Jason Bedell Online

1997. Confused as can be. My girlfriend and I were excited about the idea of me pursuing a dream of going to art school and becoming a graphic designer. But, dreams get crushed and plans change. We've all experienced that at some point in our lives (and if you haven't yet, sorry- but you will).

I was working at Up Against The Wall here at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach and planned on working at the one in Richmond there- got fired. Totally out of the blue for me. I was looking around at apartments and the one I had a lead on sounded amazing- until I found out the guy that was going to be my roommate was homosexual. I was floored. At the time I am sad to say that I hated gay people. I was a completely homophobic and didn't understand it (to everyone reading this, I was young, immature, and didn't even remotely love God, much less understand His unconditional love for all people regardless of their life's choices).

So, all I had was a plan to go to school, that was it. Then my girlfriend asked me to go to Camp Rudolph. Ugh. It was a camp. A Christian camp. I hated the idea. I went to that camp every summer growing up and I just went to socialize. That's it. So we went and I hated the idea.

God was about to hijack my life. I didn't even know it.

So at that week there was a kid named Nate. He wanted to get baptized and every night he called his mom and she would say "No. Those people are a cult," or "What in the world are you thinking? Those people believe in nothing." Night after night, more of the same. Even though I wasn't into God, I felt sorry for the kid. It looked like he was into it. We left the week and I was ready to figure out a new plan to make it to school and get the heck out of Virginia Beach. God had different plans.

The Saturday we got back home, I get a phone call from a friend, "Hey Jason, we're going to baptize Nate at the ocean front. 64th Street. Be there." I was still close with some of the "Jesus Kids" even though I didn't really care for it. So I went.

Nate told us, "If I do this, my mom said I can't go to church or hang out with any of my Christian friends. I know I need to follow God first, then my mom." And he did it. In the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean I watched a young man follow God in the midst of chaos. At that moment everything in my mind was thrown into a spiral.

On the drive home God wasn't yelling, screaming, or even speaking to me. It was a whisper. I kept hearing a simple and faint, "Just move." I tried to ignore it and then again I heard it, "Just move." It was probably the fourth time that I finally said out loud, "Alright. I'll do it." My girlfriend looked at me like I was crazy. I told her, "I think God wants me to go to Bible college and be a pastor. I think I want to give other people the life change Nate had. I think I want what Nate has." She seemed sort of excited. I guess.

I told my parents. They didn't really know what to think. They were so confused. It threw them off kilter to here their son who NEVER was about the church all of the sudden expressing the desire to be a pastor!?!

So I called my youth pastor (using the term loosely since he was the youth pastor at the church I had not even been to in almost 8 months, but he was the closest thing to it at the time). I left a message that I think I want to go to Bible college. He called me late that night.

And a new chapter was about to be underway. But "Jesus School for College Kids" wasn't all rainbows and smiles for a city kid with a lot of baggage...