Jaclyn Marie Meyer’s doctor once described her as “the little engine that could.” When you listen to this conversation you’ll understand why that is apt, for Jackie Meyer has had her challenges since birth. In this episode we talk about her Turner’s Syndrome with candor and Christian hope. Among other things, we hear the wonderful story of her early-twenties encounter with a college lad named Dave Meyer and how life at St. Paul’s shaped her significantly.
It seems that Jackie serves everywhere in the congregation, but—as we joke—“in a diminutive way.” Her service, unlike her husband’s, is a little more behind-the-scenes. Nevertheless, she is—befitting her name—a humble yet faithful and tenacious servant of Christ.
Recorded 21 February, A.D. 2024
[00:00:00] and when I was born at the hospital, of course my mom was like, oh my goodness, what's going on?
[00:00:05] You know, worried about the future of what was going to happen. And Pastor just shook his head
[00:00:12] and said, no, she'll be fine. Watch out for this one. She's a little lunge in that could.
[00:00:18] That's a key, hey, that's a keeper of a line.
[00:00:24] Welcome to Christ In All Things, a conversation about meaning and purpose. It's based on a
[00:00:30] verse from the Bible, Colossians chapter one verse 17 which says, Christ is before all things
[00:00:36] and in him all things hold together. Christ In All Things is a listening ear into conversations
[00:00:42] about receiving and giving the love and hope of Christ. These conversations are an invitation
[00:00:49] because as much as you'll hear and as much as we enjoy having them, digital media operates
[00:00:55] from a distance. And that's not what's best for us with God or with one another. So thanks for listening.
[00:01:02] And if you're in the neighborhood, we invite you to participate in person in the life that finds
[00:01:07] its epicenter at St. Paul's Lutheran Church 210 East Pleasant Street in O'Connor, Wisconsin.
[00:01:24] Welcome to Christ In All Things. I am Pastor Lance ODonnell. I'm Pastor Jason Schockman
[00:01:30] and we are here with a special guest, none other than Jackie Marie Meyer.
[00:01:38] But your whole name is Jacqueline. Correct. Marie Meyer. Yes. One of the great things
[00:01:47] about this podcast for us, Jackie, is we get to know members of the congregation better.
[00:01:54] So this is a treat. And it was a bit of a, we came up with these questions that we ask
[00:02:02] a couple years ago, but they have proved to be a great conversation starter
[00:02:09] all over the place. And we've been eager to talk with you and also with your husband later.
[00:02:17] And we decided, you know, because David is in many respects everywhere that we would start with you
[00:02:24] because he's everywhere. And you are also but in a much more diminutive way.
[00:02:34] In a much more diminu- Yeah, a little bit more of you.
[00:02:38] And let's be fair. We actually decided that in season two when it came to interviewing
[00:02:44] husbands and wives, we were going to interview the wives first. Yes. And the husband second.
[00:02:51] Why did we decide to do that? Because we like Jackie better than Dave.
[00:02:58] But that's going to apply to some other couples that we have on tap to interview as well.
[00:03:02] Well, isn't that generally the case? I'm sure people that meet me and Carrie say,
[00:03:06] yeah, I like Carrie better. Well, so Jackie, sorry for the banter, but welcome. We're
[00:03:11] delighted to have you. Thank you. So back to these questions.
[00:03:15] You get to start with the questions. Yeah, so we always have two questions.
[00:03:20] And you know what those questions are. We've forwarded them to you ahead of time
[00:03:25] so that you would know for our audience the two questions are, what is your name? What does it
[00:03:30] mean? And second, what are the top three to five things that have formed you into the person
[00:03:36] that you are? But let's start with your name. What's your name?
[00:03:42] Jacqueline Marie. Jacqueline Marie. Do you know why that name was chosen for you?
[00:03:49] My mom liked the name. She actually named me after Jackie Kennedy. There you go.
[00:03:55] But she did not like the French spelling. Okay. And so then she saw the way
[00:04:01] Jacqueline Smith, the actress spelled it and she liked that. So she used that spelling.
