Kristin’s Story

I’m Kristin. I’m a junior double majoring in PE/Health Education. It was a real challenge for me to decide exactly what I wanted to talk about in regards to my testimony. I don’t have one of those amazing testimonies about being addicted to alcohol or killing 27 people with a wet squirrel and then getting spiritually slapped upside the head by God. However, I did have a drug problem. I got drug to church. I got drug to Sunday school. I got drug to Bible camp…just kidding. I grew up in a Christian home, went to church, Sunday school, youth group, Bible camp, the whole nine yards and always knew about Jesus and His redemptive work on the cross. Not only did I know it, but I believed it with all my heart, soul, and mind. So there’s not really much to report about my life up until my senior year of high school, and I thank God every day that this is the case.

I had my life planned out to the very last detail when I was a senior in high school. I had my major and my school picked out. I applied and got accepted. I registered for classes and was so excited to be done with high school. But the closer the end of the year came some strange things started happening. My friends seemed to be distancing themselves from me. Most of them were not Christians, but they were ok with me being one. I remember sitting in my chair on graduation day with a very conflicting thought. I knew God didn’t want me to go to the school I had already been accepted to…but I still wanted to. So then what? A few weeks later some of my older friends asked me about my future plans. (The million dollar question when you’re a senior, right?) All of these friends were alumni of this Bible school in Plymouth, MN called the Association Free Lutheran Bible School, better known as AFLBS. And being good alumni they asked me if I ever considered going. Being raised in the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, I always knew about AFLBS, but never thought it was the place for me. So I was wrong? Give me a break! While at Bible school I experienced the best fellowship I’d thought only existed either at my house or church functions. I was surrounded by Christians 24/7 and sat under the tutelage of very godly men and women. On graduation day at Bible school, I sat in my chair with a very encouraging thought: I was going back to “the world” with the promises found in Isaiah 55: 10-12, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

After Bible school, I transferred to a community college in Minnesota and hated every second of it. The cliché “feeling alone in a crowd full of people” became the story of my life. I went round after round with professors and students about Christianity. I got a pretty good idea about just how lost this world is. Through these struggles, I found comfort in verses like Ephesians 6:10, “Finally be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” However, after being at this new school for a year and a half, I knew it was time for a change. I wasn’t growing in my faith anymore. I honestly felt like I was a war-torn soldier that wasn’t useful for battle anymore. I had to go somewhere that would help me heal. I started researching schools and narrowed my choices down to three: Bemidji State University, UND, and NDSU. I scheduled campus visits for all three schools, but only ended up going to one, because I only needed to go to one. After my campus visit at this particular school, I went to a meeting called Campus Crusade for Christ. And it pretty much rocked my socks off. I don’t remember what the speaker talked about or even who the speaker was, but I remember knowing that this was the place for me. The fellowship I missed from Bible school was found again! (For those of you that are a little slow, the school I chose is NDSU!)

I’ve been here for a year now, and once again I find myself in this spot where I’m not sure what God is up to. To make a really long story short, I came to the conclusion last semester that I needed to take this semester off to work full time and sort some things out. It’s my plan to return to school next fall and continue with my PE/Health double major…but we all know how my plans go, right? In my personal one on one with Jesus time a while back I came across Proverbs 31:25, and since then it’s become my life verse. Words cannot describe how applicable it is to my life. “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future.” –Proverbs 31:25.