my Rhema journey

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the two years I spent at Rhema, and just all the wonderful things that the Lord did in my life in the time I spent there. I started thinking about where that whole journey began for me. I remember in 7th grade when the Lord spoke to me about a calling in the ministry, the day that it happened we had a move of the Holy Spirit at school and I was praying with some people and the Lord moved on me in such a strong way and spoke to me about my calling. It was one of the very first times that I really felt the presence of God that strong, and I remember hearing His voice as if He was sitting in the room with me. What is so funny about that day is that I remember telling the Lord that I would go into ministry and follow His call on my life, but I wouldn’t go to Rhema, I basically said I would do anything but that! The reason in my head at that time was that I felt it was so predictable & patterned for someone who went to MCA who wanted to be in ministry to go to Rhema after high school and I didn’t want to be cliché. It’s funny when we think we know better that the Lord does!!

Now it wasn’t until 2 years later [9th grade] when my heart was changed about Rhema. Chris Damico had come to the Rock and was laying hands on people and he laid hands on me and I just fell to the floor under the anointing and the Lord spoke to me [and again it was as if He was sitting right next to me] and told me that it was in His will for me to go to Rhema. As I was laying there on the floor, I was debating back with Him saying that I would do anything but go to Rhema, [it's so funny how we can think we know better then He does!] and He gently kept working on my heart that I needed to go there. I remember finally consenting & telling the Lord that I would go to Rhema & follow His leading. Little did I know what He had in store for me!

Now again another 2 years down the road, my parents & I took a road trip down to Tulsa the summer before my senior year to visit the school and see what it was all about. I remember being so nervous but so very excited when we met with the recruiter to go tour the school. When I finally got to be on the Rhema campus it was such an amazing feeling. I remember when I set foot on the grounds that there was this overwhelming peace and excitement in my spirit because I KNEW that this was it, I knew that Rhema was the next step in my life and knowing that beyond a shadow of a doubt did not come without it’s challenges. I still had a lot of times where I felt like what the heck was I thinking and when I finally moved down there, I felt like, what the heck am I doing??!!

When I left Minnesota to move to Oklahoma I remember that I felt like I was giving up so much to follow God’s call. I mean for a 18 year old to leave their family, friends, & my boyfriend to live in an entirely different state, in my own apartment, in a city where I knew only one person [my roommate], at that time I felt like I was abandoning all that I had. The greatest thing about following the Lord is that for everything you leave or “give up” for His sake, He will always restore that unto you & with so much more! My time at Rhema was the best time of my life, and if I was to sit here and write about it all, I would go on for DAYS!! The Lord blessed me with more then I could have ever imagined for following His plan. My tuition for both years was PAID IN FULL before I even started my first day at school, I was able to live in student housing [you have no idea what a challenge that is!!], I had a wonderful job that gave me an abundance in my finances, and more then anything else I was so truly blessed with some of the most AMAZING friends I have ever had the privilege to know and love. For everything that I had to “give up” I was so abundantly blessed & I still experience that blessing in my life today.

Everyday I miss my Rhema friends so much but I know that the Lord is doing such wonderful things in their lives. They are all such great assets to the body of Christ and I look forward to being able to spend some time with them having a little reunion in the near future! Following the call of God in your life isn’t always the easiest thing to do, but you will be so heavily rewarded to being obedient to Him!!! You just never know what is on the other side of that first big step that you have to take. If the Lord asked me to do something like Rhema again I would do it in a heartbeat because I know that on the other side of it is blessings for me!