Under Heaven Podcast: Janet Woods pt2 - Testimony, Tasks, and Treasures

Under Heaven Podcast host, Trish, welcomes returning guest, Janet Woods. As co-founder of Extended Arm Ministries, she is a living testimony of God’s sustaining grace. Born with arthrogryposis, Janet has spent her life overcoming physical limitations through unwavering faith, perseverance, and a deep desire to serve others from right where she is.

Janet opens up about the moments when God strengthened her beyond her own abilities and how He continues to use her voice, her writing, and her home‑based ministry to extend His love to others. Inspired by Dr. David Jeremiah, Janet shares feeling compelled to teach three key aspects of Christian witness: Testimony, Tasks, and Treasures. This episode concludes with a look into Extended Arm Ministries, where Janet continues to tutor, write, and minister from home, proving that God can use any life, any limitation, and any location for His glory.

Janet:  janetwoods79@yahoo.com                                                                                Book: Deskmate to Helpmeet available on Amazon, Walmart and more

Trish: patricia@lookingup24.org

#ExtendedArmMinistries #ChristianTestimony #FaithAndPerseverance

#WomenOfFaith #OvercomingAdversity #Arthrogryposis #ForHisGlory

Under Heaven Podcast, Faith, Trish Hodges, Testimony, Christian Women, Encouragement, Testimony

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to Underheaven, the podcast where we glorify God and celebrate the beautiful stories of women whose lives have been transformed by his goodness and grace. I'm your host, Trish, and each week we share real conversations about faith, hope, and purpose. This is a place for encouragement and truth, where every story matters and every listener is welcome. No matter where you are in your journey, let's grow together under heaven. Hello and welcome to Under Heaven Podcast. I'm your host, Trish, and I am here today with a returning guest that I'm sure you will remember, Janet Woods. Janet is the author of a book called Deskmate to Help Meet. She is um a mother, grandmother, and a teacher for over 30 years. She is just an absolutely amazing woman, and it's all because of the grace of God. So let's welcome Janet Woods. Hi, Janet.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Hi, thank you so much for having me today, Trish.

SPEAKER_01 1:15

This is exciting. And those who watched you before um heard a little bit about your life story. Could you just briefly, for those who didn't hear your first testimony, just briefly give them a little update about the congenital defect that you were born with and how God has carried you through?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

I sure will. So I have arthrogrupposis, and it is a defect of the muscles in the arms and hands. I have hands that do not spread open wide or grip as your hands do. And so when you look down at your hands sometime and you're tired of cutting onions or whatever, be thankful. Be thankful, be thankful. So the Lord has walked with me with this Arthrogruposis through surgeries and so forth that I share in my book. Today I am going to be 70, and God has just moved me through my life one day at a time, uh gloriously. I've had lots of surgeries, lots of falls, lots of things occur because I can't reach my arms out to stop myself when I fall. So I usually hit my head. That's the thing that touches the ground first, or the uh table that's in the way, or whatever it is. But that has not deterred me. As my husband often says, you just keep coming back, and he's so thankful that I do, but that's the Lord too. So Trisha's let me come on this second time to share some wonderful things that God has laid on my heart, and I appreciate this opportunity, this second opportunity. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

