By Stephanie Anderson

HAVE you ever wished your mind had a remote, with buttons you could press to rewind, pause or fast forward through your life?

That was the story of my life: always wanting to travel back in time or into the future, so I could change the course I was on.

So, let’s rewind to when I was eight years old.

Troubled family

I grew up in a small town in the state of Wisconsin, called Green Bay.

My family consisted of a sister who was 10 years older than me; my brother, who was my best friend; my dad, who was either at work or in the bars; and my mom, who didn’t give us the time of day – because she was virtually playing the role of a single parent.

Let me fast forward six years – to my first year of high school.

My sister left the house and did not want to come back. My brother, who was still my best friend, was into the drinking and drug scene.

My mom was just trying to get through her day, and had very little interaction with me.  

Throughout the previous eight years, my dad was in jail twice for his drinking problems. He hit my sister and mom several times; he quarreled with my mom frequently; and he never could sit down with us kids and have a conversation.

Let me pause for a minute to reflect.

At this point, I felt alone and scared; I had to fend for myself.  I didn’t want to become my dad or brother. I was a lone ranger, waiting for my next journey to go on; but the path I chose was one I didn’t expect to take.

The time of my life

Let me fast forward three months.

I had my first alcoholic drink, took my first hit of weed, and fooled around with a guy. My brother and I were best of  friends – and drinking buddies.  

I was having the time of my life, and didn’t have a care in the world – until I got home. Then I was either throwing up in the toilet, crying myself to sleep or taking enough pills to try to kill myself – so I wouldn’t have to wake up the next morning.

Let me fast forward two years.

I started dating an older guy, and had sex with him. All the while, I was basically trying to drink my problems away.  My life was a party, waiting to crash into a brick wall.  

In my junior year, I came home from cheerleading camp and found out that my dad had cheated on my mom. My dad left, and came back after three months; but what little relationship we had was now nonexistent. My boyfriend and I stopped dating – and off to college I went.

After my freshman year, I transferred to a different university and started dating my ex-boyfriend again. We would party four to five nights a week, and then sleep the day away.

This pattern continued. But on February 22, 2002 my boyfriend – who had been a part of my life through all the family issues – broke up with me for another girl.

One word

Let me pause for a second.

The breakup with my boyfriend had come from out of nowhere; drinking and drugs were no help.

In my dorm room I sat down and thought, “There has to be more to life than this.” There was one word that kept playing over and over in my head: “God.”  

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In my mind, God was saying: “Choose me now. Stop trying to fill yourself with drinking, guys, sex and everything else, because it won’t satisfy you. It is only a quick fix.”

So right then I said: “God, I know I should choose you. But I am scared, and I don’t have any idea where to go from here.  So if you are real, Lord, give me friends that can help me.”  

Then, 10 minutes later, a couple of people asked me to go to a Power to Change meeting. Power to Change is a ministry on college and university campuses all over the world. Their focus is on evangelism and discipleship, to reach as many people for Jesus as possible. I now knew God was real.

This encounter also had a big side benefit: one of the people who asked me to the meeting would later become my husband.

The flip side

My life was flipped upside down!

After God changed my life, I went home to be with my family – and told them how Jesus showed up in my dorm room.  

At that point, my family took a turn for the best.

My brother and sister are now living for the Lord – along with their spouses. My dad stopped drinking; and my relationship with my mom is completely restored.

We are now a stronger family unit – who are all running after Jesus.  

Drinking and drugs are not a part of my life anymore.  God took my little “yes” and ran with it – and blessed me with an amazing husband, family and friends. Best of all is my relationship with my heavenly Father.  

I am now excited to wake up in the morning, and feel like I have a purpose in life.

No one told me that you could have a friendship with the Creator. I used to think he was a guy on a cloud, far away – not even listening to us.

Rock the River

Let me rewind five years.

My husband and I graduated from college, and got married two weeks later. We worked in a school together. After a year, we started working for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  

My husband and I move every 10 months to set up festivals in certain cities.

Last November, we moved to the Fraser Valley area to set up an outreach called Rock the River Tour West. It will be a one–day concert, and much more.

While we prepare for it, we are implementing a process designed to enable the body of Christ to come together and pray; learn about discipleship; be equipped in evangelism; and grasp some strategic ways on how to follow up with new believers.

We want people to reach out to their friends, co-workers and family who don’t know Jesus, and bring them to Rock the River August 7 at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds – to hear the good news of the gospel.  

Rock the River Tour is an outreach promoting personal evangelism on a massive scale. We are excited about how God is already working – and about what he is going to do in the years to come in the Fraser Valley.

July 2010