Her name was Kim and we called her "Little Kim" to distinguish her away from Kim, or PK, who was our Youth Pastor: Pastor Kim.
Little Kim was from York and when PK left the York Foursquare church and came to the Pottsville location, she brought with us the stories of some of the former youth in her "group". Of all the stories I'm sure she told, one sticks out most clearly in my mind:
the time Little Kim heard from God.
The story goes, Little Kim was earnestly seeking God and, kneeling beside her bed. She declared that she would not get us until she heard from Him... or is this my story?
The thing is, I was so intrigued and encouraged by her story (which ended with her actually hearing from God!), that I decided I would do the same.
A few days ago I noted that my high school grades were for crap, I did not come from money, and I had no intention of attending college. With PK's arrival, she recruited a small group of high school juniors and seniors, myself amongst the group, and drove us to college for a day-weekend at L.I.F.E. East Bible College. Until that experience I didn't think much about the fact that I wouldn't be a college student- it wasn't in my cards. After that experience everything changed. I wanted to attend. I wanted to go to college- Bible college!
But my grades...
and my terrible SAT stats...
and the 6 hour drive in the car I did not have....
And here was the moment I knew I could try to pray like Little Kim. And I did.
I knelt beside my bed on 10th Street and I prayed. I prayed and prayed and begged God to hear His voice.
I obviously had no idea what I was expecting to hear. Like, what does God sound like, anyway? And what would He say? So I prayed and I listened. And I heard nothing.
Not sure of when God may speak, or if I had missed Him, I continued to pray and informed God that I would stay there until I heard from Him. If You didn't already know, God, I'll be staying put.
Heaven knows how long I was there, kneeling and praying before I heard Him.
Here's the thing. It was more like a download into my spirit than it was an audible voice.
Suddenly I knew that I had heard from God, yet I still did not know what the sound of His voice was. It was as if my spirit heard Him LOUD AND CLEAR and then extended the information to my flesh. All of a sudden I just knew.
The thing was, although I knew with ALL CERTAINTY that I heard from God, His message left me a little confused, albeit, I accepted it as factual: I was going to college, but I was going for only one year.
One year...alright then.
Are you brave enough to believe with your whole heart that God will do something miraculous?
I had the Bible as fact and this passed-down story of Little Kim. And I had a bed to kneel before. So I went there, with what I had, and I asked for a miracle: I asked to hear God's voice.
Be Brave:
Pray today, whether it is a short sentence muttered under your breath
or a few paragraphs written out in your journal.
Talk to God. He is listening.
Friends, I knew God heard me and I was -mostly- confident that I had heard Him as well. In the Fall of 2002 I drove away from Pottsville and onward to L.I.F.E. East Bible College. I drove in a car gifted to me by my grandma. I drove with an excitement for learning which I had never before known.
Before winter break arrived, the entire campus was informed that it was possible the school would soon be closing. What college ups and closes? We were to find out the fate of our school when we returned. In the spring of 2003, L.I.F.E. East completed it's final semester as a school before it closed it's doors.
Although many of us were excited for what lay ahead (oh, the possibilities!) and sad (because, oh! our school!) and all the things, I sat back and replayed the moment I knelt in my room and prayed. The moment when the Lord told me I would go...for one year.
It's interesting when your school closes and you have no choice. You go...for one year.
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