It was so hot in the little lodge that I felt like I could hardly draw a breath.  Sweat Lodge, indeed.  This was more like a let’s-suck-every-bit-of-moisture-out-of-you-then-some-more-while-you-try-to-pray-and-have-a-spiritual-experience lodge.  More water was poured onto the hot rocks in the pit in the center and steamed gushed upward and around us.  I was encouraged to lean down to the edge of the lodge wall and breathe in fresh air before I passed out.  Cool, sweet air…oh, what relief…

This was a way to get closer to God?  The Great Spirit?  ‘Cause it sure is hot in here!

We could only walk in one direction around the fire outside and upon entering the lodge and around the pit inside.  I do not remember everything, but I remember being worried about the details.  Would I get it right?  Would I do a part of the ceremony or actions wrong and anger someone or something?  But I’ll do my best; my dad is here and he’ll help me.  I want to try, I want a spiritual experience.

The people we met who participated in these ceremonies were so friendly and caring, seemingly unlike some of the hypocrites we had met before.   They were so in tune with the world and nature - so why couldn’t it be a perfect match with the God I had grown up with?  He created the world in seven days, we had learned.  Surely, this was the same god?  These people are so good!  How can they not get into heaven, too?  And who am I to say whether or not they will get into heaven, really?  How dare someone say for sure whether or not I was getting into heaven! 

Thoughts like these dominated my mind as I grew from high school into college.  You know, that stage in life where you have no idea who you are or what you believe in and are trying to figure it out.

I continued to compromise my morals and ethics and beliefs in my own mind, but God had His Hand on me the entire time.  Whether I was in questionable or potentially dangerous situations with men, drugs, alcohol, driving (not much to do when you live in the sticks), or what-not, I was always protected somehow.  To this day, I give my God and Savior the glory for that.  Truly amazing.  I will even say unashamedly and unabashedly that I was a virgin on my wedding day.  And that was indeed God’s protection.  I’ll probably never know how much, but I have an idea.  I never tried the drugs either - it was amazingly easy to say no and let them get over it.  I was a poster-child for the Just Say No campaign!

God’s protection there also?  Absolutely.  Look for the hindsight, people, it’s there in your life, too.  You’re reading this, aren’t you?  Perhaps He’s prompting you to look…

I held my own quiet rebellion as I headed off to that Baptist-college-I-rejected-but-God-chose.  I dressed a little differently than everyone else.  (If you know me personally and see me on a regular basis, I am sure that is hard to believe.)  My freshman year composition class I insisted on writing two papers about tattoos and the Bible.  Oh, my sweet professor, I just loved her.  What patience she had!  (She admitted I proved my thesis well.  That makes me grin even now.)  Then I would do things like help circulate a petition against the school cafeteria because the food was horrendous and they charged way too much money for it.  (I was easily let off the required meal plan the next year.  Hmm…wonder why?) 

The quiet rebellion became more permanent.  The weekend before heading back to school for my sophomore year, my mom went with me to get a tattoo.  It doesn’t get much more permanent then that.

Yes, I have a tattoo.  It’s of an angel holding a rose with a moon in the background.  I was fascinated with angels at the time.

Yes, it hurt.  But, I usually forget I even have it.  (My kids call it a “pretty picture.”)

But throughout this quiet rebellion, and my arguing and my challenging of all the Baptist-ness and Christian-ese around me, Jesus Christ was planting seeds.  There was a concert one night at the large Baptist church near campus and I was invited to go along with several of the other students and new friends.  It was a Christian group, sharing the message of salvation.  (I think they are a popular group now.)  I do not recall the words, but I remember being strongly affected.  As we walked back to the campus that night, I was so glad it was dark so no one could see my tears. 

I just wasn’t ready for surrender yet.  Pride, so much pride.

There was another event later that year - Tony Campolo if I recall correctly.  I wasn’t particularly fond of his style of communication, but at the “invitation” to surrender your life to Christ someone next to me wanted to go down to pray and asked me if I wanted to go as well.  I said, “Sure!”  I prayed the prayer of salvation, and apparently that was it.  I was saved!

Um, ok…not so much.  Pride again. 

