Narrative Summary
Interview with Carrie High by Katy Rogers
Carrie is a practicing Christian who was born and raised in the Ozarks. As a child, her
official religion was Southern Baptist. She said that her parents did not attend church with her
and her siblings. In fact, the children were essentially shipped off to various church camps so her
parents did not have to deal with them during the summer—Vacation Bible School was
considered as free babysitting. She described her parents as the type of Christians that professed
a belief in the faith but displayed behavior that was contrary to their words.
The churches that she attended as a child did little to encourage her spiritual growth
within Christianity, especially since her experiences within them were negative. Her family was
very poor, and their hygiene was not at its best. She found that those fellow Christians were not
at all kind; in fact, the ministers openly ridiculed and snubbed them.
Even though she had little adult guidance along her spiritual path as a child, she still
managed to establish a basic belief and understanding of God. She spoke of reading a special
children’s Bible, which aided her in the quest to know and comprehend her faith. Her religious
background as a child was a struggle between bad experiences and having no one to look to for
guidance.
As she moved on into her teen years, God became less of a mystery and more of a real
presence in her life. She became acquainted with a group of people she now calls her foster
family. It was then that she saw Christianity in a new light. Though they did not attend church
regularly, the family studied the Bible together. The father led them in prayer before each meal,
and they prayed before bed each night. These rituals of worship seem to be basic principles for
most practicing Christians, but she never had experienced this within her own family. God was a
Missouri State University
Fall 2010
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women
2
part of their daily lives and, as Carrie says, it was as if one expected to see them set a place for
the Lord at their dinner table.
She started incorporating prayer into her daily life, and she enrolled at Southwest Baptist
University. She began to study the Bible for herself and found some contradictions between what
the churches had told her and the Bible itself. She brought her concerns to a professor at the
college who taught her Old Testament history class. He was the complete opposite of the
Christians from her childhood who reprimanded her for these types of questions. He explained
that many people had translated the Bible over the years, and some of the words from one
language did not translate easily into the other. He advised her to take the Bible as a teaching
tool—it was still God’s Word, but more of a guideline than a literal text. Carrie has since kept
this idea alive within her spiritual life and has managed to establish a greater understanding and
relationship with God.
A time in her life that she really felt the presence of God was while she was attending
college and studying fashion design. She talked about driving home from class one day and
feeling as if this was not the right career path for her. Quietly, she brought her concerns to God
and asked him what she should do. Within minutes, she received her answer. Along the side of
the road, she saw her neighbor’s horse grazing in the ditch. The horse had gotten out of his
pasture and wandered out to the street. She pulled her car over and got out. The only thing she
had to use to lead the horse back was a long scarf she was wearing. She lightly looped it around
the animal’s neck and tugged. Without any fuss, the horse lifted its head and followed her. To
this day, she remembers the sleekness of its coat under her hands and the musty smell of its fur.
A simple comfort and happiness came over her as she walked alongside her new equine
companion. She claims that it was then that God gave her his answer. A quiet voice seemed to
Missouri State University
Fall 2010
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women
3
whisper in her mind that she should do something involving animals because this was where she
was most happy and confident. The next day, she switched her major to animal science and
recently graduated with her bachelor’s degree. Since then, she has been active in animal rescue
and fundraising for various charities.
Today, Carrie considers herself a nondenominational Christian and worships God in her
home. She feels that the Southern Baptist church is becoming increasingly political, and she
disagrees with their stance against Masons and Shriners. Her father was in both organizations
and the literature various churches distributed about them was completely false. These factors are
what drove her away from this branch of Christianity, and she could find no real fit with any
other. She kept her beliefs as a Christian and is back to navigating through her faith alone. For
important questions she relies on her Bible and other nondenominational Christians in the
community.
Her simple advice to people of faith is to explore the world of religion and find the faith
that speaks to you. She believes God works in many ways and speaks to us in many faiths. She
further said that religion is a deep and personal decision and should fit like a glove for your
spirit. She encourages anyone in a quest for faith to listen to that inner voice and follow its
instructions through life.
Missouri State University
Fall 2010
Religious Lives of Ozarks Women