澳门心水论坛

Extra

 

June 2024

Alumnus impacts children from judge's bench

Sherri Goad Wagner never really aspired to become a judge while a student at 澳门心水论坛. But she fully believes her current role in Fort Worth, Texas, is a gift from God and a result of her following His leading all along her career.

An associate judge in the juvenile court system in Tarrant County since 2023, Sherri relishes the opportunity to speak truth and grace into the lives of young people and their families who find themselves in her courtroom for cases that can range from misdemeanors to murder.

“I often think if no one else has reached this person, whether a child or a parent, maybe I can,” says

Sherri. “And that’s what the juvenile system is for. We all know the stories about children raised in (rough situations) who had every chance to be a repeat juvenile delinquent and somebody somewhere showed the child another route and convinced them they could do better.

“I really love working with those children who actually show they want to change the path they're on and who acknowledge they want more for themselves. It's exciting to see the hope in their eyes.”

Despite the challenges of today’s technology-driven society where good parents may still struggle to control unruly children impacted by social media and other messages, Sherri sees her job as a ministry to encourage young people to take a higher path. It’s hard work, but fulfilling for the former WBU cheerleader. But her journey to the bench was somewhat circuitous.

Into the workforce

Sherri came to 澳门心水论坛 as the child of two alumni, with her dad Dr. Genoa Goad graduating in 1962 and her mother, Martha, attending before the two married and moved away. She studied English and minored in political science, and law school was always in the back of her mind.

“I believe the Lord put that desire there,” she said. “It fits my skill sets and I thought it would be something I’d be good at and enjoy.”

After graduating in 1992, Sherri moved to Fort Worth and jumped into the workforce since she couldn’t afford to jump straight into law school. She got a part-time job with a small publishing company and waited tables, jobs she said built both character and social skills. The publishing job grew to a full-time role, and Sherri soon met her future husband JJ, a former police officer and a Fort Worth Police Department Supervisor at the time.

During a work conference in Washington, D.C., Sherri found herself as a typical tourist visiting the usual sites. But something about the history and political scene wakened a sleeping desire to practice law she equated more to a calling. She and JJ agreed: she had to follow that call.

Getting closer

Sherri passed the LSAT, then enrolled in what was then Wesleyan Law School in 1998 not long after she and JJ married in 1997. Needing the continued paycheck, Sherri worked full-time with the publishing company by day and attended law school at night. The pace was grueling, but she persevered with JJ’s encouragement and support and her passion driving her forward.

“I interned at the Tarrant County DA’s office because I knew I wanted to be a prosecutor, and I wasn’t going into it for the money. I didn’t want to do civil law and just sit behind a desk. I wanted to be in the courtroom as a trial lawyer,” she said. “Because of my moral and ethical views of the system at the time, I wanted to be on the prosecution side.”

Her last year of law school, she worked as a paid intern in a private law firm for the practical experience. She then spent the final months back at the county district attorney’s office since she knew that would be her best route to a job in that area. She was correct, and after graduating in 2002 she immediately joined the DA’s office as one of more than 100 attorneys in the very large office with multiple divisions.

After more than 14 years there, a new DA was elected, and Sherri chose to leave the office. She accepted an offer with a civil law firm that specialized in insurance defense where her trial experience was needed. Just seven months in, the firm lost their biggest insurance client and laid off many staff, including Sherri. So she opened her own firm for criminal defense.

“I could tell it wasn’t for me, but I wasn’t actively looking for a job, and God had another plan,” she said. “This was the first time He dumped a job in my lap that I wasn’t pursuing.”

Back to the courtroom

In 2017, a previous colleague texted her about an opening for an assistant district attorney in nearby Hill County, where Hillsboro is the county seat. Despite knowing it would be a pay cut from her past jobs, she decided to take the job since it got her back in the prosecutor’s seat where she truly felt she belonged.

“It was the best thing I ever did,” she said. “It was just like a family, and it was just what I needed at that time. And that’s what that DA needed, someone who could step in and already knew how to try cases. I was there for six years and was literally planning to retire out of Hill County in 6-7 more years. Then the Lord dumped another job in my lap.”

A conversation with Judge Alex Kim, a conservative Republican and Christian, whom Sherri had

known from her years in the legal community, changed her course yet again. She learned he wanted her to fill an Associate Judge position in his juvenile court, an area familiar to Sherri from her days with the DA’s office.

“He knew me personally and knew I was a strong Christian and Republican conservative. I told him I wanted to pray about it because it was a big commitment,” she said, noting it would mean a move back to Tarrant County. “We were most uneasy about the move. The job itself we knew was a blessing and an opportunity in a slim niche for my skill set.”

The Wagners decided to say yes and moved ahead to sell their home. They had a buyer just seven days after listing the home, further confirming their decision.

