The summer before I went to college I was baptized in the Holy Spirit at Servant Camp. Then, two weeks later, I moved into my dorm at Iowa State University.
Ok, so because of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, I had a real desire to know the Lord better, and also to find other Christians on campus. One teensy little problem. After 3 months of running to every event on campus I could find I still only knew one Christian who was serious about her faith. I knew there had to be more Christians out there, so my search continued, but I started to get really discouraged. The drama inside my dorm was intense and it’s clear to me now that the enemy was really the one behind all the problems that surrounded me there. That summer was going to be my escape, but instead I spent it working and being tired. By the time camp rolled around I wasn’t even sure if I was going to go because I was so exhausted from all the drama that carried over from the school year. I finally decided to go one night in July at about 2 in the morning after asking the Lord what to do, opening my bible, and finding absolutely nothing that even kinda answered my question. After the fourth try I told the Lord that I was going to camp, I signed the sheet and ran out to my mailbox. Praise the Lord that no neighbors saw me because I’m sure I did not look sane at that point.
So I ended up at the first camp meeting of the year in mid July both terrified that I wouldn’t know anyone, and thrilled because I love Servant Camp so much. Before we go any further, it’s important to note that I’d been praying for awhile to find someone to pray with, because at the time I was very alone in my walk with the Father. So anyway, I was at this camp meeting and who did I see when I walked in but Colleen and Gianna. I was totally relieved. There stood two of the counselors I’d worked with the year prior, and more importantly, two women I trusted and loved. After the meeting they invited me to Lord’s day that Saturday, and I offered to pick up Gianna because she didn’t have a ride.
So I showed up at Gianna's house that fateful night and we rocked out to the Backstreet Boys the whole way there. And the night only got better. I met the women’s household and afterwards we all went to a giant fireworks display. The one downside: we had to wait about 2 hours before they actually started. The way bigger plus side: I had the sweetest conversation with Angie about city building and what life was like as a revolutionary woman. I was totally amazed. It was at that point when I decided that I would seriously consider the People of Praise when I moved back to Minneapolis…in three years, after I finished college at Iowa State. When I dropped Gianna off at home that night, I offered to give her a ride next week, which was my clever way of getting invited back to Lord’s Day. Little did I know that my being sneaky was totally unnecessary, she totally wanted me to come back. The next night I was over at a friend’s house from high school and I couldn’t stop talking about the People of Praise. My friend started making negative comments about the community and twisting my words into lies, thinking that I would surely agree with her. Instead I found myself standing at the People of Praises’ defense, using words that others had used in conversations with me years ago. As I spoke I realized this, so I said that my mom wanted me home early (which was true. Please note that my mother loves it when I come home early) and I got into my car and drove for about an hour,(which is a lot, since she lives ten minutes away) just praying out loud and praising the Lord. It was very obvious to me that I needed to think about the People of Praise a little more seriously. I realized that I hadn't had that much joy since my baptism in the Holy Spirit.
After my second Lord’s Day I was convinced that the People of Praise was for me. The major hang-up was that I had everything set up for me at Iowa State. Two days after camp I was going to move down to the duplex I’d signed a lease on for a year. And two weeks after moving in I was starting my job in the office of admissions. I had a school schedule that I’d worked on for hours so I could have all my classes exactly when and where I wanted them, and I had a five thousand dollar scholarship that was likely to double after that year. So obviously the Lord saw all that and was totally ok with me waiting until next year, right?
Well after my 3rd Lord’s day I decided that I should try going underway now and driving back every weekend to take part in campus events, because waiting a year was just NOT going to work for me, I wanted the life of the People of Praise, and I was not all about the waiting. So on the Tuesday of camp, Mrs. Anala snuck a phone into one of the cabins I was in and gave me Joel Kibler’s number so I could call and set up a time to talk to him about going underway. By Thursday I was freaking out about the up coming year. I talked to one of my fellow counselors and told her about how I was worried about going back to Iowa State because of all the problems I had dealt with the year before. I told her about how I had very few Christian friends, and how I didn’t want to have to deal with it for another year. She then told me about how she had a similar experience, and so she was just not going back. She challenged me to think about it, and I said I would, but I was totally not convinced that it would be a good move for me. I mean, hello, I had rent and a job, and classes and a scholarship. How would that ever work out? Never the less, I pushed my move in day back a few days so I would have time to figure everything out. At camp we talked a lot about expecting God to answer the big prayers we brought before Him, so I laid everything I had at His feet and told Him I was game for whatever He wanted me to do.
So I met with Joel, and said he was glad that I took the underway commitment so seriously, and that he could tell I’d prayed a lot about it, but I really needed to figure out where I was living before we could settle anything. And then he said something that struck me as really weird. He told me to stop asking the Lord what He wanted me to do. He said to instead think about what I wanted to do. I got into my car and drove the long way home, and I realized that all I wanted to do was live the life of Christ, and the best way I saw to do that was to live the life of the People of Praise. And then I asked the Lord what He though, which I realize sounds a lot like cheating, but really I was just checking my answer to make sure I got it right. And I had. So I told the Lord that the only way this was going to work is if He totally provided for me, because I did NOT know how it was going to work AT ALL. So He did.
On Tuesday I went down to Iowa State to pick up my stuff from my duplex, say good-bye to my friends and withdraw. And let me tell you, going to see my friends and room mates was NOT a picnic. They all stared at me like I had four heads when I told them what I was dropping out of school to join. It was really hard, but I knew that the Father was right there beside me, so I persevered. I went to the withdrawal office and got my check book out because it costs at least a thousand dollars to withdraw that late in the game, but the woman behind the counter just withdrew me and removed all the fines without me saying anything to her. The Lord totally provided for me once again!
The next day I went underway, and a few days later I moved into the Dinkytown women’s household for a week to see if it was something that would be a good fit. OH MY GOSH it WAS. I moved in a week later. I started taking classes at a nearby community college with other campus divison members. And now I'm experiencing a life full of good relationships and the Holy Spirit on a daily, wait no, hourly basis. Praise the Lord!
