How A Bedbound Author Reached the World and Refused to Quit, with Alma Thomas: Episode 376

Pain bends our plans, but it doesn’t have to break our purpose. Meet Alma Thomas—educator, minister, and author—whose life rerouted through unthinkable grief, a devastating stroke, two years in a neglectful nursing facility, and a recent cancer diagnosis. She opens up about losing her 18-year-old son, the myths of “stages of grief,” and the practical tools that helped her function again: therapy through EAP, naming triggers, and setting boundaries that protect healing without apology.

We go deep on resilience that works in the real world. Alma explains how she rebuilt a life of service from her bed, writing ten books with one finger after dictation failed, and speaking on hundreds of podcasts, conferences, and virtual stages across continents. Her GPS metaphor for detours reframes setbacks as reroutes, not dead ends: delay is not denial. We unpack how to turn pain into purpose with concrete actions like launching a scholarship for young Black men, reframing productivity to match capacity, and advocating firmly when bias shows up—like the time an event muted her camera the moment they saw she was bedbound.

You’ll hear a voice that is unflinchingly honest and fiercely hopeful. Alma’s faith fuels her, but her tactics are universal: prepare for triggers, communicate context before others assume, choose steady effort over perfection, and dare to try again even when your timeline shatters. If you’ve ever felt sidelined by loss, illness, or detours you didn’t choose, this conversation offers both comfort and a playbook. Press play, then share this with someone who needs a reroute, subscribe for more human, hard-won wisdom, and leave a review telling us the one dream you’re ready to try again.

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Have a lovely day and stay blessed

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Welcome back, listeners. I'm Robin Fleck, and this is It's All About Health Podcast. Today we do have a guest with us, Ms. Alma Thomas, and we're going to be speaking about how life throws her fault at you, how quickly she's able to bounce back from sickness, from grief, from the loss of her son, and also having a stroke and coming back from that. So she is bed ready, but we are going to go ahead and have the lovely opportunity to speak with Ms. Alma. Alma, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Fire, Harmful Relationship, And Boundaries

