- Joined
- Feb 9, 2004
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Tammy Trent is facing a new decade of her life with determination. Not allowing her life's greatest tragedy - the loss of her husband - to end her hope in life, she sings about how she's "stronger" than ever thanks to God, and wants to inspire other women with that message.
Tammy was Christian radio favorite in the late 90s just before her husband of 11 years, Trent, died in a 2001 diving accident while the couple was vacationing in Jamaica. Tammy's road of recovery and grief has been long, but she's found healing in the retelling of her story. Since her husband died, she has written two books about her experiences, recorded an album and has been a featured speaker and performer at both Women of Faith and The Revolve Tour.
This summer she released a new album, Stronger, and shared with Everyday Woman the story of how her husband's walk with God encourages her even in his absence:
EW: You've said that your husband was interested in your spiritual growth even from early on. In what ways did he foster that growth?
TT: "I can close my eyes right now and remember specifically being at our home in Brentwood where I went into the study. And Trent had these beautiful bookshelves along one wall .... And I remember going in there and just picking up a book -- to be honest with you it was a book on anger at that time ... it was kind of spiritual guide how to manage anger and frustrations in your life -- and started reading it, and I remember Trent coming into the room, he was looking for me, probably had a devotional on one side and a Bible on the other surrounding me. He walked in and looked at me and said, "Oh honey, I'm so proud of you. I'm going to leave now - you stay here." It was like, "Oh my gosh, she's reading! She's doing a devotional!" Watching his wife interested in the things of God and growing and facing issues in my life head-on really thrilled him. He didn't want to disturb me because it wasn't often he found me in the study reading. (laughs)
"Ever since I was a little girl dating him at the age of 15, he had a genuine heart for the things of God. He went to a very big public school. Trent was this big football player and wrestler, a big physique already at the age of 15. They had big plans for him in the football field and the track field. He was really fast. When he came to faith, our church had a school, and he felt totally called to lay everything down and go to this school. He felt like God was calling him into leadership.
"He was such a leader at that school. He sacrificed everything but never looked at it like 'poor me.' He looked at it as an incredible opportunity. He was just a cool guy, full of life and fun, very smart, and he loved God hands down. Nothing was ever questionable about that. He never wavered in his faith.
"So naturally that overflowed into our marriage. I felt very covered ... and I think that's the one thing it hurts the most to live without. I think every day one of the first cries of my heart was, 'God, how could You see this as good for my life - the greatest covering of my life?' It's not like he was a spiritual cheerleader for me but he was a huge covering and how do you go from having that every day to you know ... I felt like I needed that. Will I be strong enough without it? Will I be able to fight for my own spiritual life, when I don't have someone in my face every day saying, 'You can't talk like that, Tammy. You can't say that.' I knew I had to make some decisions on my own. But I believe truly because of his covering and the way he taught me the things of God, it makes me want to walk with Jesus every single day because of the way Trent did."
RELATED LINK:
TammyTrent.com
Tammy was Christian radio favorite in the late 90s just before her husband of 11 years, Trent, died in a 2001 diving accident while the couple was vacationing in Jamaica. Tammy's road of recovery and grief has been long, but she's found healing in the retelling of her story. Since her husband died, she has written two books about her experiences, recorded an album and has been a featured speaker and performer at both Women of Faith and The Revolve Tour.
This summer she released a new album, Stronger, and shared with Everyday Woman the story of how her husband's walk with God encourages her even in his absence:
EW: You've said that your husband was interested in your spiritual growth even from early on. In what ways did he foster that growth?
TT: "I can close my eyes right now and remember specifically being at our home in Brentwood where I went into the study. And Trent had these beautiful bookshelves along one wall .... And I remember going in there and just picking up a book -- to be honest with you it was a book on anger at that time ... it was kind of spiritual guide how to manage anger and frustrations in your life -- and started reading it, and I remember Trent coming into the room, he was looking for me, probably had a devotional on one side and a Bible on the other surrounding me. He walked in and looked at me and said, "Oh honey, I'm so proud of you. I'm going to leave now - you stay here." It was like, "Oh my gosh, she's reading! She's doing a devotional!" Watching his wife interested in the things of God and growing and facing issues in my life head-on really thrilled him. He didn't want to disturb me because it wasn't often he found me in the study reading. (laughs)
"Ever since I was a little girl dating him at the age of 15, he had a genuine heart for the things of God. He went to a very big public school. Trent was this big football player and wrestler, a big physique already at the age of 15. They had big plans for him in the football field and the track field. He was really fast. When he came to faith, our church had a school, and he felt totally called to lay everything down and go to this school. He felt like God was calling him into leadership.
"He was such a leader at that school. He sacrificed everything but never looked at it like 'poor me.' He looked at it as an incredible opportunity. He was just a cool guy, full of life and fun, very smart, and he loved God hands down. Nothing was ever questionable about that. He never wavered in his faith.
"So naturally that overflowed into our marriage. I felt very covered ... and I think that's the one thing it hurts the most to live without. I think every day one of the first cries of my heart was, 'God, how could You see this as good for my life - the greatest covering of my life?' It's not like he was a spiritual cheerleader for me but he was a huge covering and how do you go from having that every day to you know ... I felt like I needed that. Will I be strong enough without it? Will I be able to fight for my own spiritual life, when I don't have someone in my face every day saying, 'You can't talk like that, Tammy. You can't say that.' I knew I had to make some decisions on my own. But I believe truly because of his covering and the way he taught me the things of God, it makes me want to walk with Jesus every single day because of the way Trent did."
RELATED LINK:
TammyTrent.com
