Why I wish EVERYBODY would GO to MASTERS!

I didn’t always plan on going to Masters Commission right out of high school. In fact I honestly had never even considered it. There had been a Masters in my church for many years before so I was well aware of what it was all about but I had never imagined that I would ever do it. Up until the summer after I graduated high school I had planned on going to a community college and getting my basics and hoping that somewhere along the way that I would figure out what I was going to do with my life. I had no idea in what direction I was going, what I wanted to do or honestly even who I was. I had been going to church for the greater part of my life and I was really involved in the youth group and such, I even accepted Christ as my savior and considered myself a “good” Christian girl. But there was this season towards the end of my senior year and into the summer where I was basically lost in all the changes. I felt the pressure of “having” to go to college to get a decent education and that alone was stressful because I had no idea what I was doing; I had no passion for anything. At the same time I was lost in the changes from transitioning from high school to college but I was spiritually lost. Yes I faithfully attended church and yes I was active in the worship ministry but I was not a faithful believer. I was a hypocrite, a fake, luke warm Christian looking for something. I guess you could say I was slowly going down the road of being a part of the 65% of students who leave the Church after they graduate. I was a bitter and angry person that was holding grudges and angry about life and I just wanted to live my life for me. At that point I thought I needed to experience the college life and do my own thing, but oh my, did God have another idea.

Every year the church that I am apart of hosts a youth conference towards the end of July being of August. It’s a span of three days where there’s live worship and speakers that pour into hundreds of students here in the Kansas City area and I had gone for the past 4 years. I hadn’t planned on even going this particular time. I was bitter with people in the church and I was angry and I wanted to do my own thing. Well during the day of the first night of the conference I was at my best friend’s house and I was sitting on the couch with her mom and I was telling her how I was practically done with church, and God and how I wanted to give up and she encouraged me not to be bitter and to go to the conference that evening. SO I went.  Later that night I was sitting in the auditorium and something was said to me that had pulled the last straw. At that moment I was done. So done with God, I thought Christians were fake and I was so ready to live my life. I got up from my seat and started walking out of the auditorium and as I was walking Megan Munro stopped me. She had been a good friend to me and her lovely sister Melisa Halverson was one of my leaders in the youth group and she pulled me aside and asked me where I was going. I broke down right at the moment. I knew I was running away from God. I knew that if I left the church that night the same way that I came that the call that God placed on my life would be lost. And I was tired of being lost. She prayed with me right there in the back of the room and Melisa came and she loved on me even after I had treated her horribly as my leader. Megan had been in Masters Commission and she had helped Zach and Beka Fox with their team in Floyd Iowa the year before. She introduced me to Zach and Beka and some other people who were from Floyd that were attending the conference. Immediately I felt this tug on my heart to go. I felt so welcomed and loved and I saw Zach Beka, Megan and Melissa and whatever it was that they had I wanted it! I wanted whatever it was that made them love the way they loved. I wanted whatever it was the Masters Commission did for them. I had been looking in all the wrong places for direction, and hope and peace and the night that I decided that I was going to pack up and move to God knows where the small town of Floyd Iowa peace like I had never felt swept my heart. I saw a hope for my life to where before I really had none. I know it was all God will because seriously one thing after the other started working out for me to go. It’s amazing how the Lord provides when you simply say yes to his call.

So I did it. I left all that I knew and was familiar with and embarked on a 9 month journey that has changed my life forever. I believe that God used Masters Commission to draw me closer to him and to build a living and active relationship with the creator of the universe, he used Masters Commission to teach me to depend on his strength and to fall in love the savior of the world. He used to people in the community to show me the love of Christ and the love of a church family. He used to team to build me up, encourage and stretch me. He used my directors to pour into my life with love, concern and they never gave up on me. It says in Hebrews 11:6 “… he rewards those who diligently seek him.” And that is what it’s all about that’s what I did for 9 months and let me tell you my efforts have not gone unrewarded I am so BLESSED!!! It was worth it all. I’m so thankful that I listened to the tug of the Holy Spirit that night because Master’s Commission has changed my life and set my feet running in the right direction and that is straight after the heart of my lover Jesus Christ.