Stroke, Delayed Care, And Cancer Diagnosis

Faith, Wilderness, And Choosing Not To Quit

GPS Metaphor And Purpose Through Storms

Global Impact From Bed And Delay vs Denial

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Good morning, good morning, good afternoon. And thank you for inviting me to be on the podcast this afternoon. But a little bit about myself. I've taught Head Stars for over 33 years. Life has thrown me many, many curveballs. In 2009, I lost my 18-year-old son. So if you've ever stood in the cemetery and seen them lower your child into the ground, you know the pain and the sorrow that I've been through. But life didn't stop there. After that, I had a fire in my complex. Then after the fire, I made some permanent decisions while I was in a temporary place. I didn't know it then, but I was searching for a void to fill a void with love, looking for love in all the wrong places. And I thought I had found the Mr. Goodbar, but when I looked deep inside, he was snicker. He was addicted to drugs, but he was in denial. He wouldn't admit. So you can't help a person that's in denial. And because I had a teenage daughter, I didn't want her to think that anything was acceptable. Just because you're vulnerable and want love, that you can't just accept anything. Absolutely. And then after my divorce in 2021, April 23rd, I had gone to work and I came home and I was on a call with some authors who desired to write a book. And after the call, I went to bed and I felt a little funny, but I said, okay, if I just lay down, I'll feel better. So I laid down and I felt something weird. And I tried to call my daughter and I couldn't speak. And that's when I realized that I was having a stroke, and we had to wait until they had an amalyst that could accommodate me. So I was late getting to the hospital and missed that window where they can give you the medication to stop the stroke. And then just recently, three months ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. And a lot of people said to me, Oh, I bet you were devastated. I said, No, because like the three Hebrew boys who said to the king, even if God don't do it, I know he's able. So whatever's the will of God, it's the will of God. So I wasn't devastated. I didn't, I just called my prayer partners and told them what they said and was ready for this battle. I have had so many fights in my life, and Jesus stepped in. And whenever you're in a fight and Jesus steps in, something has to change. Something has to change in your life. Was I Superwoman every day? No. I spent two years in a nursing home, and that was the worst two years of our life. They neglected me, and I talk. So I'm thinking, they're like, you know, it's not happening to you. But I'm saying there's a lot of older people in here that don't have anybody to visit them, that check on them. My daughter's coming every week and making sure if I call my family and tell them that something's going on, they're gonna show up. But what about the people? You're doing this to me. What about the people that don't have a voice? I'm gonna have a voice for them. I'm gonna speak against injustice because everybody thinks that their parent or their grandparent is being taken care of in these facilities, and a lot of them are subpar and don't take care of their residents. So that was the worst part of my life. I remember asking God like why? I was 45 minutes away from my family traveling, so they couldn't come every day. So I'm like, God, you know, why am I here? Why didn't you, you know, am I here? And God said, you needed to be in the wilderness because you're listening to a lot of voices all around you, but I need you to hear my voice and do what I called you to do. Yeah, you're living all right, but you're not living according to the life that I have destined for you. And that's when I decided that I can lay here like the enemy wants me to, because the enemy told me you'll never preach again, you'll never teach again, you might as well just lay in that bed and pass away. And I looked at the enemy, I said, God said this is not unto death, but it's for him to get the glory. So that's when I decided not to give up. I wasn't gonna give up everything that I wanted to do. I was still gonna give God glory. I was still gonna teach. And even though writing was a little difficult, writing with one finger on the opposite hand, I didn't give up. I didn't give up on my dreams, and that's what I inspire people to do. Don't give on your dreams. Life is like a GPS system. You put in your destination and you're going one way, but then you miss the turn. And if you are traveling, do you pull to the side of the road and say, I'm not going any further because I missed my turn. So I'm just gonna stop right here and don't go any further. No, you put in your GPS, your destination, and the GPS says rerouting, rerouting, rerouting, and it rewrites you to another way, but you get there, not the way you plan, but the way that the GPS sends you, so you still get to your destination, and that's how life is that you plan life. I'm gonna do A, B, and C and D, and you never factor in the valleys. You think you're always gonna go from one mountain to another, and you never factor in the valleys, but there's gonna be valleys in life, there's gonna be storms in life, but storms come to prepare you, not to destroy you. Storms come to prepare the way, not to stop you. So I encourage people not to give up because excuse me, 20 years ago, it was prophesied that I wasn't gonna just be national, I was gonna be global. Then life happened, I put that on the bag burner. And two years ago, my apostle said to me before he died, you're not just gonna be national, you're gonna be international, so I'm gonna name you a ambassador. And I'm thinking in my own limited thinking, how am I gonna do that now? I'm in a bed. How am I gonna go to the nations? Is God gonna heal me and then I'm gonna go to the nations? I'm gonna go to the nations in my wheelchair. How am I gonna get there? But God had a plan. Even though the devil whispered in my ear, it was over. As um it's I started counting in 2024. Since 2024, I've been on over 500 podcasts, conferences, and virtual seminars all over the world. One day I looked up and I was like, I'm speaking in South Africa, I'm speaking in Australia, I'm speaking in Louisiana, I'm speaking here. I said, God, I've reached more people from my bed than I ever reached when I was walking. Absolutely. And the enemy can delay that plan, but delay is not denial. He can't stop what God has for you. When God has something for you, it is for you, and you're gonna reach your destination if you don't stop by the side of the road and give up because you made a wrong turn or turn or a storm came in your life. You let the storm destroy you instead of preparing the way for you.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

Absolutely. And so, ever since you've been bedbound, how has that affected you mentally, or how does God give you that strength to cope with that? How do you handle that?

Stigma, Discrimination, And Owning The Mic

SPEAKER_00 10:34

Oh, well, I know that this is not about me, but this is about the glory of God. So every time I get a in the beginning, I used to feel self-conscious, or people would assume that matter of fact, just last week I had an encounter that I was supposed to speak, and there were four people that were supposed to speak, and they unmuted you had to um open up your camera. So when I opened up my camera, of course I'm in the bed, and immediately they muted me and didn't let me open my camera. So I wrote in the chat that I'm bedbound, but this is where I speak from. And then the next day, one of the organizers called me because that night I left for a message. I feel like I was discriminated against because my name was called and I was asked to be one of the four people to explain. And then I would have explained that the reason why I'm in my bed is not because I took this meeting lightly, but this is where I speak from. Absolutely. And then when she finally spoke to me, then she understood that I speak from my bed. But at first, I, you know, I would feel self-conscious. Like, you know, people is judging me or thinking. So the first thing I say, like I said to you, that I'm not in the bed because I took this meeting lightly, but because this is where I speak from.

