Are You Making Life Changing Connections?

Well done , well done , but I am excited for this conversation today and I also love the fact that oh , look at Denise , she's gonna interview me today and just thinking about the growth of where you come from , where you know , a little over a year ago you were like I don't interview people , I'm not a journalist , I'm like , well , you interview people as a

counselor all day long , right ?

here in Columbia . But I knew Fred because he used to get his newspaper printed at the newspaper that I worked at in Sedalia . So that's how I got to medium . So I came to Columbia , knew very few people , and I ran into him one day and he said , hey , why don't you write for me ? And I was like , oh , okay , I mean okay .

I was at that time a stay-at-home mom and so I started writing for the Columbia Business Times and Columbia Home magazines and it was delightful . I would do it while the kids napped , gave me my own little sense of purpose .

And then the editor of the publications moved on , and so it became apparent that maybe I could have a shot at becoming the editor of these publications , and so I did . I became the editor and then I had to really go to work . So my cubicle pod , whatever we wanna call that my desk .

There were two desks in my pod mine and Melody's , and so Melody was a co-editor of some other of the publications that we had at the time . We were part of premier marketing and she worked very part-time . But Melody would waltz in and I say waltz because she was just the epitome of elegance Like she was always dressed perfectly .

I remember thinking how does a woman with two small boys wear white pants ? Good question , you know how do you do that and do it well , and she was always one of these people who could do a hundred things but in the moment made you feel special and seen and listened to .

So from the very get-go , like early on in my career , I remember being inspired by her , not just professionally , that she could juggle a lot of balls , but also personally , just the way that she carried herself and inspired others . So I could say a lot more about her .

Like you know , at the time I was pretty new to running but certainly would have started to say I'm a runner . And then one day she came in and she's like , oh , I'm gonna run a 5K . And I'm like , do you run ? She's like nope . So she ran a 5K . It was super hilly .

She ran right by my house on Hillshire Drive here in Columbia , which is right up a hill , and I'm like , I'm so proud of you . And then the next conversation she's like , yeah , I'm gonna run the Chicago marathon .

So that's the way Melody works , like when she wanted to do something , she did it , and this conference , the Columbia Women's Faith Conference , is a perfect example of like she's thought that our community could benefit from having a women's conference where women's of all different faith , backgrounds and denominations if we wanna say that word right Could come together

and worship . So , and the other thing people need to know about Melody is that she battled lymphoma twice and won , and that was again so inspiring to watch her through that and to watch how she did it with grace and optimism . And then , lo and behold , last spring , last May , she developed a lung infection and had a short illness and died .

And so , just like the realization that she was supposed to die of cancer and didn't , yeah . But then this weird lung thing got her . You know , like one weekend she was winning a pickleball tournament and the next week she couldn't breathe .

I don't think that's my , my position on having lost my mother and I felt like I was young when I lost my mom , and I was 37 and these boys are well under that . So I think they're fine in their way .

I think the three of them together are making making their way and , you know , starting to have new traditions , so , but there's a lot of prayers set over that family , those boys , all three boys , all three boys .

So when Melody's funeral was happening , I was actually in Hawaii and I remember thinking , oh , this is kind of kind of appropriate because she loved Hawaii , she loved the beaches there , and so I purposefully sat on a beach and watched her funeral which was , was , you know , available through live stream and I just felt this overwhelming sense that Melody would want

us to continue this conference . And in those moments when people that you care about and that you admire , when they die , you think I want to honor , I want to honor them , what could I possibly do ? And I just felt like God made it really , really clear that we were , we were supposed to do this .

And so I reached out to one of her very good friends , Tony Christiansen . Pretty well , right immediately after that prompting , because I wanted to be obedient to it and I felt like , gosh , if I don't act on this , it will be so easy to sit on it and so easy to say , hmm , did God really say that ? Was that a real prompting ? You know what I mean ?

And I I just was like no , I'm gonna , I'm gonna be real with what I think God just laid on my heart . So I messaged her and she agreed that like that's something that we should consider . And then I gave it several months and Fred and I were having coffee and I was like Fred , have this idea , what do you think of it ?

