Women Who Inspire: Jen Tomasik

This week we caught up with a beautiful lady from Tahlequah, OK. She has a calling on her life to bring women together so that they may know their identity in Christ and the call that God has upon their life. Christian Women Living would like to introduce Jen Tomasik, a woman with a heart for God and fierce desire to introduce Him to everyone she meets.

Cyndi Kay Green: Please introduce yourself to our reader and share a bit about where you are from.

Jen Tomasik: I was born in Tahlequah, OK January 15, 1977 during a big winter storm in a room the size of a closet at the old Indian hospital that is now the NSU optometry building. This is such a comical story with my family because I was almost born in the car. The roads were so icy that my grandmother and aunt were trying to help my mother into the car without falling down. On the way to the hospital I was crowing and by the time they got me to the hospital and barely made it in a room before the doctor delivered me. My mom tells me I was prayed for because her and dad were going to get divorced, but instead reconciled and asked God for a baby, me.

After I was about a year old, we moved to the Flathead Reservation in Montana and lived at Turtle lake, I refer to these years as our golden years. Everyone in our family recalls them as being the best years of our lives. However, unknown to me, there were underlying things that were affecting my mother. I am the youngest of three daughters, but I only grew up knowing one of my sisters because our oldest sister had been put up for adoption. This was a secret that my mother had been bearing for so many years and it was beginning to affect her. She started to really grieve for my sister and it was becoming difficult for her, so we eventually ended up moving to the Colville Reservation which is in Washington State, so that she could be closer to my grandparents. This was also a beautiful place growing up. We lived in an area called Kartar Valley. I remember wild horses would come down and try to take our mares to the mountain herds with them.

Mom says I was a fearless child. While living on Turtle Lake I got a canoe, jumped in, and started paddling across the lake, and while we were in Kartar Valley, MT, I was always getting on half-broke horses with no saddles and riding them in the corral with my friends.

Eventually we moved back to Oklahoma when I was in about second grade. We moved to the Greenwood addition and I went to Greenwood school. I was a little kid fresh off the REZ to a small, what seemed like an urban, town in Oklahoma. This was a hard transition for me coming from a reservation. I grew up in the Tahlequah Public school system and was a Tahlequah Tiger, until one day I got called into the counselors office for being late to class and was told I should consider getting my GED and just go to work and I would be in management by the time my class graduated. I was in shock so I transferred to Sequoyah that next week and graduated as a Sequoyah Indian in 1995. I ended up going back to Montana to go to Salish Kootenai college and in 2001 returned to Tahlequah where I have since made my home with my three children, Nathalie, Uriah and Ariana.

CKG: Which native tribe are you part of?

JT: I am a citizen of the Colville Confederated Tribes, which is in Washington state. I am also Salish Kootenai in Montana..

CKG: How do you pronounce your last name?

JT: So, this is funny so it’s actually Tom-a-sik, but it’s Slovakian can my dad’s family originated from Slovakia. However, I was corrected once when I was traveling. This flight attendant called me to the front by saying, “Jennifer Tom-o-shek.” I thought for certain that it was me, so I walked up and said, “Did you call for Jennifer Tom-a-sik?” She said, “No, Jennifer Tom-o-shek.” she was like, “Do you not know how to say your name?” I thought well, I guess not! She then started telling me about a couple of Tom-o-sheks a couple of villages away from where she lives and taught me how to say my name properly. However, I still say Tom-a-sik. My dad’s grandparents were immigrants to America and settled up in Wisconsin in a little town called Prentice, where there is supposedly a Tomasik museum about the Tomasik family.

CKG: Have you ever thought about going up there?

JT: I have, and what’s so funny is I just got back from Ho-Chunk Nation which is near that area. One of the ladies that came to my training grew up in Prentice Wisconsin, so we were able to share some conversations about family and such. God always has divine appointments for us.

CKG: Can you give us a summary on your journey with Christ — from the time you accepted Christ, to how you started in ministry (a brief testimony).

JT: My mom wasn’t raised in church, however in Indian Country there is a lot of Catholicism. My dad grew up in Catholicism as well, but neither of them grew up attending any type of fellowship. So, I never grew up in church, only around the tribal ceremonial sweat lodges. My first introduction to Jesus was when we first moved back to Oklahoma. I tell people I literally got the hell scared out of me. Ha!Ha! I was invited to VBS at First Baptist Church in Tahlequah by my Greenwood friends and when I heard about a man named Jesus who was going to save me from the lake of fire and this really scary place called Hell, I accepted Jesus into my life that day, but that was about it. I just knew that if I said the prayer I would be safe.