You began to share a little bit about it on your previous uh podcast. So tell us what is on your heart today from the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Well, I've been reading Dr. David Jeremiah's book, and it is about heaven, all to do about heaven. And he tells us that our testimony begins with our salvation experience, but he also tells us that part of that testimony is our anticipation of heaven, and then everything in between. So we have a life of being a testimony. You can be a testimony at your work, at your school, in your home, before your children, before your in-laws, at a board meeting. Ladies who may be listening today, realize that your testimony is vast and it is far-reaching. And so Dr. Jeremiah is talking about these three points that when we get to heaven, there will be people, and we need to help as many people as we can to find salvation. He says we do this in three ways. We share our testimony, we pursue various tasks throughout our lives, and we invest with our treasure. So that's what I want to talk to you about today. Briefly, the first one, sharing our testimony. As I said, we share our testimony of when we received Christ, when we came to know him, what a glorious day that was. And even if it was a time when you were a child and didn't understand everything, I bet you understood that he loved you. And there was some little tickle in your throat or your heart that drew you to the altar or to your knees or to your friend's hand or to your mama's lap. Whatever it was that you experienced was the drawing of the Holy Spirit, and that's the testimony you share. All of our testimonies are different, but are they powerful because they are propelled by by the Holy Spirit, by the Lord Jesus Christ for what he did. So we can know that our testimony is sure. But following our testimony, we live our lives. And that's the second point, which is the tasks we pursue. There are so many tasks that you do pursue in a lifetime. The mothering part, the driving part, the shopping part, the witnessing part, the bathing your kids part, the putting your child through college part, all of these things become tasks you pursue. But as you pursue them, you've got to know that they are making up the fabric of how you can lead people to Christ. Whatever you have in your hand, he says, do it with all your might. So your well-doing of packing lunches, your well-doing of driving your family where they need to go. All of these things are tasks we pursue. And then when you get a little older and you don't have those things, you have other pursuits. John and I pursued writing, and that became our task. What shall we write that will inspire? How shall we explain this situation or that heartache or that surgery, that it'll be applicable to someone else's life? That's where you want to do. Meet people where they are in their lives. The witness is not all about you, it's about finding where they are and applying the salve, the balm of Gilead, to their lives. If you've not heard of the Balm of Gilead, there's a song about it. But it is just the presence and the power of the Lord on your sore heart, on your brokenness, whatever it may be. So that's a task we pursue. And as we pursue it, we see that it spans out. And it'll span out to whoever God wills it to go to. We are. We call our ministry extended our ministry. We're just trying to extend what God has in store. We're trying to reach what is in store and pass it out to others. Have you passed salvation on to anyone? That's a task. Have you passed a smile or love to anyone this day? Or have you been curled up feeling sorry for yourself? You know we can all do that. I can't say that I've not ever felt sorry for myself. I think I felt sorry for myself when someone didn't ask me to the prom. I think I felt sorry for myself when I couldn't go up a flight of stairs like the other girls with their ponytails running up the stairs. And there I was going left foot up, left foot up, left foot up, left foot up. Three flights of stairs at Riley High School. But when I got to the top, I was the same as they were. I had my bouncy ponytail and I went into class. We need to pursue our tasks with joy and faithfulness. What is your task today? It might be something different tomorrow. Just look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Remember, he's the author, he started us, and he's going to be the finisher. Now, the next thing is, or the last thing is the treasures we invest. You might not be able to be a missionary, and I'm sure you've heard your pastor say this. But as we invest, as we invest in other people, as we invest in other ministries, we are putting our treasures in heaven, in heavenly places. We're drawing people using our funds. And I wanted to read you a quote. This is by Chuck Bentley. He's a faithful uh giver of his assets. And he says, true biblical stewardship is not ordering your finances in such a way that you can freely spend money however you want. Rather, it is ordering your finances in such a way that God can freely spend you however he wants. God wants to spend us and use us up for his glory, whether it's in our teaching or whether it's in our mothering or whether it's in our caring for an elderly parent or starting a Bible school club, after school club, whatever your talent is, God is going to want to use it. He gave it to you for that reason. So that's a treasure that you must invest. For if we don't invest our treasures and they just lay there, they just lay there in our banks, not being used. How good is that? Share your treasures, open up your heart, open up your mind. Let him encourage you. He encouraged us to write these books and oh, we didn't know how. But we just started. And when you start something with the Lord's urging, he will send his Holy Spirit and also friends and family and helpers. He will send helpers along to encourage you along the way to teach you what you don't know. Lord, keep us teachable today. Just keep us teachable because there's so much to learn. I even read in this book, and I didn't think about it this way, but Dr. Jeremiah says we're gonna even have chances to learn in heaven. We're gonna sit down by Paul and Peter. Maybe we'll ask Jonah to explain how he felt inside the whale. I don't know. But it's exciting. So I leave you with this. Your testimonies to share, your tasks to pursue, and your treasures to invest. Invest in others. Let that be a motto. Let that be something that you write down and think about a little more. God bless you today, and thank you.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Oh, that was beautiful, Janet. Thank you for sharing that. And I see why that's on your heart, because that is the heart of God. The heart of God. It says that He is faithful to complete the work He's begun in us. And I found out just this year that that word work means divine purpose. So He is faithful to complete that divine purpose that He's put in each and every one of us. And it begins with our testimony of salvation. Amen. Amen. Well, I want you to talk just a bit about your book and tell the folks where they can find it, because you are an amazing author. And like you said, when God puts something on your heart, He's gonna help you get through it. And your book is absolutely amazing. And your husband also is an author, and his book is just as riveting, I guess, is the word for John's book, because he that is really a blessing.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

