A Brief Testimony:
God got my attention in late Elementary School through my best friend and neighbor, Ashley, who was and is like a sister to me. In one of her Saturday night protests about going to Sunday School, her mom suggested that I go with her in hopes that she’d find that more fun and agree. I ended up going. I remember feeling a little out of place and ignorant, as all the other kids knew Bible stories but I didn’t. However, for some reason or another I continued going for a few weeks. One Sunday there was an announcement about a choir for 5th and 6th graders, which I eagerly joined because of my insatiable obsession with all things musical. For two years I sang in the choir, joined a girls Bible study, and believed in the idea of God and Jesus. However, upon entering 7th grade, I left the church because of my frustration at the Bible study leaders’ response to my questions about the Bible: I was made to feel like I wasn’t good enough when I would ask questions, and was too often told to just “take something on faith”. In addition, one of the Children’s Ministry Staff deeply offended Ashley, and I stood along side with her in her decision to stop attending the church.
So, for the next 2.5 years or so I stayed up late at night reading the Bible by myself, asking the deep and foundational questions, and researching other major world religions. I have a vivid memory of sitting in 8th grade English class entirely consumed by my own thoughts about creation and human existence. But what really stands out about this memory is another way that God got and continues to get my attention: deeply feeling the presence of the Spirit. Looking back upon that moment with the knowledge and God-experience I now hold, I am convinced that the Spirit was boldly present as I was for the first time really seeking the truth. The Holy Spirit was moving in my mind, guiding me to questions and answers that would bring me to truth, and had a protective hand on me during this time.
During Freshman year of High School I started going to Young Life club: a non-denominational Christian organization aiming to show Christ to teens. I would have called myself a believer at this time and was happy to openly be a part of this organization. I was eager to learn more from the Scriptures and saw that there was something special and desirable manifest in the lives of the YL leaders. Then, in the summer of 2005 I went with YL (and some of my best friends, including Ashley) to one of their week long camps in Michigan called Castaway. It was at this camp, atop a hill with the most brilliant sunlight, that I had my “aha!” moment of truly believing that Jesus was real and understanding the implications that had on every fiber of my life. The embers of “getting it” that had been kindling for years finally ignited into a fire.
Throughout college, God has moved in big ways. I am certain that I could write about ten pages describing several crucial experiences in my faith journey while at UW. He has taught me that He is alive and active, that community is powerful and beneficial, that faith and sacrifice wll go hand in hand, that asking the hard questions always brings me back to seeing truth in the Gospel, that human souls of are incomparable beauty and value, that we can experience and accomplish more than we expect. God has used challenges to shape my understanding of and reliance upon Him, and He has used blessings to teach me what true joy is; He has iinstilled a freedom in my heart and mind.
Looking back with a wide-angle lens, it is clear to me that some primary tools God has used to get my attention are relationships and creative mediums (music, literary texts, and the natural world). Further, he hasn’t stopped at simply getting my attention via these pathways but He allows me to come into His presence and experience Him through them. The sheer fact that I know it is possible to know and experience God has implanted a desire in me to lead others into experiencing that too. This passion for others to be living with an awareness of reality, which is God’s Word, moves me to, well….move, and move in whatever way God smiles upon.