[00:04:05] Okay, so you got the Jacqueline Smith spelling. Yeah. Okay. Yes, the American spelling.
[00:04:10] The American spelling. Okay. Right, right, right, right. What does Jacqueline mean?
[00:04:14] It means, well, it depends actually. But primarily it is French but through the Hebrew root.
[00:04:22] So Jacqueline, which is actually from the Hebrew root of Jacob or Jacob. Oh, yeah. Which means
[00:04:31] supplanter. Or he grasps at the heel. Right, or deceiver. Right? Yeah. So you have this
[00:04:40] beautifully feminine light name of Jacqueline or Jacqueline, which has this really kind of
[00:04:49] nefarious meaning of supplanter power in that, right? Tenacity in that grasping at the heel.
[00:04:58] Did you know Jackie, your name was a powerful and tenacious name? No. Now you do.
[00:05:05] So there's a story she liked Jacqueline from Jackie Kennedy but she didn't want the French
[00:05:12] spelling of it. Okay. Correct. Interesting. All right. Any other story behind that name?
[00:05:17] No. Okay. How about your middle name? So my grandma's name was Marie. Okay. My mom's middle
[00:05:24] name is Marie and my other grandma's middle name is also Marie. So two grandmas and a mother
[00:05:31] and a daughter all share the same middle name. That's pretty cool. Okay. Yep. So do you know
[00:05:37] what it means? No. Okay. Here's another one of those Hebrew roots that goes through some
[00:05:43] transition. It could be Hebrew root but through its Egyptian influence, right? Miriam. Oh, sure. Right.
[00:05:54] Which would be from its Egyptian root would be beloved. From its Hebrew root it would be
[00:06:02] rebellious or potentially wished for child. Okay. So you've got a supplanter who is rebellious
[00:06:11] and both names Jacqueline the way you spell it and Marie are the diminutive of its root name.
[00:06:22] Okay. So both of them in short form are tenacious and rebellious in their supplanting
[00:06:35] that which doesn't at all. It doesn't really all totally seem to well our understanding of who
[00:06:40] you are. Maybe the next question is going to totally shake that for us. I think it might.
[00:06:49] Good. So you thought about the other thing. What are the top three to five things that formed
[00:07:00] you as a human being? Well, I think the first thing that happened was actually when I was born.
[00:07:11] When I was born, I was completely swollen from head to toe.
[00:07:16] Swollen. Swollen. My hands, my feet, my eyes were swollen shut for the first two to three days
[00:07:23] after I was born. Okay. And they did some testing and found out that I have something
[00:07:28] called Turner syndrome. What's it called again? Turner syndrome. Turners. Okay. And so it's a
[00:07:36] chromosomal congenital syndrome. And so that came with a lot of medical issues that
[00:07:49] sometimes pop up that you have to deal with. So is this a genetic thing that you found or is it
[00:07:54] just? Yeah. Well, you said it's chromosomal. Okay. Right. Right. It just sort of happens. They don't
[00:08:00] know. I don't think they really know why. Okay. But so part of my chromosome is either just
[00:08:07] damaged or missing. Oh, interesting. And which is why I'm at huge height of four, ten and a half.
[00:08:13] Yeah. Okay. And infertility and thyroid problems that I have to deal with, but
[00:08:24] I've been very blessed that I haven't had a lot of the problems that I could.
[00:08:28] On the thyroid side? In general. In general. Okay. Yeah. I could be looking at multiple organ
[00:08:34] failure. Oh, wow. Liver, kidney. I'm at high risk for aortic dissection and aortic cordication.
[00:08:43] Good gravy. Yeah. Okay. And I thought I was happy just to be alive. You have, no, you have a
[00:08:50] brother or sister if I remember rightly. Yes, I have an older brother and a younger sister.
