welcome to the truth and tallow ~
Why we’re here…
This one may be a long one, so pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and settle on in.
For years, I’ve been journaling in notebooks with the dream of one day writing a book. This site is my launching pad ~ a place to gather all the words I’ve carried for years and the ones still rising in my spirit. It’s my way of bringing it all together in one tidy, sacred space.
I believe, without a doubt, that my purpose is to share stories of deliverance ~ to shine a flashlight into the dark corners for those still held captive. I feel Isaiah 61:1 so deeply in my bones:
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
If I know anything about my Father, it’s this: He doesn’t waste a thing.
Romans 8:28 says He works ALL things together for good ~ even the mess and the hurt. People often ask, “If God is real, why does he allow evil?” I could write pages on that, but here’s the short answer: We live in a broken world. THAT is why we need Jesus.
This life can break you without hope in something better. There’s just too much pain for some of us to bear alone. If life were easy, why would we ever go looking for a Savior?
When things go well, we tend to drift. But let trouble come ~ and suddenly, we remember how to pray. You know what? That doesn’t catch Him by surprise. He knows us. He loves us anyway.
He doesn’t waste suffering. He allows what hurts to drive us toward Him. If Jesus didn’t get a free pass from pain, why should we? Hard times will come. But better days ~ and eternal life ~ are ahead. That’s the prize I keep my eyes on.
Although I haven’t been delivered from everything, I’ve certainly laid down a lot of chains, only by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now, I want to share those stories for anyone struggling in the dark, wondering if freedom is possible. I’m not here for the polished and perfect. Show me your dirty. Show me the secrets you think no one could understand. Show me the pain so deep that you can hardly catch your breath. Let’s break open those things that continue to bind us, hand them over to Jesus once and for all, and live this life that Jesus paid so greatly for…in abundance.
I’ll show you the One who can hold it...heal it...use it.
There is light. There is ALWAYS light. You just have to know where to look.
Why THE TRUTH AND TALLOW?
Tallow…because I’m country. And in the country, we use everything ~ especially when we can’t afford anything extra. We don’t waste what others throw away. Even the fat gets stretched. What once was made from scratch and homemade (which was frowned upon if you didn’t have enough money for store-bought) has now come around as being special and sacred. Not many folks cook or craft by hand anymore. Today, everything is for sale. But country people know the value of the invaluable.
Ever had a mama or grandma who washed tin foil or Zip-loc bags? I do. They remember a time when every scrap mattered because there might not be another. That little bag of chicken or turkey guts most people throw away ~ that bag is for us. We know you can boil it for the best broth or fry those little nuggets up for a snack worth bragging about.
So that’s what tallow is ~ what’s left after the refining fire. Rendered from fat. Old-school. Southern. Sacred.
It makes soap, balm, and candles. Things that clean, heal, and illuminate.
But tallow doesn’t come easy. It’s what remains after something is broken down and burned. It’s what you make when you don’t waste what hurt you.
The world says forgive and forget. I say forgive ~ and use it.
Use the very thing that was meant to destroy you to help someone else. Just like Jesus showed Thomas the scar in his palm, I want to show you mine. Not to compare myself to Him ~ Lord knows I’m nothing like Him ~ but I am hitching my cart to Him. He left glory to walk with us, to show us the way. And then he handed the work to a ragtag bunch of ordinary people. I figure there’s still room for me in that crowd.
And the truth? That’s what you find after the rendering. When all the pretty peels away. When the stories stop trying to impress. When the lies no longer stick. Then you find it ~ the marrow in the mess.
This is Southern storytelling, stripped of polish but soaked in grace. Grace for the broken. Grace for the honest. Grace for those who want the healing.
Together, THE TRUTH AND TALLOW is about what’s homemade and holy. It’s taking the scraps of life ~ pain, memory, family, mistakes, miracles ~ and rendering them down into something that shines, like a good story or a fresh candle. It’s old souls and real talk. Southern fire and sacred healing. Faith and flaw ~ every single bit of it.
A friend once told me: “Don’t be so stubborn that you keep hoeing the same rows. Learn from the ones who hoed them first. Use what they left behind as your starting point.” She’d say, “Let my ceiling be your floor.” I took that advice to heart, and that’s what I hope for here.
Like cast iron passed down through generations ~ or sacred Sunday recipes handed from one calloused hand to another ~ these stories are heirlooms. Not polished, but true. Brought from the darkness into the light of Jesus Christ, our Savior to give Him the ultimate praise for all things! For without Him, I can do nothing. But through Him, I can do all things.
So here’s to the rendered scraps, the sacred stories, and the kind of truth that sets you free.
Thank you for being here. I hope you’ll stick with me through this journey ~ and if you ever feel led to share your story, too, please do.
And they have conquered him [the enemy] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. ~ Revelation 12:11