The New Eve - Lewis Robert [30]
“It was a very hectic schedule; many of my days were planned to the minute,” Terry said. “The hour on stage was wonderful, but it was only one of the twenty-three it took to get there.”
The small nudge Terry first felt trying to manage her life as a wife, mother, and professional now grew into a raging storm. Even with courageous adjustments of paring back on concerts and touring schedules, Terry still found herself running in circles. “It just wasn't working,” she admitted. She and Chris weren't together enough. There was never enough time to focus on the kids.
And then there was the Holy Spirit. For years Terry had been increasingly aware that His voice had been asking her to focus in this season of life on her core callings as wife and mother. But to leave Point of Grace was not merely leaving a job. In Terry's words, “It was leaving an identity, a way of life. No more concerts, no more three-hour conference calls, no more flights to Nashville. Is this what God wanted?”
Terry prayed and sought counsel, but most of all, she struggled. Not with what God was telling her to do—that was now clear. No, Terry struggled with what would happen if she obeyed: suddenly being left out, falling behind, the loss of an identity and recognition, setting aside her considerable talents, and of not being able to have it all.
It was an “Eve moment.”
Terry would later say, “This was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life—to stand and go against the grain. I learned that when you do something God desires for you, it can be gut-wrenching, but a true, underlying peace drives you on.” Jesus would call it “the narrow way.” I call it living from the inside out, managing opportunity with wisdom. And so with white-knuckled faith, Terry elected to be a New Eve rather than replay for the billionth time the life of the old one. She retired from Point of Grace in March 2004.
So what drives her now? “Freedom,” she says. That internal conflict that dogged her for so many years is gone. In its place is the freedom to live life without guilt or regret. Her new life, of course, is not without its ups and downs. At times her “ordinary life” wishes for the glamour of her former one. But Terry is a woman at peace with God because she has chosen in this crucial season of life to give her best to His priorities. She is at one with what eternity says matters.
In a final good-bye in Point of Grace's e-newsletter, Heart to Heart, Terry wrote the following: “To my family … now I can wake up every single morning and go to bed every night knowing every part of your life. I LOVE being your mommy and Chris, I LOVE being your wife.”
Terry Jones … living from the inside out.
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The Power of Gender Vision
Vision energizes life. It inspires. It clarifies. It harnesses the powers and abilities of one's life and focuses them on a prescribed end. That's because vision is a forward thing. It's out there calling you ahead to new growth and fresh opportunity. A life that is called forward by a positive vision is a life of health and passionate movement. Conversely, a life that is not called forward will stagnate or fall backward into trouble. Life becomes aimless, twisted, and disoriented. Without vision people naturally tend to wander. Bad decisions follow. We all know such stories. It's the friend we visit in rehab, the coworker whose life is in constant crisis, or the sister who doesn't come around anymore.
One of Scripture's most powerful maxims says, “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained” (Prov. 29:18). The word unrestrained is worth