I was beginning my junior year at Grandview University in Des Moines, Iowa. I felt completely lost in life. I was struggling with the pharmacy program and not happy.
I felt unloved, like nobody cared.
At the beginning of fall semester, a Keynote band called Blue Sky Nine was playing a concert at my school. I really wanted to talk to Holly, the lead singer.
It has always been my dream to be in a band and sing – like that, like her. I just wanted to talk to her personally about God. I thought she would understand me in a way.
After the concert, I told Holly about my struggles. Holly explained to me what it means to have a relationship with Jesus – how He died for my sins and knows every little hair on my head and that He really cares about me.
I felt love when she said that, and I felt like crying. I thought, Wow, He put a lot of effort into making me.
Holly was able to boost my confidence that God does love me and that I am not alone in my struggles. But I still didn't understand what it was to have a relationship with God.
I got involved in a Bible study through Campus Crusade for Christ with kids my own age who I could relate to. They also told me that I could have a relationship with God, but I still didn't know what it meant.
A few months later at the end of the semester, I went to a Campus Crusade winter conference. At the conference, I felt, Wow, these are a bunch of Holly's – a lot of people who are really in love with Jesus Christ.
During worship one night, while everyone else was singing, I got down on my knees and prayed to God. "Jesus, I want to have a relationship with You, and I want to live for You alone. Take my life and lead it in the right direction."
After the worship service, I unexpectedly ran into Holly, the lead singer from the band I heard months earlier, in the hotel elevator. I was able to tell her that I had just accepted Jesus and that it was all thanks to her.
Now I talk with God and tell Him how I am feeling and about the struggles I am going through, all the time. I really feel like He is present with me in anything I do.
Dania immigrated to the United States 7 years ago from Russia. She is currently majoring in biology and hopes to become a doctor. Dania has auditioned for a Keynote summer project and hopes to spend this summer singing about her relationship with Jesus.
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