Because we certainly couldn't and wouldn't want to do it without Fred's help .

So , yeah , so that's how that came to be , and I just think that that's an important spot to just pause for a second , because I know I have struggled with maybe sometimes being obedient to the callings that I feel like God has put on my heart , and so I think that's one of the lessons that I'm taking away from this is like , no matter how many women God

brings to the conference , no matter what , the outcome is just resting in the fact that we were obedient to the calling that God laid on our hearts .

You'll figure out how to put that in the calendar with everything else , and I've never planned a big conference .

And so then we started meeting and I guess the marketer in me , or like the , just the way my brain works , it's always like OK , like what is it going to be about ? Like , for me , that's the value proposition . What are people going to get out of an evening ?

Like if we're asking them to give 20 bucks and some and an evening , you know , an evening that they could be doing something else in April , which April is when things start to get busy , right ?

The committee , which there's now four women that are key to the , to the event Karen Hickman , linda Baumgartner , tanya , who I mentioned earlier myself , and then Fred , is working alongside of us , and so , sitting with what do women need , what do we need ?

And you know , putting it to words was the hard part , because I think , even if I said to you , denise , like , what do you need spiritually , like you know , but like , could you put a word to it ?

We don't want any of that . We just wanted an opportunity where we could come together and be in the presence of God . So creating an environment where everyone feels welcome , super important to us .

But then , like trying to put words to that , that that thing that's happening in our world , where everything feels and we're literally , and chaotic and not in a good way , right , which led us to , after a long debate , breathe .

Are we providing that ? So we're really excited about our speakers and about the worship and just seeing what God's going to do . I'm so excited just to see what God's going to do . I am fully expecting him to surprise us .

I'm fully expecting him to show up , and I have decided , you know , instead of worrying about will everything be perfect , will we have enough butts in the seats , just to say , god , I am praying over this .

I'm praying for the speakers , I'm praying for every person that you might nudge to come to this , but I am also just so excited to see what you're going to do and how you're going to surprise us .

Does that make ?

You know , letting go Don't have a lot of control when you're in the middle of a serious illness , so it does serve as well in other parts of our life too .

So , and then I think the very first year , I was actually working at Veterans United Home Loans as the Faith and Wellness Coordinator and so I got to help coordinate the event and BU as a sponsor . So I've been involved with it in different ways and it's always been great . You know whoever comes is blessed by it .

So , trusting in the same thing this year , there you go .

Tanya Christensen was an ICU nurse , so I'm sure that your paths have crossed with her at Boone Hospital over the years , and she was one of the people that started the prayer group that met on Tuesdays at Boone Hospital for years , and so very , very sweet to be working with her , knowing that she was so faithful to pray for Matt Particular when he was upstairs

at Boone Hospital . So what I think is really cool about that is that she's going to speak specifically . You know , about Melody and their relationship , and not only was she an ICU nurse , with Beside Melody in the hospital , she then retired .

Melody was her last patient and then she would drive to St Louis every day , to Big BJC and sit Beside Melody in her final days . So I'm really excited to hear what God , what words God , gives Tanya to talk about . And then the other way we're honoring her is when Melody was alive and doing these conferences .

She created what her organization was called the Women's Healthcare Alliance , and so any proceeds from the conference will go towards her organization and she has very specific things that she funded with that and will continue to do that .

But just two examples are wells she has helped fund wells in Africa , which I love , the connection between her , you know , bringing water to places that need it and that you know really we're trying to just provide water for the soul , you know sustaining .

And then also she her kids grew up in a neighborhood here in Columbia and so she was committed to helping meet the needs of underprivileged kids at that school , which is grant elementary . So so that's a couple of things that we know that if there's if I'm trusting there will be proceeds . You know already that's been one of the really cool things .

There's a woman in town that is familiar with our speaker , and I don't even know how , really , but she saw that Kim Meeder from Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch was going to be our , our primary speaker and she knows her , and she raised her hand and said I want to be the presenting sponsor .