I had only said the words.   Oh, how many times had I said the words over and over and over again over the years!  But I had not surrendered to truly letting Christ into my heart and my life, letting Him take over and walking into the freedom of a relationship with Him!  I would not know the difference for another three years. 

Oh yes, I continued to argue.  And challenge.  And observe.  And question.  And take it all in.

Then I got a job as a part-time staff organist at a Baptist church near the campus. 

God has a sense of humor with me, remember?

…to be continued…

So you may be wondering how a girl like me, if I was taken to church by my parents and my aunt during childhood, how did I end up believing there was one god over all religions and being good was good enough, among many other things?

Let me digress for a moment to explain how I got to that point.

I do have distinct memories of being in the Catholic church as a child and receiving First Communion, even being nervous about confession.  Heck, I’m pretty certain I even made up sins just to get through confession!  Hmmmm, maybe I should confess that…

I have very sweet memories of talking to my parents about Jesus, always teasing and testing when Mom would reassure us that Jesus was everywhere.  “Is he on my head, Momma?” 

“Yup!”

“Is He on my shoulders?” we giggled.

“Sure is!”

“Is He…..on the stove?”

This would continue into fits of laughter as we imagined the most silliest places Jesus could be.  Years later,  these memories would have an opportunity to rush headlong into my mind without warning. 

One hot summer day, I was leading a cave tour at that same cave I mentioned working at above.  A storm had rushed upon us and living in a tornado-prone area, I took my tour-group rather quickly into the cave - the safest place in the park. 

My group consisted of a grandmother and her five-year-old grandson.  Big group, I know.  Slow day. 

I gave the tour as confidently as I could, but I was a tad nervous trying to listen to the storm overhead and watching the light system flicker.  As expected, the lights went out at the deepest part of the cave and I handed my small spare flashlight to the little guy while I reassured them that someone would come to us shortly with a lantern and to update us on the storm. 

The grandmother then asked if I  was ok.  Way to display confidence there, Tara.  The little boy then pipes up.  “It’s ok to be scared,” he said in the sweetest little voice.

“Yup, you are right, it is ok to be scared,” I replied.

“You want to know why?” he prompted.

“Ok, why?” I said, jumping at the bait.

“Because Jesus is everywhere!” he grinned and said so excitedly.  It was contagious.  My fears about the park above being gone from whatever tornado had ravaged it while we were below had evaporated.

“You are absolutely right!”  I was flooded with memories of my own conversations about this very subject from my own childhood.

“He is on my head, on my shoulders, and beside me and everywhere!” he continued.

(I’m grinning just typing this.  I’m quite certain he is a full-fledged evangelist these days.)

At that point, I heard a rushing sound coming from the entrace of the cave.  I was certain at this point it was a tornado directly overhead, but thankfully it was only the woosh of a latern as another guide came to assist us out of the cave with more light than my two flashlights could provide. 

The storm had passed, all was well, and a little angel had tried to get my attention in a way that was familiar to me. 

Do you think I paid attention? 

Not at that moment in time, no, but it was something I never, ever forgot.  It was something that chipped away at my heart.  I may not have paid overt attention, but a part of my heart obviously noticed.

Something that my heart never forgot either were the days I spent in church as a child.  My parents or my aunt would often take us to the local Presbyterian church (Cumberland Presbyterian if you are interested in flavors) for Sunday services.  We attended off and on while growing up there.  I played piano there as well.  I would get bored, but the people there were special and loved on us and continue to do so.  (Chris and I were even married in that church.)  That was Christ planting seeds as well. 

Sometime during my senior year in high school, my parents befriended a Native American couple and began exploring that belief system.  And as any child would do, I began to explore along with them.  

Could this be the same god - the God of the Catholic church, the Presbyterian church, and the Great Spirit this Native American couple talked about?  Why not? I thought. What was so wrong with that?

And thus began my walk into what I thought were the peaceful waters of a one-god-world.

…to be continued…

My experiences during college and high school were varied.  It is probably safe to say that some even put me closer to God than others.  My brother and I worked as cave tour guides for a few summers together, and in our free time we would go to private property cave exploring, or spelunking, as some would say.  (But “spelunking” is such a wierd word to me for some reason.  I prefer “cave exploring.”  Call me strange.)  And if crawling between several tons of rock with barely centimeters to spare doesn’t make you pray a little bit, I am not sure what will. 

