Running into Tammy Faye

So sad to hear about Tammy Faye Bakker's death. I heard someone today say she walked a fine line between being an icon and a caricature. Yep, that's how I'd have to describe her. Her larger-than-life personality made it almost impossible not to be drawn to her.

First there was the make-up. Estee Lauder, Maybelline and the folks who make clown make-up were all able to retire early thanks to her liberal use of the stuff. Seriously, one of the funniest t-shirts ever had two black smears on it, a slash of red and two spots of peach. It said "I ran into Tammy Faye at the mall." I'm sure old Tammy Faye even had a chuckle over that one.

Second, her unwavering passion for Jesus. She was one tough lady. She endured the PTL scandal and her husband's infidelity. Two husbands in jail. Tough times with her kids. Cancer. But she never missed an opportunity to keep sharing the gospel message and how much her faith had sustained her. I saw a clip of her from Larry King Live (taped the day before she died) and she was still praising God. And she looked really, really bad. Kate says she weighed 65 pounds. Really tragic.

Third, her phoenix-like ability to keep rising from the ashes. And her gutsiness for appearing on "The Surreal Life." And making friends with legendary porn star, Ron Jeremy. I never watched that show (yes, I'm surprised, too), but she probably encouraged a lot of people to re-examine their opinion of Christianity by moving more towards center and being transparent about the challenges she's faced.

Now I'll never get a chance to see her in person. I had heard (from my mom) that she was building a home in Loch Lloyd and the folks at my parent's retirement community were all excited because they wanted to have her be a guest on their little closed circuit tv station. Turns out she had already moved to KC and I missed I don't know how many opportunities to have a chat with her. But, there's always heaven. I'm putting her on my list of people I'm going to go visit. Who else is on my list? The Holy Trinity (I hope I don't have to make three separate appointments), the Apostle Paul, Moses, Harry Truman, my grandmother Spainhower. With my luck, they'll be part of those five people I WON'T meet in heaven. But if they're not there, chances are pretty good that I won't be there either.