And I know that'll bless his heart to hear that because it was a labor of love that he spent, and every morning he'd sit here at the table and pray before he started writing. God, give it to me today, what you want. And uh boy, when it came about, and my favorite chapter in John's book, which is called Island Boy, is chapter 13. He shares some I can't even describe, I won't even try. Just some very interesting experiences that he has had. And uh so that's his book, and it's called that chapter is called Believe It or Not. And believe it or not, uh my book is a little more lighthearted than his, but it's just was my life. Deskmate to help meet, and you can get our books on Amazon and also on Walmart and also on Books a Million. Try those places for those titles, deskmate to help meet and Island Boy.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

They both tell of the goodness of God, they both tell of his strength, how he can give us each strength when we submit our lives unto him. And even in times that we we're not even thinking about it, how he orders our steps. And it is just absolutely wonderful to see the testimony that has been written by this couple. So I do encourage you to check those out. And um, Janet, you have I I want to mention again that you you are a college graduate, of course, you've been a teacher, and you're a mom, a grandma of two beautiful young girls, and um, you have your son, you have a blessed life, and if we can look, like you said, when we're peeling those onions, and our hands are getting tired and our eyes are watering. If we could just be thankful that we have those hands to do that with, and no matter what circumstance is in our life right now, we can be thankful and walk with joy.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

And the joy of the Lord is our strength, He is everything, He is everything, He is Well, I thank everybody for joining us today for this um little recap um of Janet's life and the things that she is doing, and you mentioned your ministry, outreach. Can you tell us the name of your ministry again, please?

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Extended Extended Arm Ministries. Okay. And that is to extend ourselves, not just with writing, and I should mention we are involved in a lot of different things that are just being God's extended hand. John takes people to the doctor. I tutor an illiterate woman. I've been tutoring her for six years, trying just on the phone, because she can't drive, and I can't drive. We work on the phone with passages of scripture and books and stories that we put on the screen between us. And so, extended arm, you can you can do anything that God calls you to. I need you to take me there because I want to go do a ministry. God has brought the ministries right to my home, right to my heart, right here. I can tutor from here, I can write out cards from here for the people that are sick in our Sunday school class. I can talk to my grandchildren and pray with them. I can visit and do podcasts and Zoom calls with you. We can reach ladies, and I can do all that from the comfort and security of my home. God will come and show you what he has for you. There is no doubt, no doubt at all.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

I I'm so excited for having reconnected with Janet. I knew her in high school, but we've been apart for decades. But it was, you know, God is just absolutely amazing. When we give our heart to the Lord, we become a part of the body of Christ. And He uses us all together. And it's amazing that we could get together after decades, and it's like we've been together all those years.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

It is, it is, and we got together on we don't want to tell anybody, but it was our 50th high school reunion, and it was so fun. We we made sure we were getting a table together so we could just pull up the memories uh and the the funny things that happened way back when. But now we're women in ministry and we love our Lord together. And what a what a matchup. It's a matchup when you meet someone that loves the Lord and you can share, share back and forth and witness.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

And he uses everybody, you know, it says in the word of God that you know, some are the hands, some are the feet, some are the eyes. We're all different parts of the body. We all have different giftings and different callings, but yet, like Janet said, we can work together and we can see lives transformed for the glory. And that is just marvelous. Thank you again, Janet. And I want to thank my guests for being with us today. And I know that this has moved you. And if you know someone who would like to hear or should hear this um this podcast, be sure to share it with them. And you know, sometimes people won't go to church or they won't go to Bible studies, but they'll listen to a podcast. So look at Janet's podcast and share it with someone. And then, like I said, be sure to go grab those books. You can get them offline, and you will be so blessed. And you'll want to share them. Janet mentioned her book, and and she said, Well, you know, you can hold it up. And I'm like, Um, I can't because I've loaned it out to somebody.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

I just love sharing the word because I'm putting it up here behind my head. You can see me. Oh, yeah. Writing with my mouth I write with my mouth. That's one thing I've not even mentioned, which has been kind of refreshing because that seems to be my uh notoriety, is that I write with my mouth. But thank God that I can write with my mouth because my hands would not do the trick. I have no grip. And and I type with my mouth too, with a dowel rod in my mouth, and I've typed our manuscripts. So just avail yourself to the Lord, ladies, gents, whoever's listening, avail yourself, and He will do the rest.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Well, I I thank you again for watching us today. And as we go today, I just encourage you to speak life, choose hope, and remember that you are always loved. Bye-bye. Bye Janet. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Bye now, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Welcome to Under Heaven, the podcast where we glorify God and celebrate the beautiful stories of women whose lives have been transformed by his goodness and grace. I'm your host, Trish, and each week we share real conversations about faith, hope, and purpose. This is a place for encouragement and truth where every story matters and every listener is welcome. No matter where you are in your journey, let's grow together under heaven.