Spare time

While her work is fulfilling, Sherri and JJ – now retired from

the police department - do enjoy relaxing vacations. And they prefer doing them on the  

water, completing 21 cruises. They’ve even begun building a social media presence with a YouTube channel since May 2021, where they share all their tips and experiences from various vacations.

Titled “All Things Wagner,” the channel now includes more than 170 videos and has 6,500 subscribers in its short life. They share brief videos about specific ships, excursions in various ports

and even cruise food among practical tips like packing and disembarkation tips. They are organizing their first trip with YouTube fans in March 2025.

Sherri and JJ are also members of Oak Grove Baptist Church but have been active members of Baptist churches for many years, previously involved in teaching Sunday school, music ministry and security team. They are avid fitness fans as well and enjoy working out together often as well as spending time with family and friends and their adopted pets. They started a neighborhood Facebook group and use it to minister to older residents or those who live alone.

 

Devotional: Be a trusted leader

"I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae.  I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me." (Romans 16:1-2, NIV)

Leadership begins and ends with trust. Followers must be able to trust their leaders, and leaders must be able to trust their followers. One without the other is a lopsided relationship. Booker T. Washington said, “Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.”

Many people trusted the Apostle Paul as one of the prominent leaders of the early church. But his leadership was successful because he had people he could also trust. One of his most trusted companions was someone most people in the first century would not expect: a woman named Phoebe.

In that culture, women had very little say or role in leadership. Not only was there no seat at the table for women, but society knew women as little more than servants. But Paul viewed women as children of God who could and should be trusted to bring Christianity to the next generations. In Romans 16, Paul mentions Phoebe who had been a tremendous help to the apostle. Because of her, the letter to the Romans safely arrived in their hands. The length of this letter alone would have been costly to produce, let alone for it to be delivered. Paul viewed Phoebe as the right person for the job. He couldn’t have predicted it at the time, but she delivered one of the most important letters in the history of humanity.

Paul wrote that the Romans were to welcome her with open arms and in an honorable manner (v. 2a). Knowing she was a noblewoman who could be trusted, he told them to give her whatever she needed (v. 2b). She was a true gift to Paul, the Romans, and us. Like all Christian relationships, their bond was built on trust in Christ and trust in one another.

Consider how and where God might be calling you to lead! What leadership lesson has been challenging to you? How do you think God might be stretching you to grow as a godly leader? 

In the Mix

The 1980s were a time of advancement worldwide as people moved into the computer age. 澳门心水论坛 was on the cusp of the technology movement. In 1981, the school purchased its first computer to be used for administrative functions.

The "Traveler" noted: 

澳门心水论坛 has gone to the technical world of the computer. ...the computer is quite nice and there are hopes to use this computer in Gates Hall as the central center and have other computers in the other buildings on campus so that they will feed information into the central one. ...The business building has been using computers for classes and for some of their business functions. Computers seem to be a big thing all over America and 澳门心水论坛 does not intend to be left out. 

 

澳门心水论坛 used computers for registration for the first time in 1982. 

If you were part of this historical time in 澳门心水论坛's technnological advancement, we would like to hear from you.  Send your stories or memories to veraj@wbu.edu. 

 

Calling all artists!

澳门心水论坛's Friends of the Arts board hosts a gala each year to raise scholarship for students in the School of Creative Arts. This includes music, media arts, visual arts and communication. To enhance the funds raised for this event, the board is asking alumni to contribute artwork to be auctioned at the gala event. Note, you do not have to have a degree from 澳门心水论坛 in the arts to qualify! Anyone who would like to contribute is welcome!

The subject material can be up to the artist, and we welcome all mediums of art to contribute, whether photography, oil or acrylic paintings, pencil or pen and ink drawings, or even graphic design. For ease of display and transport as well as uniformity for the event, we are asking artists to adhere to a few parameters:

• Artwork should be no larger than 12" by 12" finished size (flat pieces) or 10" cubed for sculptures. Please provide a title to your piece if you have one and include the artist name so we may give you proper acknowledgement.
• Artwork does not have to be provided in frames but should be prepared for framing or hanging as is (example, wrapped canvases that can be hung as is or may be framed by the purchaser).
• Artwork content should be in keeping with 澳门心水论坛's Christian values.
• The artist must be able to mail the artwork securely to 澳门心水论坛 or it may be delivered in person. Pickup options are also available in the Plainview area with advance notice. Deadline to submit will be February 1, 2025, in advance of the gala in March. 

For more information or to register your intent to participate in the art auction, please contact Teresa.Young@wbu.edu or at (806) 291-3427. Contributors will receive a "gift in kind" receipt from 澳门心水论坛 that can be used in tax deduction.

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