Christian recording artist, author and speaker, Tammy Trent, joins Molly Messer to candidly share her testimony of the power of God’s restoration, healing, and hope after the tragic death of her husband while on a mission trip. After stepping away from her career for a year, Tammy returned to the stage as a featured speaker and performer at the Extraordinary Women’s Conference and subsequently joined both the Women of Faith Tour for 4 years and The Revolve Tour for teen girls for 2 years. Her bold decision to transparently share her testimony changed the trajectory of her life and career as she has ministered to women of all ages across the globe. In this interview, Tammy shares her journey and how God’s love and faithfulness can bring healing in any circumstance. For more information about Tammy, her music, books and tour information visit www.tammytrent.com.
Photo credit: www.tammytrent.com
-
Life Lessons from a Fern
I recently spent a long weekend with a friend in her new home. When I arrived I was thrilled to see all the beautiful trees and birds in her yard. Majestic live oaks and tall pine trees; cardinals and blue jays – I was in my element. I quickly spotted one of my favorite plants covering the sturdy branches of a very old live oak tree – the resurrection fern. Recent rains had brought many of these little ferns back to life after a dry winter.
One of the reasons that I love this little fern is because it has an amazing ability to overcome the harsh conditions of winter. How does it do that? It dies – or at least appears to be dead. The dry air of winter desiccates the fronds of the fern; they shrivel and become brown, giving the appearance of death.
Appearances can be deceiving. To the untrained eye, these little plants appear to be dead; however, they are anything BUT that. Indeed, with just a little bit of rain or humidity, they spring forth from apparent death into refreshing life.
I am enamored by this little plant because it provides the perfect analogy of the difficult times in my life and my daily struggle with mental illness. Depression, anxiety and relentless mood swings easily overwhelm me and seem to suck the very life out of me. Much like those desiccated ferns, my hope dries up and I feel like I have become lifeless. The harsh conditions bring me to a place where all seems lost.
Through the lens of mental illness, death appears to be much more inviting than the pain of living through these hopeless dry seasons. Naturally, from that dry place of hopelessness, it is not difficult to come to a point of desiring nothing but death.
In Ezekiel 37, God brings the prophet to the Valley of Dry Bones – a place of death and complete hopelessness. The purpose of bringing him to such a place was so that God could show Ezekiel that even from such places of death and despair, life can be brought forth. Even when all we see seems to be dead, like that little resurrection fern, God has the power to raise new life from the most hopeless conditions.
The most difficult hurdle of mental illness is seeing outside of the mire that we are in – finding hope in the apparent hopelessness of our circumstances. Today, I am here, on the side of life, to encourage you that there IS hope. The power of healing rain is on the way and new life will spring forth for you.
Ezekiel 37:5 – “This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.”
Photo credit: https://alchetron.com/Pleopeltis-polypodioides#-
-
Rays of Light
On a Sunday afternoon several years ago, I went to the beach for my church’s beach baptism. The event seemed like a perfect opportunity to get in some long past due snorkeling time, so I got to the beach an hour or so beforehand to spend some time alone in the water. Some things had been weighing heavily on my mind and heart and I needed some time to search for peace.
Being a marine biologist, snorkeling and diving gives me great joy. There are very few things I find more peaceful than gliding through the water listening to the rhythmic sound of life eminating from the creatures of the ocean. I feel as though I am in my element.
This particular beach is one of my favorite snorkeling spots because drifting with the strong current as it sweeps parallel with the shore can give you the sensation of flying through the water. The currents and water clarity often attract a greater variety of creatures than would be typically found in the water off a beach.
In great anticipation of my “water time”, I put on my fins and headed out to deeper water where the lush seagrass carpets the bottom. I swam south against the current so that farther up the beach I could turn around and drift with the current back to where I started.
One of the most magnificent things that I had ever seen at this beach was a school of 5 spotted eagle rays; but that was years ago and although schooling fish may frequent an area for awhile, their transient nature left no guarantees of repeat performances. Still, each time I snorkeled there, I hoped that I might see some again.
This particular day while snorkeling, I saw some interesting things; a jawfish tidying up the “front porch” of its burrow, an urchin with unusually artistic camouflage composed of sponges and coral, and quite a few snappers darting around. Knowing that I had limited time to spend in the water, I looked impatiently for something really fantastic before I had to get out, but it didn’t show up.
Feeling disappointment setting in, I turned around and started to head back to shore; drifting with the current and taking my time to look around as I “flew” over the seagrass. Although the snorkeling was a good distraction, my heart was still weighed down with burden. I prayed that God would make His presence known to me; I really needed to feel Him close that day.
With those eagle rays in the back of my mind, I challenged God to show Himself to me in a clear and tangible way. In my mind I told Him that I needed to see Him in THAT specific way, “…let me see an eagle ray today God.”
