Give It All

       "My song has taken on a literal substance," Tanya says. "I've made the trek and will continue to go where God leads me. As long as He opens doors, I will walk through them."

      Two weeks prior the deadline for the 2000 Seminar in the Rockies sponsored by the Gospel Music Association (GMA), Tanya heeded the call to compose. She sought inspiration from God through prayer, seeking appropriate lyrics and a score to express her faith.

       "I was getting ready for bed on Saturday night," says the daughter of Templo del Poder's pastor. "But I couldn't go to sleep so I got up and went to the piano. I started playing a very simple melody, and the words to the song just came."

      The composition with a score reminiscent of Bruce Hornsby sets the tone in the opening stanza, which begins, "I've made the trek into this new land. Old bridges have been burned." The traveler analogy continues throughout the song including lines that read, "I know you walked the way before. I can still see the imprints you made." Tanya's theme of total surrender echoes in the closing line of each chorus with the phrase, "But what I have is yours cause I'm ready to give it all."

      In September 2000, the GMA selected Give it All, as the grand prize winner in the category of contemporary Christian music at the Seminar in the Rockies held in Estes Park, Colorado. Vying for $100,000 in prizes, over 500 composers and artists entered the competition that has previously showcased rising stars such as Stacie Orrico, Rachael Lampa, and Nichole Nordeman.

      Early in 2001, Tanya resigned her position with Southwestern Bell and moved to Nashville, seeking to further her Christian music career. Although a Music City producer has offered to assist in the development of her talent, success doesn't translate for the Texan in the same way it might for secular singers and songwriters.

       "I think if you're (performing) in the context of Christianity, the word 'fame' doesn't represent what Christ was, and that's not what I want to achieve," she says. "I want my music to encourage listeners to consider their own relationship with Christ. My songwriting aim is to connect with the listener and communicate the message of Christ's hope as I have experienced it in my own walk."