[00:08:54] Older brother and a younger sister. Okay. So I imagine your parents are,
[00:09:01] you come out and you are swollen. They're surprised. The diagnosis occurs
[00:09:09] sometime later or fairly quickly? Or do you have any idea when? It was fairly quickly.
[00:09:15] They knew before they left the hospital. Okay, that you had Turner. Okay. And so
[00:09:21] when did they, interesting, when did they start talking to you about it?
[00:09:25] I guess I just, they never really didn't talk about it. Oh, sure. It was just
[00:09:35] part of life. Sure. It was just, to my parents' credit, they never,
[00:09:43] they never treated me different. Yeah. You know, the doctor said, oh, she'll never go to college.
[00:09:49] She won't be able to drive a car. She won't be able to do this, that and the other thing.
[00:09:53] That's what they told your parents? Yes. Oh, wow. Very hopeful. Yes. Me being tenacious said,
[00:09:58] I'm going to do that anyway. Yeah. So it's interesting the name fit. Now, had they picked
[00:10:04] the name ahead of time before? I don't really know. I think they must have. Okay. I'm suspecting
[00:10:10] they did. Okay. Yeah. That's, now, that's fascinating. So they, this was part of your
[00:10:17] reality. So you said there's thyroid issues, there's fertility issues. So
[00:10:25] you knew from fairly early on that you were going to have infertility issues? Right. I found
[00:10:33] that out when I was 10. When you were 10? If I may, how did you take that?
[00:10:40] That was very hard. Yeah. Because I always wanted to be a mom. Yeah.
[00:10:50] And I pretty much stopped being upset about it when my mom's like, well, Jackie, you can adapt.
[00:10:56] That's interesting. Like, oh yeah. Now, what if, I mean, what a wonderful thing,
[00:11:02] A, well, I'm sure we're going to talk about that a little bit later. What a wonderful thing,
[00:11:06] for your mom. And kind of fascinating to me, Pastor Shockman, that response as a 10-year-old.
[00:11:17] Were you 10 when you kind of went, oh, okay. Yeah. Nice. Yep. She knew I was upset about it and
[00:11:25] she's just like, well, think about it. She's like, you can just adapt. Like, okay, yeah.
[00:11:30] Yeah. That's the childlike faith. For sure. That just goes, okay.
[00:11:39] Right? I mean, it's a totally different ball game. It reminds me a little bit of your
[00:11:48] reaction. You were a little bit older when you found out you're diabetic.
[00:11:52] Yeah. So I was 16 and I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic. And my pastor came in with this
[00:11:57] tract, this little trifold that said why and handed it to me. And I handed it back to him.
[00:12:06] He's like, you might want to save that. You might want to read it later. I said,
[00:12:09] Pastor, I don't need to know why. Here I am. Let's go. Right? I don't need to know why.
[00:12:20] God has a plan and he has this well in control. I'm not the one in charge.
[00:12:25] And there's a way for me to live and manage this and endure. And that'll be okay. So
[00:12:31] I don't know what God has in store because of this, but he certainly does. And I trust that.
[00:12:39] That's a, forgive me. Yeah. That's a really fascinating answer for a 10-year-old.
[00:12:44] It is.
[00:12:49] For us, standing on the outside watching you and your family and how you operate
[00:12:54] in the life of the church. Oh, okay. Of course. Okay. That's fascinating.
[00:13:02] And it's an answer that's filled with hope. It really is. It's an answer that's full of hope.
[00:13:08] Did you waver in that? I mean, so it's one thing to say it as 10.
[00:13:13] But then puberty comes and later does that become a different challenge later?
[00:13:19] Um, not really. It became hard when all of my friends started getting married and having
[00:13:27] all their kids and we're still in the adoption process. And it was like, okay,
[00:13:35] you know, you just, you start going, okay, when is this going to happen? But
[00:13:40] you just know what's going to be in the right time and it's going to be perfect and
[00:13:44] just waited and... Yeah, that adoption process can be laborious. I can't comment on that at all.
[00:13:52] Because I've never gone through it. But both of you have. Both of us, both of us have.