Fast forward to 2014, I was 37 years old, just after New Year’s Day. I had just ended a relationship with a man who I thought was going to be my husband. My heart was broken and I just lay on the floor on a small bunk bed mattress. I was just going to lay there until God told me to move. I had not read a Bible and my relationship with Christ was not much more than what it was when I was saved. I began watching a movie called “Basic” by Francis Chan, who is one of my favorite authors and speakers. In the movie there was a scene where a woman was laying there in a mirrored position of me. I watched as the room in the movie filled with water. At the end, I got up from that place, picked up my mat, and I walked. My life was changed from then on. That is when I really began following the Lord.

CKG: Can you recall a time when you know that God was the only way you had a provision through a certain situation?

JT: In 2008, a couple of months after I had Ariana I became very ill. I had a rash that felt like poison ivy and athlete’s foot all in one of my face, scalp, chest and down my arms, I was tired and lethargic. I was achy and every doctor I would see, could not figure out what was wrong with me. A couple of years later, we were getting ready to take a vacation to Disney world as a gift from my Mom. Nathalie hadn’t been feeling well so I wanted to get her checked out and cleared for travel. We walked into Dr. Lewis’ office. He looked at her and gave her the all clear; but then he looked at me and asked what was going on with me. I explained to him that I had no idea because no one was able to tell me. He informed me that I needed to get tested for Lupus because I had the textbook symptoms. Nathalie and I started crying and so I went to get tested. Sure enough, the test came back with a speckled pattern and they diagnosed me with Lupus.

At first I was in denial about it all. Thinking that there was no way this was happening to me. Then I went to being desperate and I tried every kind of medication that I could. After all of that, I fell into depression because nothing was working. I told people that I felt like Lupus was a modern day leprosy and I needed help, I needed Jesus, but I didn’t fully understand that yet.

About 8 years after battling this terrible disease I was advised by the Lupus specialist and my HR manager I should stop working, so I hesitantly submitted the paperwork for long term disability and in March of 2017 I resigned from Cherokee Nation after serving as their Media Producer for 10 years. It was a tough decision. A month after being on disability I received a denial letter in the mail. The wrong doctor filled out the paperwork and I ended up getting denied. As I felt the bottom fall out from underneath me, I heard the Lord say to me, “Jen, how can you be seeking me for healing and collecting a disability check?” This was a hard truth, but in that moment my faith was stretched, just like the net that was cast on the other side of the disciples boat. So there I was no job, still sick and I had children to feed and take care of, so I made a decision. I decided I was going to trust God with everything. Glory be to God, he provided for me until I received full healing and double for my trouble. More importantly this time of surrendering my life completely to him brought me to a deeper understanding of his love for me. Losing my life for a season was the best thing that ever happened to me, because that’s where I found my first love. The truth, the way and the Life! God never once let us go without. He showed me that I would be provided for and healed because I trusted Him. We always had enough manna for the day. I never told anyone how limited our lives were that year and my children were completely fine with not having Christmas, but one day we got a knock at the door and it was the church with an envelope in hand from an anonymous giver that God had put us on their heart to bless. That year we had plenty of Christmas presents and dinner for me and my children.

CKG: Please share your ministry with us.

JT: In 2016 I went to Washington DC to an event called Together 2016. Francis Chan was one of the speakers, so I felt led to go. At the event through God’s divine timing. I was able to meet Francis and tell him my story, he prayed over me, while his daughter Mercy stood by and graciously took a picture of us, to capture the moment. So I came back from that event and I started a Facebook group called Tahlequah Together, which was focused on connecting the body of Christ in Tahlequah. On Jan 1 of 2017, the Lord was calling me to “Gather the grandmothers, mobilize the mothers, and circle the women.” That is when I began another Facebook group called Soul Sisters, where I hope to encourage women to stand in agreement, calling things to be on earth, as it is in heaven. To know who they truly are in Christ and to share the love of the Lord.

CKG: What has had the biggest impact on your relationship with Jesus?

JT: In 2016, there was an event called the ANNA Call with Lou Engle. ANNA is a Native Ministry that stands for (All Nations North America). This was a Joel 2 gathering calling the Native Americans to release forgiveness without apology, repent and heal our Nation. There were some ANNA missionaries coming to Tahlequah and I was asked to host three of them. I was so excited, I felt like Jesus’s disciples were coming to town and they were choosing to stay in my home. So there we were, sitting in my living room and one of the missionaries, Junior, tells me there is an angel behind me. I was like woah, “Well, okay Lord have your way” I was thinking maybe God sent this person to pray over me for healing, then Junior asked me if I had an issue in my stomach, to which I replied, “No, but I do need healing.” He came over and placed his hand on my shoulder. I was expecting some major zap or something to go through me but there was nothing. He sat back down and I said thank you, for healing me. He quickly said, “No, not me. Him.” and he pointed up. I said, “yes! Of course! Thank you Lord” then all of sudden I felt a deep cold and then deep heat where he had his hand on my shoulder. It began to grow in size, it was so big! It felt like a Hulk hand on my shoulder. I didn’t say a word as to what I was experiencing, until Issac who was sitting beside me giggled and touched his led nearest to me and said, “Oh, He’s here” The presence of the Lord had filled the room. In that moment God took me back in time and showed me so many places that He was with me through all of these different times in my life. We were all filled with so much joy, we finished in prayer and said our goodnights and I went to my room to get ready for bed in awe of what I had just experienced.