I continued on my way back to shore getting into shallower waters, where one would not typically see an eagle ray; not believing that God would actually rise to the challenge. The closer I got to shore, the more disappointed I felt. “God, you let me down again.” I complained in my heart.
Then, just a few minutes after I prayed, I looked to my left and saw a “poof” in the seagrass below and a trail of bubbles heading north, running with the current. This was a tell-tale sign that something was just there, so I started to look for it. I followed the trail a bit and as I looked ahead of me, I saw it; an eagle ray! I began to follow it, drinking in its graceful, seemingly effortless movement through the water. Suspended in the current, I watched in awe when suddenly another one came up next to me on the left and followed the first one, heading down current.
Now I was really excited, and as I continued to swim with the first one, the second one banked off to the left. As I watched the second eagle ray turn away, I saw yet ANOTHER eagle ray at the edge of the visibility zone, turning around and heading south into the current! Giving a couple of swift kicks, I followed the first one that I spotted for a little bit longer as it swam off into the distance.
That day, I challenged God and at the point when my unbelief began to overwhelm me, He showed me how weak my faith was. In those moments of disappointment, I gave up on God, but He did not give up on me. Instead, God made His presence known to me in a very real and personal way. Not only had He given me the gift of one eagle ray, but He delighted me with the presence of three; the perfect number to drive His point home. God, the Father, was with me and He reminded me with the the second and third eagle rays that Jesus, His Son, and the Holy Spirit were there as well. Those three eagle rays were like rays of sunlight into my troubled world, rejuvenating my weary soul.
I was amazed and stunned at the goodness of God, as if I didn’t already know about it. Once again, He made me keenly aware of how deeply He loves me by showing me a glimpse of His glory. As I watched that last eagle ray disappear into the blue-green landscape, I could see praise trailing from its wingtips as it “flew” through the water.
I believe that if God were to show us all of the incredible things about Himself, we would be crippled and blinded by the sight. Instead, God shows us His glory in glimpses, so that we might get just a taste of how awesome He is.
“Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is that man who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8
-
Twilight
“It’s almost dark; twilight.” my dad said as he gazed out the window from his hospital bed. I waited for him to say something more. There was always a purpose behind what he said. “Do you know what twilight is?” he asked. “Hmmm?” I replied and his lesson began. As the dim light faded into night, he told me that twilight is that period of time after the rising or setting of the sun when one sees the stars most clearly. It is the best time to take a navigational bearing to ensure that you are on the right course. “Do you know the difference between morning and evening twilight?” he quizzed me. I admitted that I did not. In fact, I didn’t even know that there were two “types” of twilight. Sensing something profound was about to come from him, I leaned in and listened intently. I wanted to glean as much wisdom as I could. The time of his passing was coming near. He continued his lesson and I learned that “evening twilight” is the optimal time to take bearings because there are more stars visible. At the end of his lesson, he paused. Then, pointing his finger at me, he said, “Remember that! You might need it some day.” I looked at him, he winked and the lesson was over. Given the conversation that we had about twilight only a few weeks before, it seemed only appropriate that he passed from this world to the next through the veil of morning twilight. Since that morning, I have remembered our conversation many times, although, probably not with as many details as he would have wanted. What continues to nudge at my heart is that “twilight” is when we see the most clearly; that moment that we can get our bearings and continue on a right course. There is clarity in the twilight between life and death; in those brief moments as one event transitions into another – when the weight of your life hangs in the delicate balance between mortal and immortal. By that time, one is a seasoned sailor and the significance of everything you do and say is so much greater. It is easier to find meaning in each moment; there are so few left. Although it seems odd, I found great clarity in those last “twilight” weeks between my father’s life and death. Perhaps it is because I was only dealing with one event at a time. But in the transition between of his death and the continuation of my life, I struggled to find “twilight” clarity. You see, after my dad passed away, my life had been in a constant state of transition. A seemingly never-ending sequence of compounding events tossed and tumbled me like waves of the sea. I tried to stay afloat while moving from one event to the next but having missed the twilight, I was unable to take new bearings. I was drifting off course – uncertain of my direction and purpose.
I wish that I could say that I quickly dug deep into my faith and found something to hold on to; but the truth is that I had been drowning in my tears of brokenness. But at the moment that it seemed as though I could no longer stay afloat, my heavenly Daddy stepped in to buoy me up and to set me back on course.
The words to a hymn called Solid Rock rose to the surface of my mind:
“When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, My Anchor holds within the veil.” No matter how many more unexpected transitions hit me, the one thing that will never change is the goodness and grace of God. It is a lesson that I have re-learned many times, but now I have a “twilight” perspective – a moment of clarity. I am reminded that in that moment of clarity, if I just look up instead of around me, I can get my bearings, reset my course and move forward again. “We have this hope as an anchor or the soul, firm and secure.” Hebrews 6:19
