A few weeks ago, I got an email from my college pastor asking me to get in touch with a girl who was moving here from Sweden. She just wanted to ask some questions about Santa Barbara… but I knew immediately God had more in store for us. Long story short, I drove to LAX at 11 pm, picked her up, and moved her in to my house.
Being a Christian in Sweden is not socially acceptable. Because of this, Maddie has always surrounded herself with non-Christians, and had ended up turning away from God. It was clear to me, and the other girl staying here, Kimberly, that the Lord wanted more for Maddie- He brought her here, on this crazy adventure, to romance her, to remind her of her first love, and to draw her deeper into His arms.
But often, big steps like this come with opposition. As soon as she arrived, she fell into a deep depression. We would wake up to her having panic attacks in the early morning- crying and having trouble breathing- and do the only thing we knew to do- pray. She had planned to stay here for four years but she couldn’t bear to be away from her boyfriend (who is not abeliever), and booked a flight home for Monday. This is when I enlisted the help of my closest prayer warriors. Something big needed to happen before Monday.
Suddenly, her depression was gone. She turned into this crazy, wacky, joyful girl I hadn’t seen before. But she was still planning on leaving. As we headed out to a church party on Saturday, I felt the familiar pressing of needing to speak the truth when I didn’t want to. So, for what felt like the entire hour we were in the car, I talked. About how the Lord had taken me on an eerily similar journey when I was still shaky in my faith, about Him knitting us all together in my home for a purpose, and about how right now she was about to turn her back on God and put her own flesh and her boyfriend’s will above the will of the Lord in her life. She started sobbing. She said that was all true, but she just wasn’t strong enough to follow God on this one. She said God would give her another chance one day.
And just as quickly as I felt the welling up of judgment in my heart, I felt the sting of conviction. It was so easy to see the backward logic at work- Maddie was turning away from God, expecting Him to be there later. I’m not saying that’s not true, just that it’s absolutely the wrong way to think about things. I felt heartbroken, and can only imagine how HE felt. How many times have I said, “Ok, I’ll do that later, God.” Or, “God, I can’t do that. I’m too shy. I’m not sure if this is really what You’re saying. I’ll do it next time You ask me.”
After a long silence, she started crying again.
“We have to ask God to tell my boyfriend to let me stay. I don’t want to leave.” Complete 180 degree turn from where she was just one day ago. I promised we would enlist the help of the mightiest prayer warriors I know- the women of Adorn J
When we got to the party, I laid it out for the girls, and as is their nature, they went to battle for this girl they hardly knew. We laid hands on her, praised the Lord for her, asked Him to pour out His good and perfect gifts on her. We left right after that, and as soon as we got in the car Maddie said that she felt an overwhelming peace about the situation.
At this time, you guys were still praying for her, knowing something had to happen by Monday. We both woke up the next morning and went to church, and I don’t know how to explain what happened except that Britt (our pastor) was given a message that was for Maddie’s heart. We left that morning, and she said something had changed within her. That she had never felt a fire like the one that was burning in her now, that she had never felt a passion like the one that had just rooted itself in her heart. She went home, got on Skype, and preached the gospel to her boyfriend, her friends from Sweden, her friends from England, her parents, anyone she had contact with on Skype.
The next day was Monday, and she got on the plane and went home. But she went home completely different. I honestly have no idea if it was God’s plan for her to just be here for a week and have her life changed in that short amount of time or if He did want her to stay. All I know is, we (and you) prayed for something radical to happen, and it did.
Sitting here on the couch, Kimberly says, “It feels like something is missing.” Yes, it does. So we wait for the next person.
NOTE- I wrote this a few weeks ago, just forgot to post it. The wait is over, a new girl is here! J We are so thankful for all your prayers.