So yeah , yeah you're like we never , ever would have guessed that , god . So so we're super excited for Tammy Willis to be our presenting sponsor . She's a realtor here in town , so again , that's just one way that God's like wowing us already .

But she also tells a story that like running out in the field and just crying out to God , and she's like I'd only been to church like twice in my life , so like why I was calling out for Jesus to help me , I don't even know .

But I just think that's such a beautiful story of like deep down our soul just knows that we , you know , can't do this world alone .

So , kim , she and her husband are the founders of something called the crystal peaks or youth ranch in Bend , oregon , and it exists to provide safe and positive experiences for children and their families and really it's there to help people . Those people learn about what she says is the saving hope of Jesus Christ in an authentic Western environment .

So each year they have like four to 5000 kids that come that visit and they have sessions with one of their 30 to 35 horses , and their horses are all rescued horses and there's something about like these rescued horses , like rescuing these kids , and they have 90 minute sessions , that they're very purposeful and in therapy and helping them connect to something

outside of themselves . So just a really unique experience . And I've heard or say that you know , without Jesus , this would just be a horse ranch .

And then alongside of her is Teresa Snow , which is a familiar to face , probably to a lot of people in central Missouri because she was a news broadcaster for I guess like 20 years .

She was a local news anchor , yeah , and then she was working for the University of Missouri hospital in like media relations and and she's going to talk about like when that ended , like how , where do you find your identity when all you've ever done is kind of gone and taken from you and you know that season of your life closes , like what , what does the next

chapter look like ? How can we be excited about that and know that our identity really has probably never changed , if we can be true to who God has called us to be ? So I've heard Teresa speak before she's . She's great . So I would hope that people can take .

These stories are very different , but I think that there that there are issues that probably all of us struggle with , in the sense that we've had this suffering , we've had this brokenness because the world is not what it's meant to be . So what do we do with that ? How did she can meet her going to learn to call on a God that she didn't even know about ?

And what can her relationship with God teach us about finding that peace that we're all looking for ? And then again , finding peace in , in who we are , in Christ , rather than in you know who we are because the world says , oh , you're important because you're on TV every night , you know , because those things are like shifting sand .

that in their back pocket when the time comes . I think I hope that people will not be limited to think that it's a limited age group , that women of all ages would benefit from this conference .

Whenever you begin to , like make the connections between what , what God's promises are in the Bible , you know , when we know the Bible and we know the word , and then we see what's happening in the world around us , it's just like it boosts your confidence .

Like , on surface level , this world is a bad place to be , it's a hard place to be , it's so , you know , full of brokenness and sadness and death and anxiety . You know I could go on hunger and all oppression , all these things .

But when you begin to know the word and and then make connections to like , oh , but wait , god is at work , he's making all things new and you know , even to that I want to give you a shout out , because it has been so exciting for me to watch your thirst for understanding the Bible and that has led you into this and we've touched on it a little bit .

But , like you , you're reading the Bible in a year .

They were lovely , shout out to Savannah and to Nicole and they talked about the fact that Savannah is like 21 or 22 . And Nicole was 32 . So you know that generational kind of gap . And then there's me , way past all of that . And so we were talking about reading the Bible , and so we said let's do that together .

And they know the Bible , they really do , you know , I , they say things and I'm like , okay , they know what . They wanted to do it . And they suggested this Bible study book to go along with it , which I bought . They bought we do it every day , has questions . And then you sent the really wonderful it's a app the Bible project .

Oh my goodness , especially when we're going into a new book to help , sort of like . Okay , I don't like Deuteronomy , I didn't even . I didn't even know that was in the Bible , quite honestly , and I didn't admit that , but it's true . So , and then we were getting ready to go into Deuteronomy and I watched that .

That video is like , oh , okay , so this is the next step in this process of , you know , coming to the promised land . And and then a couple of weeks ago , our pastor , pastor Bruce , he was talking about something and he was trying and I was like I know what he's talking about . I know what he's talking about .