Oh, the adventures we had!  There was one cave that I ventured into twice with Mike.  Only twice and that was probably two times too many.  It was on a private farm about twenty minutes from home and its entrance was a pit in the middle of the woods.  We had to rappel down to the bottom and climb the pile of mud and branches further down.  Deeper into the cave, we had to rappel again and beyond that was one of the most beautiful sites I had ever seen.  It is amazing to know that only a few people have or will see such an amazing site that is below the surface of this earth. 

Hang in there, I’m getting to the point of this side journey.  This particular cave and my two trips into it have left an indelible mark on me.

We had to rappel back up the second height, make our way to the pit then work on rappelling back up that one.  At this point, I was pretty tired (no, I was not in the necessary physical shape to complete two rappels and climbs in the same trip - hindsight, remember?).  My brother and his friend left quickly for the top to notify our safety net that we were ok, otherwise they were instructed to call cave rescue if they had not heard from us by xyz time.   I was left by myself in the bottom of the cave for a bit while they did that and for them to prepare to help me up that last climb. 

It was a loooooooon little bit.

I lit a candle to save battery power.  And I sang.  Prayed to the God of all religions.  Sang hymns and Christmas songs.  (My parents and aunt always made sure we went to church so I was very familiar with church and hymns.)  Talked to myself. 

Did I mention I am scared of the dark?

It was very scary, and a bit disconcerting, but all was well.  My brother and his friend returned, and it was a joint effort to pull me out with me climbing - bats circling about me the whole way.  I collapsed at the top, then we hightailed it to the car before the coyotes could get too close.

I had an opportunity some time later to return to the same cave with my brother and my dad.  On one hand, a great bonding experience, right?  On the other, am I crazy?  Bonding happened indeed, but I think God won out on that one. 

On our way back out of the cave on that second trip, I was in worse shape and simply could not pull my own weight on the second climb up.  I had to sit on top of the pile of mud and branches and debris at the bottom of the pit while my dad and brother worked their way up the rope system, waiting for them to get to the top so they could pull me up. 

I had a friend with me.

A baby copperhead snake.

He was sitting about a yard and a half from me, curled on a branch.  Fortunately, cave temperatures stay cool consistently and he was not interested in moving.  But I do not think we ever took our eyes off of each other. 

My fear of the dark had just multipled to include bats and snakes.  Ugh.

God was indeed becoming more real to me in that moment.  He heard a lot from me that night.  I was never so glad to get out of a cave, and I have not been back in one since.  (My brother also insisted he was never taking me again until I could pull my own weight - yea, yea, yea - brothers, schmothers.)

Perhaps God was trying to get my attention?  It would have worked if I had been paying attention…  Did He have His hand on that snake?  I believe He did.  Did He calm my anxieties when I could have completely freaked out? 

You bet.  If only I had been paying attention…

But all in good time.  His timing is perfect.

…to be continued…

There is a song we started singing recently at church called “Breathe on Me” by Todd Fields, and Christy & Nathan Nockels.  From the moment I first heard it, I loved it.  Here are the lyrics:

Find me here, in this place, Son of God, saving grace
At this hour, all my days, Breathe on me, breathe on me

Morning star, shine Your light, As I walk through this life
God of power, God of might, Breathe on me, breathe on me

Forever, You are my reason for living
Merciful Savior unending, Breathe on me

When I’m weak, you are strong, Your breath in me will be my song
In You my King I belong, Breathe on me, breathe on me

Forever, You are my reason for living
Merciful Savior unending, Breathe on me

Forever, You are the God of my story
Write every line for Your glory, Breathe on me

That last part of the chorus strikes me the most.   “You are the God of my story, write every line for Your glory!”  Even before I surrendered myself to a true relationship with Christ, He was already the God of my story.  Hindsight is better than 20/20, and looking back I can see so many instances where His Hand was all over the events of my life whether it was protecting me, putting me into a position for the best opportunities, to be educated and nurtured in the best possible way, and most certainly to be surrounded by those that He would work through to tell me about Him and His ways, the Truth, if you will.  Not hypocrisy, but true Christianity.