[00:13:58] You know, I was thinking of you guys the other day. I know there's a Lutherans for Life has
[00:14:03] an adoption conference coming up. Oh. And I wish I would have thought to tell you
[00:14:09] that, but there's a Lutheran adoption conference somewhere. I think it's in Texas. I'm sorry that
[00:14:14] I didn't think of it to tell you guys in any case. So that's number one for you was
[00:14:22] you were born with Turner syndrome. Okay. What's number two?
[00:14:27] I would say, you know, my family, their faith, we always went to church and
[00:14:38] we had a great pastor growing up. He actually confirmed my mom, married my parents,
[00:14:47] baptized all three of us, confirmed all three of us, did two of our weddings.
[00:14:54] Okay. And when I was born at the hospital, of course my mom was like, oh my goodness,
[00:14:59] what's going on? You know, worried about the future, what was going to happen.
[00:15:04] And pastor just shook his head and said, no, she'll be fine. Watch out for this one.
[00:15:09] She's a little lunge in that could. That's a key. Hey, that's a keeper of a line.
[00:15:16] Yeah. And that'll be the intro clip.
[00:15:19] That's great.
[00:15:23] Watch out for that one. So tell us a little bit more about your family. I mean, so
[00:15:28] your family are Christian people. Yes. They're going and so you but you said
[00:15:35] your the pastor who baptized you was also confirmed to your mother. Yes. That'll happen.
[00:15:41] So that happened. Did that happen prior to marriage after marriage? How did that all work?
[00:15:48] Well, when my mom was younger at the normal age, she was confirmed and...
[00:15:53] Oh, okay. So that was your, this was your, your mother's family parish?
[00:15:58] Yes. They were served by one long-term pastorate.
[00:16:04] Yeah. Okay. And the beauty of that is phenomenal in that you get the same pastor who's known you
[00:16:12] since you were a kid who officiates at your wedding, who's then there to baptize your kids,
[00:16:18] who's then there to confirm your kids when it's time for that generation to reach that right of
[00:16:23] confirmation. And the way a pastor gets to, I'll say it this way, stink like his sheep
[00:16:33] over that long tenure is a beautiful thing and it doesn't happen very often these days.
[00:16:38] Right. That's good. Good for you.
[00:16:41] That's wonderful. And that's when Jackie, when you talked about the faith of your family,
[00:16:48] it was, it struck me immediately that the first thing you talked about was the pastor
[00:16:55] that had kept Christ before you that had fed you Word and sacrament as a family.
[00:17:02] Yeah. And that was pretty central to your family's life in the church.
[00:17:09] Yeah, it was definitely. Was the relationship with that pastor?
[00:17:16] So you guys were, every, you guys were going to church every Sunday? Were you, what other stuff
[00:17:22] were you, were you involved in other stuff church-wise growing up?
[00:17:25] Not too much church-wise. Well, my dad, he was on boards and stuff like that.
[00:17:35] My mom was more behind the scenes. Just helping out here and there with whatever needed.
[00:17:44] Okay.
[00:17:47] My sister was, she did ballet. Okay.
[00:17:51] And so she was very involved with her ballet group. Gotcha. All right.
[00:17:55] So they did a lot of that. My dad helped build the sets. My mom helped make the costumes and
[00:18:01] I would be my sister's assistant during the show because she'd have to make quick changes and
[00:18:08] I'd help out in the front of the house ushering or whatever was needed. So
[00:18:13] what were you into as a kid just out of curiosity? I liked choir. Oh, okay. Like to sing?
[00:18:20] Okay. Yep. I liked choir. My sophomore year, I had the opportunity to
[00:18:27] actually go to Carnegie Hall and sing in Carnegie Hall. How cool is that? Yeah, it's wild.
[00:18:32] Yeah. So what did you guys sing? Mozart's Requiem. Oh, wow. That's a fun piece.
[00:18:39] Yeah. I was in Carnegie Hall as a college student, which was great. How cool would that be to actually
[00:18:45] be in there? I mean, I was obviously in a seat but be up there on stage. So wow, good for you.
