I was asked to write something for the church's newsletter. There were two reasons I said yes. First, I do not have the ability to say no. Second, I thought it would be fun to try to write it.
Since Holly mentioned it in an earlier post I thought I might as well put it on here.
"I came to America with, literally, no expectations at all. If I could have gotten away with it, I would have stayed in Denmark.
My first American experience was YEC, a Baptist conference in Oklahoma City. One of my first impressions, during the sessions, was that it amazed me how these teenagers just devoted their lives to something they couldn’t see or feel. After this first weekend in Oklahoma City, I preceded my non-Christian lifestyle in Tonkawa. Every Sunday I would see my family get up to go to church and I wouldn’t understand their willingness at all. I mean, how could you give up your Sunday morning to go listen to some preacher?
I started to attend school at Tonkawa High School and I must admit that I was scared to death the first day. In Denmark the school day looks entirely different. First of all you stay in the same classroom for most classes which means the teachers go from classroom to classroom, not the students. Second of all, Danish schools don’t use lockers. These differences made my first day extremely confusing. Somehow I managed to get through the day without it being too embarrassing, though.
I soon learned that Physics was my favorite class, not because of my talents in the subject, but because of Josh Reese and Jake Love’s capabilities to make everything a joke. A mix between this class and the Terra Nova flyers in the hallway (Yes, they do actually work) made me aware of the youth group. I went a few times, in the beginning mostly because of the music. Little did I know it was worship – I didn’t even know what worship was at the time!
Life went on outside of church. I attempted to participate in Cross Country, but had to sit out due to shin splints. I made a lot of friends, faster than I thought possible, one of them being Holly Scheirman. Thanks to her, Josh, and Racheal Hernandez, I somehow ended up going to “the Bridge” in Blackwell. Speaking was a former drug dealer. I found it amazing how he had found a way to love God after all he had been through. It impacted me, as I thought about the trials I had been through in my life, but I still wasn’t convinced that there was a divine power who had created me and the Earth I live on.
September 9, 2010, I was saved, thanks to Pastor Derrick and Raphael Khabo, that night’s speaker at Terra Nova. I remember Raphael talking about Jesus in a way that completely blew me away. He said something along these lines: “You’ve probably tried it yourself. There’s this seemingly good movie that all your friends are talking about. They tell you all about how great it is. At some point you’re standing there thinking “I just want to see this movie for myself”, and it’s the same thing with Jesus. You hear all these people talking about him, but at some point you just want to experience what everyone else is talking about”. Later that night he came to pray for me as I was sitting in my chair by myself. He left with the words “all you have to do is say yes”. Obviously I said yes. After this night my perspective on everything changed. It made me a happier person.
Now, football is not a sport Danish sport teams try to be good at. We are a soccer nation. Therefore, I was blown away by the spirit everyone here, had for Tonkawa’s football team. I was overwhelmed by the time Homecoming came around. I’m from a country in which the schools don’t have sports teams, sports are something you do outside of the school hours if you’re willing to pay for a membership, so when the entire school basically spent a week preparing for this one football game, I think my reaction made sense. It was the experience of a lifetime.
In October I became a part of the praise and worship team on the East side. Besides being saved and baptized, it was probably the best decision I made while in America. As a new Christian, it meant the world to me to be surrounded by Christian people who constantly taught me about Jesus in ways I didn’t think possible. Not only did I grow in Christ, I also improved my musical skills a lot. To be honest, I don’t quite understand how it was possible for me to play on the level the worship team does, when I first started. I did, nonetheless, and now have some of the best memories with that group.
Christmas came around, and I started to miss my Danish heritage for the first time. It didn’t surprise me at all because, even though Christmas is a worldwide tradition, the American way of celebrating Christmas was way different from the Danish way. Just taking that we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and not Christmas Day makes a huge difference. I remember making my first gingerbread house on Christmas Eve, and it didn’t quite meet my expectations of my entire Danish family eating together, singing Christmas carols, and unwrapping presents. We went from Christmas to New Years Eve and once again I was shocked by the big differences. I’ve been used to a 4th of July kind of New Years, so it was definitely different.
In February I skipped a week of school to go to a worship conference at Christ for the Nations in Dallas, Texas. It was truly an amazing week. If you’ve never been to Christ for the Nations you’re missing out. The place is filled with God’s presence even when nothing special is going on. I learned so much about worshipping God that week and it completely changed my ways of doing worship in the church. I also learned that it’s not enough to believe in God, you have to teach others about Him. Soon after the worship conference I was baptized, again, one of the best decisions I’ve made this past year.
The next highlight of the year was prom. I really wasn’t all that excited about it, I’m not the kind of girl who likes to dress up and be in the spotlight. Honestly the idea of prom scared me a little. There aren’t proms in Denmark. The closest thing we have to prom would probably be equivalent to a Mid-High dance. We still get to dress up, but not nearly as much as prom allows it. Though prom scared me, I had a great night and I would love for every girl to try it at least once. There’s just something special about it.
Somehow my mom and Lori Ross worked out a way for me to get an extra month in Tonkawa. This resulted in me going to YFN for which I was grateful! I honestly didn’t know what to expect of it. I hadn’t heard anything negative about the camp; I’d only heard quite the opposite. I was blown away the first night of camp, but God didn’t really reveal himself to until the third night. For the first time I didn’t feel fatherless anymore, I was overwhelmed with peace and reassurance. That was the night I knew that He had prepared me to leave America.
I can honestly say that I’ve had the year of my life and I would never give it away for anything. The church has been a big part of my year and I can now go back a different person thanks to all the people I’ve met through the church. All I have left to is: Thank you for an amazing year, it wouldn’t have been the same without you! This is not a goodbye it a “see you later”."
So yeah, in short terms that was my year in America. It was great and I miss Tonkawa so much it's ridiculous.
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