Rooted Rhythms 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:Listeners can sign up for my weekly newsletter here. I offer Bible studies, devotional thoughts, and book/speaking news. Author site FacebookInstagram Books:All the Feels for TeensAll the FeelsWhen God Says, “Wait”When a Friendship Falls ApartPreorder 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 4:10As 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.

For each of us, we spend an incredible amount of our time at our place of “work”. In each of these circles, we often wrestle with striking the best balance between diligence in our work and living out our calling as followers of Jesus. But are these things mutually exclusive? In today’s conversation, I asked Jerry Nelson – Chief Ministry Officer at Association of Christian Schools International – to help us to think deeper about our work and the rhythms that we live out in the places to which God has called us. Whether you are a student, parent, working in Christian ministry or any other vocation; this conversation is sure to encourage and challenge all of us as we seek to bring glory and honor to our Creator through our work.Jerry Nelson is the Chief Ministry Officer at ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International). He oversees all Spiritual Formation-related initiatives focused on the elevation of God’s Word, prayer, biblical worldview development, initiatives related to biblical unity, diversity, and social engagement and the fulfillment of the Great Commission for all of ACSI’s stakeholders. Jerry served a brief stint on the ACSI Board before joining ACSI. And prior to that he served as Head of School at Northwest Christian Academy in Miami, FL, for 11 years. He holds a B.A. in history and M.A. in educational leadership from St. Thomas University in Miami.

Blake has been in ministry for over 20 years serving the Church through teaching, worship leading, and personal discipleship. He has a heart for helping people see truths in the Word that help us understand why and how we worship and how to live as followers of Christ. He intentionally seeks to help others see that when we can dedicate our lives to His Word and understand Him more, we can become the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.In this conversation, Blake leads us in a conversation that seeks to expand our understanding of this word “worship” and what it looks like “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”.

In TJ’s leading of this musical initiative, he aims to leverage art, content, and creativity to guide individuals towards Jesus and the rest He offers. Beyond mere musical production, TJ is a firm believer in the profound societal impact of art and strives to cultivate a counter-cultural movement that celebrates the inherent beauty of the gospel.  This heart for people and his pursuit of truth in his writing of songs has led him to continually use the phrase “Creating for the Creator”. As someone who has known TJ for many years, I have heard him say this a lot, and today I ask him to join us to break down what creativeness in our lives truly looks like.In this conversation with TJ surrounding what it looks like to “Create for the Creator”, we look to dive deeper into what it looks like to pursue the rhythm of creativity throughout our lives as we continue to seek to bring glory to Jesus.

Join us as we talk with three pastors from the Raleigh area and talk through not only God's design for the local church, but also the important role that each of us play in the Body of Christ.In this episode, we are joined by Caleb Baldwin of Seven Marks Church, Brandon Walls of Wake Crossroads, and William Calhoun of the Summit Church. Each of these men serve students and families in Raleigh in a variety of ways and share incredible insight and encouragement for us in our understanding of how to fulfill God’s calling on our lives within the local church.

Join us as we engage in a conversation surrounding Deconstruction with Dr. Mitch Evans.Dr. Evans has over 20 years of teaching experience in Christian education. He holds his Doctorate of Education from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he studied the relationship between biblical worldview and Christian education and currently serves as the 12th grade Bible teacher at North Raleigh Christian Academy. You can follow Dr. Evans on instagram at @mitchellgevans.

Join us as we continue discussing Truth and Love with Marquise Cox.Marquise's sole purpose in leading and speaking to people across the country is to inspire them into a deeper relationship with Jesus. He passionately believes Jesus loves us right where we are but loves us too much to let us stay where we are. This purpose has allowed him to speak to students and adults at churches, camps, and conferences that span racial, theological, and denominational lines.Marquise serves churches and organizations all over the country as a host, communicator, and content consultant. Currently Marquise serves on staff for Community Bible Church in San Antonio, TX. When Marquise isn't on the road speaking, he's doing life with his wife, Krystal, and sons, Denver & Dallas.Marquise holds an undergrad from Liberty University in Biblical and Theological Studies. And is currently in his pursuit of completing his Master's degree in Christian Leadership from Dallas Theological Seminary. You can follow Marquise on instagram at @marquisecox

Join us as we discuss Truth and Love with Marquise Cox.Marquise's sole purpose in leading and speaking to people across the country is to inspire them into a deeper relationship with Jesus. He passionately believes Jesus loves us right where we are but loves us too much to let us stay where we are. This purpose has allowed him to speak to students and adults at churches, camps, and conferences that span racial, theological, and denominational lines.Marquise serves churches and organizations all over the country as a host, communicator, and content consultant. Currently Marquise serves on staff for Community Bible Church in San Antonio, TX. When Marquise isn't on the road speaking, he's doing life with his wife, Krystal, and sons, Denver & Dallas.Marquise holds an undergrad from Liberty University in Biblical and Theological Studies. And is currently in his pursuit of completing his Master's degree in Christian Leadership from Dallas Theological Seminary. You can follow Marquise on instagram at @marquisecox

A sneak peek of what you can expect from Rooted Rhythms Podcast, as we seek to provide listeners an opportunity to sit in as they tackle tough questions or engage in conversations surrounding our culture today. Whether you are a student, parent, or community member, this podcast will provide a great launching point into further discussions with your circle of people as we seek to encourage those in our community to establish the rhythms of our lives to be rooted in the truth of the Gospel and seek to point others back to Jesus.