Ten Books And Writing With One Finger

SPEAKER_02 12:10

Right, absolutely. And then you said that you have 10 books, is that correct? Yes. Oh my goodness. So tell me a little bit about at least one or two of those books.

SPEAKER_00 12:21

What are your books? One is called Faith, and it talks about my faith journey while I was in the nursing home. And another one is called Surviving a Stroke Against All Odds. And I just did two children's coloring books. One is called Positive Infirmations for Preschoolers, and the other one is an ABC book. So I've written, you know, a book on leadership in the church, different, and I've been a part of like six or seven anthologies where I wrote a chapter. Most of them was about my life and my testimony. Excuse me.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

And so the you said surviving a stroke. So how long did it take you to to write that book or these books?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Um, surviving a stroke, it took me two years because I started writing it when I was in the nursing home. So it took me two years. The book on faith only took me three months.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

Okay. Okay. And what was that like? Because I know you said you only had the ability to write with one finger. So what was that like for you to have that strength? Obviously, I know God gave you that strength to do that, but tell us a little bit about that.

Insomnia, Process, And Grit

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Well, first I started, you know, talking into the phone. But whenever I would talk into the phone, it would keep making mistakes and I would have to keep going back. So I got frustrated with that, but I refused to give up. So I was like, oh, right, when I text, I text with one finger. It gotta be the same as writing. So it was better to me than the talk to type because that made a lot of mistakes, and I had to go back anyway and find a mistake, you know, erase it and retype it. So that was frustrating. So I just gave up on doing that and just using the one finger. The most um experience I had with that was that my finger would get tired.

unknown 14:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

That I did how long was like each day, how long did you did you write for?

SPEAKER_00 14:52

Well, I used to have a problem sleeping. I had insomnia after I had to stroke. So since I couldn't sleep, I would type for like three or four hours a night.

Grief, Triggers, And Therapy With EAP

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Okay. Okay. Wow. So through the years, through all of this happening and and losing your son, what was your your mental stability like? You know, when you said that God he bounced you back, right? But I obviously that walk could not have been easy. So tell us a little bit about that walk.

