Our tent ministry is a huge part of my growing up! I remember the heat – oh, that heat under a canvas tent was miserable! As a teenage girl, sweating like she was “sweatin’ to the oldies with Richard Simmons” was not a good look. 

HOWEVER

There were moments under that big ol’ tent that could not have happened anywhere else! 

All I can say is, “Welcome to the Wild World of Wendy!”

SO MY CHURCH (BRAT) STORY begins:

We had set up the tent in Maryland. It was hot and sticky. The kind where your hair sticks to the back of your neck (and I had long hair back then because we couldn’t cut it) and strings down as you sweat. We did wait a little later in the evening to start the service to let the hot air from the day dissipate so we could have church under the tent without passing out from the heat! So then church service would begin!

The stage was large and pretty long. We had a “curtain” set up around the back of the stage for several reasons. One was to hide all the stuff we had to stash out of the way, such as guitar cases, unused amps, etc., and two was to make it look pretty. There was a lot of stuff on stage: 

• The Hammond B3 or, in later years, a Hammond B3000 with a leslie. I loved the leslie that was in the wooden cabinet!
• Bass Guitar and amp.
• Electric Guitar and amp.
• Seats for preachers to sit on if they wanted to.
•  Last but not least, a drum set. 

It may be hard to picture, but don’t laugh; I played drums. I had a gorgeous red set of drums. We would play for hours!

Church could last 4 hours or more under the tent. People would run, jump, get prayed for, the preachers would preach, the musicians would play music, and the singers would sing! I would play drums and sing simultaneously, which I find interesting because now I cannot walk and chew gum at the same time! But we would get the music going with Debbi on the B3 and me on the drums, and church would start! 

This particular night was wild from the start. The first song was fast (Debbi and I got it going too fast, but it was fun!). The stage vibrated from the organ foot pedals, bass notes, and the loud bass guitar. I didn’t realize how much until I felt my drum set moving across the stage. I would grab it with one hand, keep playing with the other hand and drag it back to its place. This “dance” continued for at least an hour. I finally got tired of pulling it back in place and thought, “I will just end up where I end up,” and kept playing!  

BAD MISTAKE!

We were going into hour #2 when things just did not feel right, and I could not figure it out, so I just shrugged it off and kept playing.  

Before I knew it, my stool had slipped off the back of the stage. So, there I went, the stool and my snare drum right off the back of the stage. I went through the curtains, and only half of me made it to the ground. My legs were still sticking through the curtains on stage. I must have looked like the wicked Witch of the West on The Wizard of Oz when the house fell on her, and the only thing you could see was a little of her legs and her feet. At least she had on beautiful ruby slippers. I always played with my shoes off. I wore “knee highs” because my dress was long, and there was no need for the full-on hosiery. My long skirt had flipped over my head as I went down (thank goodness the curtain was there!). Can you see it? Me, a snare drum on top of me, my dress over my head, and my feet sticking out with no shoes on!

I thought it was so funny (I am dying now just thinking about it!) that I was laughing and could not help myself up. One of the “tent boys” ran over to help me, saw my feet sticking out of the curtain, and didn’t dare venture behind the curtain to help. He had to know what kind of trouble I was in and just decided, “Nope, not going back there!” He told me later he could hear me laughing over the music and the celebration that was going on under the “great tent revival!”  

I finally got myself together, pushed the snare back on the stage, and for some reason, I climbed out the same way I had went down! I didn’t think to go around like an intelligent human and walk from behind the stage.  

I got back where I could play again, and my sister, Debbi, looked at me like I had gone to the playground to swing! 

The look of frustration on her face is hilarious to think about it now! 

I looked at her with this look of amusement on my face — she was not amused! 

WHAT’S ON MY MIND?  GLAD YOU ASKED

This story reminds me of how I have been at times in my life. Knowing something was wrong, and I just tried to correct it myself and go about my business. I would keep just dragging the stuff back to the place where I thought it should be. I never stopped to see WHY the things in my life were moving, migrating to a place that they had no business being. 

THEN

Then I get frustrated. Still not stopping to see what the problem is. Then BAM, I fall. 

Proverbs 24:16 The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.

I am inconvenienced and quite vulnerable because I would not take the time to fix the problem. I know I have shown my “bare feet” to people. 

• Maybe in the way, I talked to them. 
• Maybe in the way I responded to them. 
• Maybe I was in a bad mood and didn’t care what I did or said (thankful for the new me in Jesus!). 
• Maybe I was hurt and wanted to hurt others. 

All of these things can cause me to be bare and vulnerable for all to see if they are looking. None of us can treat each other that way. We have to show the love of God in every aspect of our lives; which tells me in these times, I am not near to God like I should be.

Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Then someone comes to help, and they decide that they have problems of their own and sure do not need mine on top of that. Meaning I pushed people away. 

I didn’t want people around me, and then I was upset because I was lonely. I didn’t want to talk to people, but then I was upset because I did not have any help with my problems…you see where I am going with this? We cannot have it both ways, “Come here, go away!” Way back in Genesis, God created Eve so Adam would not be alone! We need each other.

Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

I know I cannot be the only one to feel like this. I know we all have times we are chasing things around and dragging them back to where we think they should be, only to find them drifting again. It may be a problem you cannot let go of. It may be a relationship you cannot get away from. It may be that you were being your own worst enemy. 

Let me clarify something: We all fall (fail) in our walk with the Lord. I am so thankful to have an advocate with the Father with a repenting heart, and get back on track. 

I John 2:1 My little children, I’m writing these things to you so that you don’t sin. But if you do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one.

We work hard and get back to the place that we should be. People may not understand, but you know where you have been and where you are going because you are letting the Lord be your guide! 

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Get in a place of solitude right now. Ask your spouse to watch the kids (or someone) so you can have this time alone with the Lord. Worship before we pray. Jesus has never lost a battle, and He never will, which means He has you!

PRAY THIS WITH ME TODAY (in your own words)

Lord

Thank You for always seeing me. Watching me when I begin drifting, but You never leave me. You are there to help me, and I am so thankful to You for Your saving grace.

Jesus, You defeated the darkness. You defeated death, hell, and the grave just as You promised and rose again. I trust You with my whole life. I trust You to pick me up, dust me off, and set my feet where they should be.

I love You, but Lord, help me to love as You love. I want Your love to flow from me out to others.

In Jesus Name
Amen