As I was leaving my bathroom, I walked by one of my mirrors and it seemed like a delay in time. I stopped and looked into the mirror and found myself gazing into my eyes. I was captivated and kept looking, and I heard Jesus say, “I see you.” He was looking at me and I was looking at Him. We were connected. It was such a captivating experience. It was Jesus in me, looking at me, with his eyes. I only tell this experience because, the next day, another ANNA missionary Jennifer, without her knowing what happened the night before stood with hand over mouth with overwhelming awe and tears in her eyes pointing at me as she said she could see Jesus looking at her through me as well. I tell you this, because Jesus wants you to know how real and how close he is in you, just begin to seek him, just begin to look.

CKG: What is the most beautiful display of God’s grace that you have seen?

JT: I have experienced immense trauma in my life, from attempted molestation as a child, parental neglect, rape in high-school, teen pregnancy, domestic violence, abortions. BUT GOD The Lord has kept me through it all.

Two years ago, I felt led to go back to the abortion clinic in Tulsa. I wanted to see my files and get dates of when I was there. I walked in and immediately noticed that they had remodeled the offices. I gave the receptionist my information so she could look up my file on the computer. My name wasn’t in the system, so she went in back and looked everywhere in the office files cabinets. She came back and told me there was no record of me ever being there. Not one record of my name. I went to my car and I just wept. I started to feel bad that I would never know the dates, but then I heard God’s gentle voice say, “Jen just like those records, your record with me has been wiped clean. My forgiveness is as far as the East is from the West and I will remember it no more.” I cried even harder because I could feel the tangible love in God’s grace in that moment, it was just so extravagant.

CKG: What inspires you to press forward?

JT: When I see people being set free by the love of Jesus and really understanding the power of the Holy Spirit within them. Seeing people fully understanding for the first time who God truly is in them, just excites my soul.

CKG: Who do you see as your mentor?

JT: The word of God, the acts of Jesus and the leading of the Holy Spirit are my go to, but I am so thankful for Pastor Arron and Lauren Doan’s spiritual leadership and covering at 29Eleven church. There was a season of serving at Crossroads Ministries, so I also feel that Pastor Gene and Vonda Haddock have been wonderful mentors as well. So many more that have sown into my life with God’s leading and wise counsel. I would name them all, but if they are reading this now, they know who they are and I am thankful for them.

I also want to list my mother as my mentor. Her wise counsel and loving guidance has been monumental in molding me. Not only is she spirit led, but she is also a trained mental health counselor. She is a powerhouse for Jesus. We can be so real with each other, and I love that she knows me so well and knows when I am fleshing out. She listens and then asks me just the right questions to re-calibrate my heart back to Christ, it’s truly beautiful and she is so amazing.

CKG: What are some of the biggest challenges that women face today and women’s ministry?

JT: I would say the stewarding of time and striving are the biggest challenges for us. I see a lot of women look at others and say ‘I wish I could have that’. BUT GOD needs exactly what they carry. I remind others to “stay in their lane” not in a mean way, but to remind them that they are the only ones that can run in that lane and we need them there.

CKG: Where do you go to just be quiet in the presence of God?

JT: My home feels like a sanctuary, for a while now I’ve been gleaning out stuff and making it a house of prayer. I’ve created a prayer patio underneath my willow tree, for anyone that would like to come out, visit and pray. I also love taking drives and just being with the Lord wherever he leads. Honestly, there is not just one single place.

CKG: Do you have any current projects in the works?

JT: I just completed my first speaking debut at the Beautiful You Conference in Colcord, OK.

CKG: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

JT: This is bold, but I am going to say I see myself married to the man that God has for me. The man that God has designed for me to walk this out with, who is equally yoked.

I look forward to seeing the fruits of the seeds that I am planting today in others. I see my children walking in their ministries as well. Really, my heart’s desire is for God’s will to be done in my life. I am completely surrendered to his wonderful plan.

CKG: If you could spend the day anywhere with anyone, where would you go, who would you go with and why?

JT: I would take the day and take my dad to the Holy Land. He loves history and I think he would love walking, where Jesus walked. I think it would be an experience for him to encounter Jesus in a whole new way.

CKG: Is there anything else you want to say?

JT: Thank you. Thank you for capturing God’s glory in all of our stories.

On behalf of Christian Women Living Magazine, I would like to thank Jen for allowing me to share her story with our readers.