Father God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit continue to be the God of my story, writing every line for His glory, not my own. And anytime I take any glory, any credit, it is my sin - my own mistake and mess-up -  for which I beg and receive forgiveness for.  It is a sweet confidence I have.  You can have it, too, by the way.

It all begins on the day I graduated from high school.  I had no idea where I was going to go college.   As the salutatorian of my class, I should have had big plans, huge scholarships, and a bold future.  Not this girl.  My options terrified me.  The college I rejected and laughed at the most started to appeal to me, because God has a sense of humor in my life, as you will see throughout my God-story. 

The week after I graduated, I humbly called my private piano teacher for help.  She knew the professors at that private Baptist college I rejected  about forty-five minutes from my home, and she was able to get me an audition right away.  Before I knew it, I had a music scholarship and a full academic scholarship.  See?  God was working already.  And He was laughing - I was attending the college I had sworn not to attend. 

In August, I showed up for marching band camp and quickly realized that commuting would not be realistic.  The band director pulled strings to get me into a dorm, and fellow band members mentioned a girl they had met at a church whose roommate had backed out.  She became my roommate and we are friends to this day.  In fact, four years later, she was the one who prayed with me when I surrendered my life to Christ.  See God working yet?

From the moment I entered that college, I was challenged and I challenged others.  I argued and I absorbed and observed.  I saw hypocrisy in some, but I also saw a geniune quality in others that I could not define.   I rejected anyone who pushed religion down my throat, and held to my stance that there was one God over all religions and no one had the authority to know for sure if they were going to heaven for not.  Besides, I’m a good person, why wouldn’t I get in?  I’ve gotten into everything else so far…see how easy it was to get into this school?

….to be continued…

My patience was running low, as it typically does at that time of day, especially when there is no Daddy-relief in sight.  I was fussing at G to sit down for the 1,029th time and then yelled at him to “Sit down now!”

He looked at me and said in this quiet voice, “Don’t tell me to sit down.” 

And I looked at him, surely with shock and anger and frustration at the backtalk from a 3-year-olds mouth, and said something like, “Yes, you will listen to me, I’m MOMMY.” 

And he smiles and excitedly says, “I’m G!”

All the hot air totally went out of my balloon.  Deflated. 

No more anger, too much surprise.  It was one of those moments where I had to struggle so hard to not laugh in his presence because I was supposed to be disciplining him.  *sigh* 

Wonders never cease.

Obviously, he blended in well and his ploy worked.  And yes, he was sound asleep.

I had a great weekend going to our church’s ladies weekend retreat at Epworth By the Sea at St. Simon’s Island, Georgia.  The campus and facilities there were just beautiful and our hotel room (with balcony) overlooked the river and marshes.  What a view!  Oh, I wish I had just had more time to soak it all in and enjoy the quiet of it all. 

It was definitely too short, but it would have been impossible to lengthen it.  If only time could’ve stretched for just a moment!  Leslie Nease of Survivor: China was our speaker and what an amazing lady!  She is such a blessing with an incredible testimony.  She has a speaking ministry and travels sharing her testimony and this message.  She shared how easy it is to have the “head knowledge” and go through the motions of church life and never have that relationship with Jesus that is the key to everything!  Oh, so true! 

It brought back vivid memories of that moment in time when I surrendered my life and heart to Christ.  Gosh, I even was the staff organist for a church and attended a private, Baptist college at the time.  Talk about knowing how to go through the motions!  I will never, ever forget that…I could relate, definitely.  Being “saved” (to use church-y language) is really relationship with Jesus, and what an incredible one it is.  The joy that bubbles from my heart at even trying to find the words to explain it to you is without measure.

The innumberable ways that God worked in the women’s lives at this retreat was a wonder to behold.  From the littlest ways to the ultimate - the beginnings of a true relationship with Christ, salvation of a soul belonging to Him.  Two that I know of, and many seeds planted.  It brings tears to my eyes! 

Leslie also has a blog with encouraging posts almost every day.  I encourage you to check it out!

Here is Leslie and I yesterday morning before she spoke to our high school group at church.  The t-shirts we are wearing were designed by her 16-year-old son, isn’t it amazing?!  The Chinese symbol means “courage” and the slogan says “Get Gutsy for God.”  Love it!  And what a great opportunity to explain my faith and my joy when someone asks me about my shirt.  *grin*