The love of my life began when I was five years old.  Since then I have been wooed by my Jesus into the wilderness, to the depths and to the heights.  I am climbing the mountain and the view is glorious ya'll, glorious!

So what does this mountain called Talia's life look like? 

My Background:  I've grown up in a Christian home, accepted Christ when I was 5 and fell in love with him when I was 13 around a bonfire in Galeana, Mexico.  My dad started AIM when I was six, right around the time my sister Leah came along, so did the sibling known as AIM.  By age 13 I knew I couldn't go back, I was ruined.  I'd seen too much of the world, of its pain and of its potential.  So after college, I just walked in what I knew and joined AIM staff.  The last year was pretty rocky and at one point the Lord straight up said, Tal, there's a mountain in front of you and it's not moving, you've got to climb it.  So I did.  In the midst of it all, it's been kind of a rush.  Like rock climbers get as they climb the face of a mountain. 

My Journey: Depression is a disease that absolutely consumes the person it plagues.  All they can do is focus on themselves and their pain, and work through solution after solution on how to get out of their funk. 

My first year out of college was challenging to say the least, and I struggled with depression.  I can honestly say I experienced the dark night of the soul.  The time where it is completely black, still and alone.  I felt like I couldn't get out of this funk and that God apparently didn't want to do anything about it - regardless of how much I cried out to him. 

I had reached the utter depths, there was no light at the end of the tunnel, and I felt like I was spiraling out of control.  Then one day a couple of weeks ago, a friend's mom committed suicide.  I went to visit at the gathering house, I brought coffee over and sat and talked with another friend there.  The air was heavy and the pain was thick.  The mom had become depressed and I realized that could be me, my life had become all about me. 

The Lord spoke and said, "Talia, you can move to Atlanta (my previous plan) and that will be okay, but your life will be about you.  Or, you can choose to do the World Race, and your life won't be about you, it will be about me."

I've got to have a life revolving around the Father.  I can't have my life be about me.  At first I tried to tell God all of the things he would have to do to confirm this was the right step for me.  But then he said, No, this is about you jumping without the safety net.  So, I prayed with others, made sure I heard from the Lord, and then I jumped.  And here I am.  While I don't have everything figured out, I'm climbing along, learning technique and maturing in my faith.

My Future: 
If there is one thing I've experienced and want to know in its entirety, completely is Freedom.  I've adopted that as my mantra; freedom in Christ, freedom for the captives.  There is wholeness in that word.  That describes my future as I know it: Freedom. 

My Idosyncresies:
Everything is my favorite.  I like to get up at 5:00 in the morning.  I mix cereal with my ice cream and eat it out of a mug.  Everything is better out of a mug.  The line on the toes of my sock has to be lined up perfectly with where my toes meet my feet.  I work hard at submitting to authority.  I am competitive.  I don't notice things and am in my head a lot.  I do not think linearly.  I am obsessed with fun.  I am big on God and knowing him.  I'm not above watching a season of 24 straight through.  I am obssesed with my family and with my family worship group.