Staying Anchored in Every Decade - Women of Faith’s Thelma Wells
Have you ever been on a boat in the middle of the ocean? Did you ever find yourself clutching the boat when the winds began to blow, and the waves began to toss the boat up and down, to and fro? In those moments, when it feels like the boat might tip over any second, there’s something holding it fast: the anchor. And in our next installment of our Faith in the Firestorm series, renowned speaker, author, and Women of Faith alum Thelma Wells reminds us that no matter what comes our way, our faith is the anchor that will keep us rooted and strong. Thelma is 85 years young, and decade after decade, Thelma’s done the hard work of breaking new ground: in the 1960s, she was the first Black woman hired at John Deere (though she was hired as a secretary, she was relegated at first to the mailroom), and in the 80s she went on to become a VP at NorthPark National Bank in Dallas, where she wrote the first book on banking operations in the state of Texas. Thelma has walked in faith every step of the way, inspiring generations of women to remember that through faith, we can be and do anything.
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Show Summary
Hi there, Nancy Hicks here, welcome back to So What? Why It Matters.
Let me ask you this: have you ever been on a boat? When the waves are rocking you up and down so badly, you're afraid you're going to tip over? You're holding on to the sides of that thing, and you’d give just about anything to be back on the shore?
You’ve had that. Sometimes our lives are like that.
You know the only thing that keeps a boat like that from drifting away into the abyss? The anchor. The waves may still crash, and the boat still may thrash and things may be so frightening. But the anchors are not going to let that boat go, it's going to keep it. It's going to hold it fast.
That's what faith is. That's why faith matters so much, because believe me, anything in our lives can change like that. But the essence and the character of God never changes. And faith has everything to do not with a particular outcome, but with confidence in a Someone.
I suppose by now you're realizing that most of the topics we're discussing are near and dear to my heart. Well, this one is near, but I can tell you it is not dear. I hate it. I wish we didn't have to talk about firestorms and having to hold on. I wish I knew little of the pain and doubt that you and I suffer. Because we've had to live through such excruciating things, our family is in the middle of a firestorm right now as our son David fights for his life with Stage IV colon cancer.
But like I heard Beth Moore telling Kate Bowler one day, “Don't ever tell someone it was worth it when they’ve come through a horrific time. But God does make those moments matter.” Don't ever say that losing someone to cancer or COVID or accidents and coming through was worth it. Don't say that. Those are the platitudes that we can do without.
We're not going to give you platitudes in this series. We're going to get down and dirty about what it really looks like to hold on to faith when all hell breaks loose in your life.
We have the privilege of having Thelma Wells on the show today. Now, I love Thelma. She is the president of Woman of God Ministries, CEO of That A Girl, and Friends Speakers Agency. Her mission is to motivate, inspire, and invest in the lives of others. She does that through her speaking, through her teaching. And she's the author of more than 40 books. And you may remember Thelma as one of the main speakers in Women of Faith.
God has taken Thelma from her birth and led her to break down barriers to become the CEO of her own company, and she's inspired countless women along the way. I am one of those women. She's become a friend and personal mentor to me. And I, along with those who know and love her, affectionately call her Mama T. I know you're going to enjoy the wisdom from Thelma today. So here we go. Enjoy my conversation with Dr. Thelma Wells.
So What? Moments
Thelma Wells
We are inundated with faithless things. There are people who teach and preach and all of that about faith, but when you look at them or look at what they're doing in the marketplace, it sometimes is a lie. So when we talk about having faith, we've got to know where faith comes from, Who is the deliverer of faith, why we should have it.
Nancy
“I tell the truth” means I don't have time for bitterness because I'm so fixed on what is true, whether it's racial issues, or gender issues, or socioeconomic issues, or issues in your marriage, or issues with your kids, in your teens, in your car, whatever. You tell the truth.
Thought-Provoking Quotes
“I've been through some storms, some mountains that were hard to climb, some situations that I never thought I would go through, but with God's help I made it.” - Thelma Wells
“I refuse to become bitter, I refuse. The reason I refuse to become bitter, when you become bitter, then you lose a part of God's joy for you.” - Thelma Wells
“Even though it was not the job I thought I was going to get, it was not the recognition really that I thought I was going to get, I thought, I'm going to be the best mail person that they have ever seen in their lives.” - Thelma Wells, on her experience as the first woman of color at John Deere in the 1960s, when she was hired as a secretary but placed in the mail room instead
“God has been so powerfully wonderful to me, even in the midst of storms, in the midst of questions, in the midst of all the things that I've gone through. I know who I am. I don't have to question because I am a child of God.” - Thelma Wells
“I've done some unusual things in my life, and I've traveled all over. But the best thing I think that I've ever done is; I listen and I love.” - Thelma Wells
“I was thinking about how sometimes we say things like that, “Be the very best version of you,” and I love that. I love it and it sounds so exciting. And then the firestorms come, and the testing of that. We think sometimes that's going to come really easily. You can be the best you, oh, and it won't require much of you. Wrong.” - Nancy Hicks
“Every child needs to know that they are special and that they are loved.” - Thelma Wells