Chapter 9: Beware of Wolves

     Theresa was searching for something during this time. She was restless with her radio career. It seemed that no matter what she knew or did she was never good enough. She wanted to go work at a competing station. She heard that they had an opening on the midnight shift.  She put together an air check of music and news and different things and  mailed it with a resume. The air check took several days to get it just right. She took great pains to make this aircheck good, even using some of the music that the radio station she was applying for was playing. She wanted this job really bad.  She wanted to prove to herself and the powers that be, that she could work somewhere else.  When she found out that someone else had the job, she called and asked about it. The guy was very rude and even said that he couldn't understand a word she said.  She was hurt and mad at the same time, this was the midnight shift, a good place to sharpen your skills and learn.  She figured she didn't sound sexy enough and didn't play games to get a job there.

     During that time Theresa sank in a deep depression, her best friend Dusty had moved out west and she really didn't have anyone to talk to.  She started back to college, changing her major.  Theresa was working the morning shift while someone went on vacation, when she met someone who was a part time person who almost destroyed her life.   His name was Derrick, he worked as a part time engineer. Derrick was a religious man, quite handsome. He would talk to Theresa about the Bible and he and some friends had a home Bible study.  He said the organization that he was with had done indepth studies of the Bible for many years and he invited her to a Bible study.  It was a Friday night and her sister and the neighbor and Theresa were going skating. When they got to the skating rink, the nieghbor didn't have enough money and Theresa gave the little girl her money and went home. When she got home she went to the radio station and met up with Derrick to go to the Bible study. It was at a house not too far from the radio station, so they walked there.  Theresa found this group very nice friendly and accepting. Which later she found out was how the sucked people in to their group.  The group was there for her and Derrick played the part of the interested boyfriend perfectly.  They sang church songs , prayed in tongues and did some of the same things the people that came to the radio station did, but they were much nicer. Theresa fit in the group more than she did her own church. She was at the in-between age where some churches call it college and career.  There was not a place for her. She worked most Sunday morning and she couldn't get to church anyway. Gradually she was getting sucked into this group.  There was something inside of her pulling her saying this isn't right. She couldn't rest. The group was pressuring her to move out from her parents and move in with them. She could still work. Something was really pulling at her. Earlier the Holy Spirit was drawing her at a church service and she wouldn't totally commit her life to Christ, because she wanted to go to a concert and if she was saved she couldn't go.  Now she was in this mess.  One of the local churches was having a revival. One of the ministers came to the radio station and did an intervioew and invited her to the revival.  She went and she heard the preaching and at the end when they asked the question,"If you died tonight, where would you go?" Theresa knew her soul was in the balance so she went forward to accept Christ.  The people that prayed with her knew her dad, they talked with her about the group she was with and helped her see that what they were teaching was wrong.  Theresa felt like a burden had been lifted from her. 

     When Theresa went to work that next day she saw Derrick who invited her to do something with the group. She said she couldn't, she was tired and needed to go home.  Theresa began staying up most of the night reading the Bible and trying to make sense of what had happened to her. She never wanted to be deceived again.  She made friends with some of the Bible teachers at the radio station.  She would learn a great deal from them.  The struggle wasn't over with the group, they kept after Theresa.  Things got so bad that her parents wanted to have a deprogrammer come in and work with her. Theresa didn't want that, she wanted God to help her, not someone yelling and screaming at her.  Finally one of the bosses where Theresa worked fired Derrick for harassing some of the workers there.  Theresa began to heal from this experience and concentrate on work again. She had all but flunked out of college that term and she took a break.

     A new relationship would start soon. It was an exciting time for Theresa.