followed, their singing group, known as Point of Grace, sold more than five million albums; produced twenty-four consecutive number-one singles, two platinum records, and five gold records; and won eight Dove and two Grammy awards. They were voted the 1994 New Christian Artist of the Year and the Christian Group of the Year in 1996. As their popularity grew, Point of Grace would perform as many as twenty concerts a month. Terry was on top of the world!
In 1994 Terry married her college sweetheart, Chris. That is when a tug-of-war broke out in Terry's heart. As much as she loved the ministry of Point of Grace and the Kingdom influence it was offering her, she loved Chris more. But the professional demands of touring and recording made “loving Chris more” hard to live out.
The arrival of children further complicated matters. First there was Cole, then Luke, and finally Mallory. Like most modern women, Terry worked hard to balance her home with her career. But she confessed, “To wear the mom hat, wife hat, famous-singer hat, businesswoman hat, recording-artist hat, and be-nice-to-fans hat started taking its toll on Chris, me, and the kids. I would literally spend most of my time packing and unpacking, washing, cramming seven days of housework into two or three, and then packing up myself and the kids to leaveagain.” On one tour Terry and the kids packed sixteen suitcases to take with them.
“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-knuckledfaith, 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
In 1994 Terry married her college sweetheart, Chris. That is when a tug-of-war broke out in Terry's heart. As much as she loved the ministry of Point of Grace and the Kingdom influence it was offering her, she loved Chris more. But the professional demands of touring and recording made “loving Chris more” hard to live out.
The arrival of children further complicated matters. First there was Cole, then Luke, and finally Mallory. Like most modern women, Terry worked hard to balance her home with her career. But she confessed, “To wear the mom hat, wife hat, famous-singer hat, businesswoman hat, recording-artist hat, and be-nice-to-fans hat started taking its toll on Chris, me, and the kids. I would literally spend most of my time packing and unpacking, washing, cramming seven days of housework into two or three, and then packing up myself and the kids to leaveagain.” On one tour Terry and the kids packed sixteen suitcases to take with them.
“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-knuckledfaith, 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
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