Tatum Z.

Today, Tatum speaks to us about smiling in NYC, the art of scheduling, a useful tool from The Navigators, and her passion for theater!

Tatum Z.

Tell us a bit about how you grew up and your childhood: I grew up in Olympia, WA. I did all my schooling there. When I was 4 years old, I told my parents that when I grew up I wanted to be a singer. Ever since then, I have been singing and taking lessons. As I grew up, it morphed from just singing into doing musical theatre! I moved to NYC because it is my passion, and I want to pursue it for the rest of my life.

Inspiring biblical passage of the moment: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9

Spiritual growth focus at the moment: I am focusing on being truthful and vulnerable with my friends. It is really easy to hide sin in your life, and I am working on talking about things I am not as comfortable with to my close Christian friends so they can pray for me and also keep me accountable!

Profession: I recently graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy with a certificate in Musical Theatre Performance. Now, I am in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe with The Heights Players, playing in Brooklyn!

If you wrote a memoir, what would the title be? Tatum Zimmerman: Gods Little Drama Queen.

When did you first encounter God and how did you encounter Him? I first encountered God when I was 7 at VBS, at my church. One of my favorite Sunday school teachers was explaining to us why Jesus died for us. I asked a lot of questions about why He did it when He didn’t have to and if I should accept a gift like that when I don’t deserve it! I was able to talk through it with someone, and I accepted Christ into my heart that summer. The fall of that same year, I got baptized in my church.

What has helped you grow spiritually in this season? Something that has been helping me a lot recently is being purposeful in my quiet time with God. The Navigators, a life-to-life discipleship ministry, has tools they teach on what to think about while you’re reading. First you stop, confess your sin to the Lord and worship Him for what he has given you. Then you look, read the text and find things that stand out to you. Next you listen, write 1-2 sentences on what you feel God is teaching you from what you just read. Finally, you respond and pray over everything you have just written and read. This helps me learn and grow every day in my walk with the Lord.

Just read/currently reading (and what has it taught you?): A couple of friends and I just started reading through Esther right now! I love this book and am so excited to read it again!

Top three essentials: Phone, mascara, leggings.

How did God speak to you recently? Recently, God has been using my friends and the people in my life to speak to me. There have been many times where I have been praying about something, and I talk to my best friend about it, and she will say something that makes so much sense and rings true to what I have been asking God to help me with. It is crazy seeing how God works!

Hobby: I really enjoy reading and writing poetry! I also love going on hikes and nature walks.

Top three practical tips for staying spiritually strong: 

Create a schedule and stick to it! Find a time every day that you can consistently open your Bible, and you can talk to God. Once you make this schedule a habit, it will be hard to break it.

It’s okay if you haven’t read in awhile. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or a week of being in the word. You can always come back to it because God is always here.

Talk about what you read with someone. If you have a best friend or mentor who is you can talk to about how Jesus is working in your life and you can pray together, they can help keep you accountable and help you stay spiritually strong.

Favorite person in scripture? Ruth because she was so faithful to Naomi to stick with her and listen to her even though she wasn’t directly her family. She obeyed without asking any questions, completely trusting Naomi and God. That is amazing!

What do you want people to learn about God when they look at you? I want people to see that being a Christian isn’t about following rules. It is about building a relationship with a God that has given you more than you deserve and loves you more than you could ever know.

How do you leave your mark on your community? I try to always have a smile on my face! Living in New York, there are a lot of people who don’t pay attention to others as they are walking places, so I always make a point to smile at people I see as I am walking to school or on the subway!

“Living in New York, there are a lot of people who don’t pay attention to others as they are walking places, so I always make a point to smile at people I see as I am walking to school or on the subway!”

Favorite holiday? CHRISTMAS

A goal you have? To be able to support myself completely by doing theatre!

A special tradition you and your family engage in or keep: Every Christmas Eve, my family gets together, and we spend all day baking cookies and watching old Christmas cartoons! We start in the morning by going to the store to get everything we need and then we get home and immediately start making the dough and getting them in the oven, so we have enough time to decorate them before dinner. After we have made hundreds of cookies, we would put them on trays and deliver them to people around the neighborhood. Friends, family and people who needed a little extra Christmas cheer during the holidays.

Question you will ask when you get to heaven? I want to ask Mary what it was like raising Jesus, knowing He was perfect. If Jesus had no sin in his life ever, was He an easy baby? Or did He still cry and hit and pull hair just like everyone else?

Thing you want to raise awareness about: I want to raise awareness about being Pro Life. There is a lot of stigma in culture today about how women have the right to choose what they do with their bodies. But we were brought to this earth to glorify God and show His love and righteousness through everything we do. Therefore, our bodies are not ours. They belong to God and so we should treat them how God would. There are many Pro Life organizations out there and they are all fighting for the same thing. I support many of them, and I encourage people to show their support too, whether it’s by giving money or showing up to meetings or by going on Pro Life walks.

“We were brought to this earth to glorify God and show His love and righteousness through everything we do. Therefore, our bodies are not ours. They belong to God and so we should treat them how God would.”

What does your morning routine consist of? My morning routine is very unique because I take night classes at school, so I usually am not home until midnight. This means I tend to wake up around 10am! After I wake up, I read

What is on your nightstand? Being in a studio apartment in New York, I don’t really have room for a nightstand. I do have a desk next to my bed though, which consists of: my alarm clock, a stack of notebooks and papers from my school work, my Bible, my blue lamp.

Define Christianity in a sentence: Christianity is knowing there is a God who loves you, cares about everything you do and is there to help in every walk of life.

For more Tatum:

IG: @tatum.mariezim (personal) and @girls.just.wanna.devotional (sparking discussion with girls daily)

Until next time, keep witnessing!

xx