[00:18:53] What else did you get to do in New York while you were there?
[00:18:57] We went to the Statue of Liberty, which I was on the back of the boat because
[00:19:06] there's a little ferry that takes you across to go. And I was just taking pictures of the
[00:19:12] skyline and I actually have this beautiful photograph of the Twin Towers. Oh, yeah.
[00:19:19] What year were you there? 92. Oh, sure. 92 or 93. Yep. Probably not possibly imagining that
[00:19:27] they wouldn't stand less than a decade later. They wouldn't be there. So are you still singing?
[00:19:33] I should get back into choir, but I haven't in a while due to work and busyness.
[00:19:42] I know this choir that's always looking for members. Yeah, people that like to sing
[00:19:47] and that have a little bonus if you've got a little experience. Yeah. So here's your recruiting
[00:19:55] pitch. So hey, listener, if you're around St. Paul's and you sing or you like to sing and
[00:20:01] you've sung in a choir or you've never sung in a choir, the choir is always looking for another voice.
[00:20:08] Hey Jackie, that could be you. It is something I've been thinking about.
[00:20:14] What else about your family was particularly formative?
[00:20:21] I guess I would say that just how we spent quality time together,
[00:20:27] doing things we would go on a week camping trip every year and
[00:20:33] just playing board games and just the memories of that quality time together.
[00:20:38] So I forget to ask you where was home? Green Bay. In Green Bay. Okay.
[00:20:44] So you had the whole Packer vibe going too. Oh, yes, definitely. That has got to be,
[00:20:51] I remember the first time I went up, a member of the congregation gave me a ticket.
[00:20:56] I think it was for a Monday night game versus the Falcons or something like that. And
[00:21:03] I was stunned. I'd been to a few, I didn't go to a major college, but I'd been to some
[00:21:10] major college football games. One, Wisconsin people are friendly. I mean, you go to some
[00:21:18] places and they just heckled us out of you. But there were some Falcons fans and they're
[00:21:24] drinking beer with the Packers fans and everybody's in snow appeal suits. It was such an interesting vibe.
[00:21:32] Yeah, I've been to a Browns game at Lambeau Stadium. At Lambeau Field. Yeah. At Lambeau Field.
[00:21:38] Yeah. That's an experience. So do you get being from Green Bay? Do you get tired of talking
[00:21:46] about the Packers all the time? No. It's part of the deal. Just used to it. Yeah. Okay. So was
[00:21:53] your family involved in that at all? Like did you have a front yard that you rented out to people
[00:21:57] and made money or? No, we didn't live close to the stadium. So, okay. No, we didn't do that.
[00:22:03] But yeah, I mean, a lot of people make some decent money. Oh yeah. Doing that. For our
[00:22:09] listeners who are outside of Wisconsin, they're people that rent their front lawns to tailgaters
[00:22:13] and they pay their annual taxes and then some. Just by having people park on their lawn.
[00:22:22] Yeah. Yeah, it was funny. David and I went to the Indy 500 and
[00:22:27] people were parking on lawns and stuff like that. And I commented to Dave, this feels like Packer
[00:22:32] Game Day. There you go. Familiar territory. Familiar territory. So we've got,
[00:22:38] you were born with Turners. You've got your faith that from a young age has been a stable staple,
[00:22:47] a stable staple for you. The family time and the quality time, the way your family spent
[00:22:54] time encouraging one another. That's three. What's the fourth or what's the next thing
[00:23:04] that you think really formed you into who you are? I think it was coming here. I definitely have
[00:23:13] grown in my faith by coming here and going to the Bible studies and I've learned a lot.
[00:23:19] I think that's definitely formed me. So you came here as a married woman, right?
[00:23:27] What year did you get? You and Dave come to St. Paul's? 2004, 2005.
[00:23:33] So I assume, no, I assume you two met at, was it UW Green Bay? Or something? Okay.
