Tabitha North first met the guys who started Engage while waitressing at Carol’s Place in Forest. But about that time Tabitha got pregnant, was put on bedrest, had her baby prematurely and wasn’t able to come back to work for about a year.
When Tabitha came back to Carol’s Place, Engage, one of Blue Ridge’s men’s environments, had grown from five to about 50 guys. She was intrigued.
“I thought, ‘What in the world happened?’ Just seeing them grow, it did something in me, and it encouraged me to go back to church.”
At the same time, she went to a new hair stylist, Kim Hesse, who also went to Blue Ridge. Tabitha told Kim how she wanted to get back into church and how she wanted her children in church. Kim invited Tabitha to go with her to a study of John at Blue Ridge — Encounter.
That first night, Peggy Schaub, one of the leaders of Encounter, introduced herself to Tabitha. She said, “Tell me about your story. What’s been your journey with God?”
Tabitha told her how she had grown up in church and how she wanted to get her children involved.
“Do you have a relationship with Him?” Peggy asked.
Tabitha said it was the first time anyone had asked her that. “I said, ‘What do you mean? I’ve been baptized, I was raised in the church.’”
Peggy talked about having a relationship with and belonging to Jesus, not just believing in Him. Tabitha was ready. That night Tabitha surrendered her life to Jesus and she hasn’t looked back.
The first person Tabitha told was her mother. A Christ-follower who had seen Tabitha grow up in the church and get baptized, she was a bit skeptical.
“But if Mom were sitting here with me now,” Tabitha said recently, “She’d say that’s the night Tabitha was saved because I’ve seen her move from death to life since then.”
Tabitha wanted the people in her life to also find this joy, so she created a list of people to pray for who needed Jesus. One by one, she saw them move toward God. First her husband, then her sister Crystal, then her brother-in-law.
“Crystal just saw the change in me and she wanted it. She and her husband started to go to Encounter.”
But Tabitha’s younger sister Ashby, a teen who struggled with addiction, who was also on that prayer list, seemed far from God. Still, Tabitha believed that God was bigger than her sister’s addiction.
“I looked at her and told her, 'Look at this list. You're next,'” Tabitha said.
One day, Tabitha felt God leading her to call her sister in rehab and ask if she wanted to do a Bible study. It seemed like a crazy thing to do, but Tabitha made the call.
Ashby said yes to the Bible study and then yes to God. Now Tabitha and her two sisters and their husbands all serve at Blue Ridge.
Tabitha says her journey continues as God teaches her about faithfulness. And in ways big and small He reminds her day by day of His great love for her.
“I just pray knowing that God’s going to give me what I need. It’s like a Father taking care of His child.”
Encounter meets on Tuesdays at 7 pm. If you have never met Jesus personally, or if you know a lot about Him, but feel there's something missing, the Encounter group is for you.