Turning Pain To Purpose: Scholarships

Book List, Contact, And Recovery Support

A Double Dog Dare To Dream Again

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Well, when the when I lost my son, I was having all these thoughts, you know, people would say to you, at least he's in a better place. And being a minister and serving God, I've told a lot of people, at least they're in a better place. Uh, you know that they're in heaven. And I thought when I was saying those words, I was comforting people. But when they were said to me, I found out they weren't comforting because you haven't accepted the fact yet. And to me, a better place is at our dining room table in his bedroom. So I would think, okay, send your little Johnny to the better place and send my child back. And then you tell me tomorrow if you feel like they're in a better place. Or people would say, My 75-year-old grandfather had a heart attack and survived. And I would say, God, he had lived 75 years. Why did my son only live 18 years and you took him? Right. And I was having all these thoughts in my head. And one Sunday morning, I went to church because you know, backtrack, in the African-American community and church, it's like mental health is taboo. They're like, if you're saved, especially if you're in the ministry, they slap some oil on you and pray for you. So every Sunday, they would slap the oil on me and pray for me, but I was still having those thoughts. I was still, I was never angry with God, but I was angry. So one Sunday, um, before they even started preaching, I ran up to the altar hysterically crying, saying, God, I'm dirty, but I want to be clean. You have to help me because I'm not able to live with these thoughts. And everybody's telling me that I'm so strong, but spiritually inside, I'm dying. I go home every night and cry myself to sleep. The only reason why I even get out of bed is because I have another child that I have to show up for. But I'm dying inside. And that day, I after prayer and after telling God that I needed him to help me, I decided that I needed to go to EAP, which is my job's mental component. I said I have to go to EAP because I can't deal with these emotions, I can't deal with these triggers. I need to know because I studied psychology in college. So when we learned about the stages of grief, it was like they went in a line. First, you was in denial, then you was bargaining, then you were depressed for a little while, and then you finally come to acceptance. But then I realized it's like, okay, one day I'm in denial. I like, you know, I should be planning a graduation at a funeral. And then the next day, right back in the same spot. And I'm like, okay, you know, I thought I was supposed to go through these stages and everything was gonna be rosy and fine. I was gonna, you know, get over this. I know I'm gonna think about them, and you know, but this is is is not what life is all about. So I went to mental to EAP and um we talked about triggers, things that trigger you, what can you do before you get triggered? Like going to graduations was one of my triggers. And all my friends' kids were about the same age as my son. So I realized I can't go to graduations. You know, even though it's my best friend's child is graduating, my god child is graduating. I can't go to graduations because they trigger me. You know, I'll say I'll send my gift, but you know, I can't come, not strong enough to come right now. So I was able to turn my pain. She told me to turn my pain into purpose. And I started a scholarship fund, a scholarship fund in my son's name. Next date, I've given out 17 scholarships to African-American males who have been accepted into college, and they can use it for their books, their clothes, whatever they need once they go away to school. So I turned my pain into passion because my son loves education. And before he passed away, he was accepted into Astra and he had planned to be a lawyer. So now my daughter is following in his footsteps. She graduated in December, and in January, she's going to law school. She's taking studying and taking her L S A T. So, you know, that that did me well when she chose to keep her brother's legacy alive.

Closing And Blessing

SPEAKER_02 21:02

Right. Well, congratulations to your daughter. That's that's amazing. I love your absolutely. And just what are some of the names of your book? Because I know I'm gonna add it to the show notes, but I know you said surviving a stroke, surviving a stroke against all odds, positive affirmations for preschoolers, a leadership book for theology that deals with someone that wants to go into the ministry, so it deals with the foundation of all biblical things like homogenics and how to prepare a sermon and all that.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

So those are the basic uh other ones that I wrote with other people. I don't even remember the names of them. You wrote so many. You don't remember the names. I don't remember the names. People just like, oh, I need an author. I need an author. He wants to be part of this anthology. I paid my money and I was a part of it.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

That's what it's about, I guess.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Oh anybody, anybody who can who wants to reach me can reach me on Facebook, Arthur Alma, wait, author ministry ministry page. And what was the name again? Alma Thomas Ministry page on Facebook. I have two Facebooks, but if you contact me on the ministry one, if anybody is interested, and I'll send you a copy, a photocopy of all the books that I have. If anybody's interested, they can contact me and I will send them a signed copy because all the money that I make from selling my books and whatever is going towards my recovery effort.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Sorry, the connection lost for a minute. You said all the money, sorry, all the money that you make is going towards what now? My recovery effort. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Yeah. So that's what again, and it was Alma Thomas Ministries, right? Yes. Okay, Alma Thomas Ministries. Okay, yeah. And like I said, I'll put that in the show notes as well. But I do absolutely thank you for coming on and sharing your story.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Thank you for inviting me and allowing me to be transparent. And if I had one more thing to say to your audience, it would be remember when you were a child and you would do something, and your parents would say, Why did you do that, Robin? And you say, Because so and so dared me. They said, Well, if they dared you to jump off the building, would you? Well, on today, I double dog dare you to dream again, to reach deep inside of you and awaken those dreams that might have been fallen asleep, that you thought that circumstances and situations stop you from achieving that dream. I dare you to dream again, do it again, and this time it's gonna be different. It's like when Peter was fishing and Jesus got into his boat and he said, I've been fishing all night and I didn't catch anything. And Jesus said, At my word, do it again. I'm telling your audience, at my word, do it again. This time it's gonna be different.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Amen. I love that because a lot of us have stopped dreaming. It's like people don't dream anymore. And you got to keep those dreams alive. So I like that. But again, thank you so much, and thank you to all my listeners. Again, I'm Robin Black, and this is It's All About Healing Podcast. Everyone, stay blessed.