[00:23:41] Dave was at school at UWGB. Okay. All right. And were you in school?
[00:23:46] No, I was done. You were done. Okay. All right. So all right, I want to hear the story.
[00:23:52] How did you two meet?
[00:23:56] Your typical Wisconsin story we met at a bar. Yeah. Okay. So do you remember the name of
[00:24:02] the place? Confetti's. Nice. Does it still exist? No. Okay. Typical Wisconsin story.
[00:24:10] They met at a bar that no longer exists. Yeah.
[00:24:15] Okay. So you were finished with school? Yes. David's at UW Green Bay? Yes.
[00:24:22] So what were you doing at the time? So I went to NWTC for medical assisting.
[00:24:30] And I had graduated and was already working as a medical assistant at Pravea Clinic. Okay.
[00:24:39] So you were just out at the bar one night? Yeah, my friend from high school called me out of the
[00:24:44] blue and is like, I'm in town for Thanksgiving. Let's go do something. And I'm like, okay. And
[00:24:51] we were just sort of there and started talking and the rest is history. Well, no, not
[00:24:57] no, I want to know. That's not even close to enough because you know,
[00:25:00] listener, you need to understand Dave Myers, one of our elders and we work really closely with him
[00:25:06] on a on a we work really closely with him on a whole host of things. So
[00:25:11] having a little background on how he actually met his wife, you know,
[00:25:17] it's gonna come in handy. This is actually important to us. It is. And it's gonna come in
[00:25:23] handy. So you're at the bar, you're at the bar with your friend. You haven't seen her in a while.
[00:25:29] You guys are talking and chatting enjoying getting reconnected and this rather short guy walks in
[00:25:38] and walks right up to you and says hello, like how did that work? Well, so we were at this,
[00:25:45] we were at confetti's at the beginning of the night. And so in Green Bay, they have
[00:25:50] Washington Street, which is just lined with bars one bar after another. Yeah,
[00:25:55] great place to do a beer crawl. Yeah, that's what people do. And so
[00:26:01] it was the beginning of the night. We're like, well, let's leave. So we laughed and at the end
[00:26:04] of the night, we came back and that's when he saw me. And yeah, we started talking and
[00:26:12] he just cracked me up. I'm like, you can't be serious. He just made me laugh really hard.
[00:26:17] And and by the end of the night, he's like, he's like, you have to give me your phone number.
[00:26:22] And I'm gonna call you. Way to step up, buddy. So how many how many movies did he quote?
[00:26:33] I don't remember. Multiple is my guess. Probably. Yeah. We speak fluent movie quotes.
[00:26:40] Yes, movie quotes are a staple in the Meyer household. I like it. I like it. So coming to
[00:26:47] St. Paul's shaped you in that you started making Bible study a regular habit, right? You started
[00:26:54] growing in your faith even more. What else about life together at St. Paul's really
[00:27:00] shaped you into who you are? I guess I would say just being part of everything,
[00:27:09] being able to help out in different areas. You know,
[00:27:15] you know, I work at the daycare now and being able to help in that way
[00:27:19] and work there is great. Just being part of things being part of the community. Yeah.
[00:27:27] You know, I think it's time for us to have a break when we come when we come back from our
[00:27:32] break. What what you just said, Jackie strikes me, you know, it's something that came up
[00:27:37] in other conversations. The importance of participation has become a big issue because
[00:27:42] we've been doing this research on friendship and in the problem of loneliness in our country.
[00:27:51] And one of the big, the big takeaways from the social research that we've done is that
[00:27:57] people who are active in church, not just not just to go into church even on Sunday, but
[00:28:03] participate in the life of the congregation are statistically and dramatically more likely
[00:28:11] to be happier, healthier, vibrant, all that stuff. To not die from all causes.
[00:28:17] Amongst other things. All right. So when we come back for part two, I want to pick up
[00:28:22] on that with this conversation with you and talk about participation in church life because my
[00:28:27] sense is people have got a lot to learn from you in your family.
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