And then I saw the lights brought , the tabernacle , and I was just like how it really brought to the forefront how much I probably have missed over the years true meaning of sermons because I don't know what they're talking . You know whatever , I don't know . And then at the same time , your favorite book was the book of Dan .

One of your favorite books was the book of Daniel , and that's what we've been studying for six weeks now at church . So and I love that the 20 year old and the 30 year old , and then since then other people heard what we were doing and so more people have joined our group and sometimes somebody comments about what they read .

A God shot is what Tara Lee , somebody , the lady who does the Bible study , talks about , but it's just an . And even the young ladies who have read the Bible before . When I see them at church on Sunday , like can you believe we're on day 70 . That's just amazing . I haven't given up and I've done it every day and I'm like , yeah , me too .

So really supported each other in in the process . So . But you know , we have a ways to go yet . But I've already learned more than I ever knew about the Bible , and this is out of the Old Testament , which is yeah , Beget begot , you know yeah , the descendants .

So we got it yeah but I just love hearing that and I am proud of you because the whole reading the Bible through in a year , that's a commitment . I don't know how much time you spend every day , but I'm going to guess 30 minutes at least .

I did not know until my brother died and the priest read a passage out of the Bible that the Catholics have a different Bible than non Catholics .

It's hard Like these chapters , these are these books of the Bible you're talking about After Exodus . You know it gets kind of it gets harried there for a while and you're like I don't know what I'm reading . I don't know why God included this .

So like having all these other sources and these Bible scholars to help us like make sense of it and make those connections . So then when you're sitting in church and you can , oh , I know what he's talking about . When he's talking about the Levites carrying the tabernacle , you know yeah .

It has been rewarding , it's to be on this journey and especially to share it with other women . I think that's like what you're doing with the Conference , yeah , and I hope that moms will bring their daughters and daughters will bring their moms , and maybe , you know , young women will bring their friends .

And because I think what you're doing with the conference one certainly honors Melody and her mission and her legacy , but two , that you're continuing that so that other young women and women of all ages can be blessed by your efforts . So if somebody wants to go to the conference , how do they get tickets ? Where do they go ?

You can email me at robinmayministriescom or you can email us at the problem with perfect at gmailcom and I will get you that link . It is Thursday April 18th . I don't even know if we've mentioned that .

It is at Christian Fellowship Church and I just have to say they have been so delightful to work with , so delightful Like . They have a beautiful new church and they are so willing to just do whatever they can to embrace the community and host it . So shout out to them . I cannot thank them enough .

Beth Bromstead , who was on our podcast a while back she's , it's her church and the doors are going to open at 530 . We're going to start singing , having worship somewhere around 545 . But officially it's , it'll run . You know it started six o'clock , but if you want some extra praise and worship , come then . Also , we'll have light snacks and yeah what .

It'll just be exciting to see what God's God's going to do . So I really appreciate you letting me come on and talk about something that is near and dear to my heart and also for you , sharing the fact that it's it's a season of growth for you spiritually .

Again , if you had any interest in you think , oh gosh , I wish I could come , but I'm in Denver , please let us know , because we are considering having a live stream event for people like who are in Denver and might want to come . So we're just trying to gauge is that worth it ? Is there , is there an interest ?

So let us know if you have an interest in that . And also , otherwise , find an event where you live . Yeah , get plugged into community , whether it's reading the Bible with two people a day , which is so great , because otherwise you know what would happen we'd fall off and be like , ah , you know yeah , I feel no accountability .

Yeah , we weren't meant to do this Christian life alone . So , yeah , my challenge would be , if you don't come to this conference , find something to get plugged into . Whether I don't even care what it looks like a Bible study , some sort of community that can help you grow .

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Or if you have a topic you'd like us to discuss on the podcast , use that same email the problem with perfect at gmailcom to send us your ideas or feedback .

And while you're there , make sure you've subscribed to the podcast so you never miss an episode , as always a special shout out to our editor , Jordan Overcamp , for making us sparkle . And remember , there's always enough grace for you today , so be sure to give it to yourself .