Stories of Faith
STORIES OF FAITH: PHYSICALLY AND SPIRITUALLY FIT FOR THE LORD
Staying in shape allows Reggie Weatherly to serve God in his best way
Special to FBC Jenks
March 15th, 2024
In today’s climate, it is hard to imagine a high school senior at a public school being led to Christ, but for Reggie Weatherly, that is exactly what happened.
Reggie was a 17-year-old senior at Ryan High School when his ag teacher, Bob Waitman, began to pour into his student about the importance of having a relationship with Jesus Christ.
“I heard stories about him leading other upperclassmen to Christ,” Reggie said. “The day I was saved, we were going out to check on the show animals. He pulled over on the side of a dirt road and he led me Christ.”
Reggie grew up in Terral, OK working on his parents’ farm.
“We mainly farmed wheat and watermelons, cotton when I was really young,” Reggie said. “My parents are awesome. They taught me a lot about life. They had us working on the farm from a very young age. It was getting up early and carrying our weight. My grandmother was very faithful in the church. She would take us to VBS (Vacation Bible School) in the summers. My mom kept a Bible in house, but they never talked to us about God or church. They taught us good manners and how to treat people the right way.”
After Reggie was saved, Mr. Waitman continued to share the Gospel with him and his friends. Reggie learned how to keep the focus on Christ, no matter the situation.
“He just put time and effort into me,” Reggie said. “I really didn’t fully understand what it meant, so I really just focused everything on Christ and filtered everything through Christ.”
It didn’t take long for Reggie to start spreading the Word himself. The remainder of his senior year he would talk to people about his faith and why they should accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. He was big into sports, so he used the platform sports created to help talk to as many people as possible.
After he graduated high school, Reggie attended Oklahoma State University where he met the love of his life, Paula.
“That was another turning point in my life,” Reggie said. “She directed me in the right way immediate and continues to do that. We got married and had three children … Mattie, Emma, and Harper. I would say they have affected my walk with God as much as anything. Raising those kids has probably been the most fun and challenging thing I have ever done.”
It was important to Reggie and Paula to join a church and be active members, especially with their three children at a young age. They attended Southern Hills Baptist Church in Tulsa when they were first married. They served with the fifth and sixth graders. As their kids got a little older, they were going to school in Jenks, so they decided they wanted to pursue looking for churches in the community where their daughters went to school.
The Weatherly’s started attending First Baptist Church Jenks in the mid-2000s when it was still located in downtown Jenks. They started to serve in the fifth and sixth grade area at FBC Jenks before jumping in with the youth, where they have been serving since. They have served in the church for the past three decades.
“FBC Jenks has been awesome,” Reggie said. “It has grown so much, and it is still a great, welcoming church. Following Christ and really listening to him just allowed us to be open to serving. Being raised on a farm, I wasn’t raised in a lazy way, so always wanting to be active and involved was the norm for me. Paula was the same way. Rick has always said to have your ‘yes’ ready and we have always tried to pour into people the way Mr. Waitman used to.”
Reggie and Paula also wanted to be good role models to their children that serving in the church was a way of life.
“We wanted them to see us serve and wanted them to get involved and do missions and be fearless,” Reggie said. “Today, they are all involved in the church and without us having to ask. The Lord put it on our hearts to do that and lead our kids in that way and they are good servants.”
On top of serving in the youth, the Weatherly’s have made several trips to Kenya with the church on the missions.
“Those are pretty powerful,” Reggie said. “You go out and you go to work. It is not for the faint of heart or timid, you are right in the middle of it. It allows for opportunities to pour into others.”
Getting to work with the youth, especially the juniors and seniors, is a tremendous opportunity to prepare them for what they will face in the world once they leave home.
“They are going into a pretty treacherous time in their lives, where peer pressure is going to be really strong,” Reggie said. “We talk about current things that are happening and things they will have to deal with after high school. We certainly try to infuse the Bible and the Word into that and caution about the dangers they are going to face. Technology allows them to be more visible than ever. It is a constant push of talking to them and listening to them.”
For Reggie and Paula, the relationships they develop through serving in the youth don’t stop when the students move on to their post-high school lives.
“It is very important,” Reggie said. “They come back home during breaks while they are on breaks, and we love seeing them come back and hear what they have to say about trying to find a church home and how hard it is. People here want to see them and hear how they are doing. It is important to let them know that people care about them. “
As the Weatherly’s are nearing 20 years of being members at FBC Jenks, Reggie said the success the church has seen is a credit to the Lord.
“Give God the credit first and foremost,” Reggie said. “(Pastor) Rick’s willingness to follow Him, the great leadership, his willingness to serve his congregation has spilled over. It has always been a priority for the core group that came from the downtown location to keep it that way. Everyone wants to feel welcome when they come to church, and the good Lord has blessed us with good volunteers.”
Along with serving in the youth, Reggie has been asked to serve on the search committee to help find the best possible personnel to fill open staff positions.
“It has been pretty easy on personnel committees because of the leadership team,” Reggie said. “They didn’t present anyone they weren’t sure about. They brought forth the cream of the crop. There was no question we were going to like them. They made it easy on us. We gave feedback and gave them confirmation that they found Godly people and good servants. They do a great job of finding great people. The committees have been good for me because I see how the leadership team works and makes me feel good about how this church is being run and how it continues to run.”
Physical fitness has always been important to Reggie. He is committed to going to his gym early most mornings and staying in good shape, so he can continue to do the things he wants to do and serve the Lord in the way he called to do.
“Being physically fit means you are ready for everything,” Reggie said. “When you are raising kids, you want to be active. If they wanted to play, I wanted to be ready to play. I love the outdoors, which means I must go out and move around in the outdoors and if I am not healthy, I won’t feel good and I’m not going to do it, so I try to be ready for everything. My spiritual health is no different. There is always something to train for and you always have to your eyes open for opportunities. I need to take care of my body, so I can serve him, not so I can look good, but be ready to serve. He is the greatest motivation on me to stay fit. I use it all for Him.”
With all three of their kids now in their 20s, Reggie and Paula have started to consider what is next for them from a serving opportunity within the church.
“We certainly hope there are others who want to volunteer, and we don’t want to get in the way of that,” Reggie said. “We always want to go on every mission trip, but we know if we go, we are taking someone else’s spot who potentially has never got to go. We have served with the kids a lot, and we are not ready to stop, but don’t want to stop others from having that same opportunity. We are praying through that right now, but we will always serve in this church and community.”