But we live in a fallen world, and perspective is what it is. It's what we make it. We can listen to the enemy and we can see the glass being half empty. I could sit here and dwell on all of the negative, but then look at those two kids and the man that loves me despite my baggage. Or I can listen to the enemy and see the glass being half empty. Or I can listen to God and see it as being half full and I can share his word and live my life for him, sharing it with little kids, even when you don't think they're listening. I was told yesterday you tell us about Jesus Mrs. Romines. And I was like, I hope so. Perspective makes all the difference. First, Thessalonians 5:11 says, Therefore, encourage one another. Build one another up, just as you are doing. Perspective allows us to see things in a different way. While parts of my story are messy, God can use me and the painful and the bad to do good things. Just as I was blessed with so many people who were the hands and feet of Jesus, now I can be that for others. I'm so thankful for God who is always seeking us. While things weren't always happy and bright, I'm thankful for a God who took something that was sad and turned it into something beautiful. I do want to leave you with this. It's a poem, gives you a little bit of perspective. I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys make you smile. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your want. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you have. And I wish you enough hellos to get through the final goodbyes. Really appreciate your kind listening and hopefully we can all keep each other in check and keep that perspective focused on the Father. Thank you.
• 41:19
  Speaker B: That was perfect. Outstanding. Thank y'all so much. And thank you to everybody that may be out here that also contributed to this class. We just say a huge, huge thank you. And don't forget that these are on podcast apps that you can share with friends and so share away. And we just thank y'all so much again. So we're gonna sing one verse of ancient words to close us out. Holy words.
• 42:01
  Speaker D: They resound with God's own heart O let the ancient words impart Words of life, words of hope give us strength help us come in this world wherever we roam Ancient words will guide us home Ancient words ever true Changing me and changing you we have come with open heart all at the ancient word in heart.