Music & Computers Were My Life

I grew up in a family that met with the church in Portland, attended Beaverton High School, and played viola and violin in the Portland Youth Philharmonic. Throughout high school, music and computers were my life. My time was spent between school, music lessons, playing computer games, and studying. Church was something I went to on Sundays and periodically enjoyed on Friday nights. Other than these two times, I knew nothing of the Lord Jesus, and practically never experienced Him in my life as I do now.
In my senior year of high school, I applied to an aggressive double major program at Columbia University and The Julliard School, the most prestigious music school in the world. I was accepted into the undergraduate program at both schools, and began an intensive three-year pursuit of a bachelor's degree in computer science, while at the same time taking lessons from a teacher at Julliard. Those three years were the most stressful years in my life, and also the most lonely. My time was devoted to studying, typing out computer programs in my room, or practicing etudes and sonatas in a practice room. Outside of my academic pursuits in the heart of New York City, the only other object that held my interest was meeting with the local church in New York City. Every weekend, I had the opportunity to get away from the stress of school and stay with a family from the church. They offered me home-cooked meals, a comfortable bed, a warm environment, and soul-restoring fellowship. I can testify that those weekends became a source of supply to me throughout my college years, and, through my contact with Christian brothers and sisters, the Lord became more real to me than ever before. In three years of school, I attended more meetings of the church than ever before. Each meeting was a blessing to me, and I never came away from a meeting unsatisfied. I also was involved with teaching the tenth grade Sunday school class. Keeping the attention of a group of tenth graders on a Sunday morning was not easy, not to mention trying to teach them something from the Bible! This caused me to pray very much for both the tenth graders and myself, and helped me learn how to care for my younger brothers and sisters. I also had many times of fellowship with the others caring for the tenth graders, and we eventually built up a sweet relationship through our prayer and coordination together.

Spending time with Christians from the church in New York City changed me a great deal, at least as much as my education there did. Looking back on my college years, I can now say that being with the brothers and sisters in the church in New York has caused me to love the Lord even more and to consecrate myself to Him.

IH