Crossing Life Change

These Stories Will Rock Your Face Off.

We've been watching God change lives in miraculous ways since 2004. This site is just a small glimpse of how God's grace - through Jesus - works to bring freedom and life change to the people of The Crossing, their friends and their families. Here's where we share them with you!

Share your own life change story by using the Share Your Story! tab above.

Praying For The Supernatural | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

Four years ago I was consumed with hopelessness that I would never be able to live out my dream of becoming a mother. After three heartbreaking miscarriages, and little to no medical explanation as to why I couldn't stay pregnant, I was at my wits end. I couldn't take it anymore. I was beyond depressed and the roller-coaster of emotions had taken its toll on my marriage. My husband had become so angry with God that he even started to question His existence.

That weekend, we decided to go to The Crossing Church, a church we had only been to a couple times before. Pastor Eric gave a talk that night about miracles and asking God to work supernaturally in your life. He advised us to write an "S" on our hand, and every time we looked at it, to pray for God's supernatural ability to overcome. I couldn't believe it! I felt as if this message was specifically written for me.

As Pastor Eric directed, I turned the problem over to God, and prayed that He would work supernaturally in our lives to make our dreams of parenthood a reality. I prayed that prayer on a Saturday night. On Monday morning, I received a random call from my doctor. She said she was thinking about me over the weekend, and wanted me to see a specialist who came to St. Cloud once a month from the Twin Cities. She said usually it takes months to get an appointment with him, but he happened to have one opening the following week. I wasn't confident this guy was going to have the solution. I had already seen several different doctors and had HUNDREDS of different tests done, none of which yielded any significant results. But the timing of her call intrigued me, and I took the appointment anyway.

The following week we met with this specialist. I walked into the room and he looked me up and down. He said he reviewed my records and, even though I didn't look like people with a certain disorder, he knew I had it. He wrote me a prescription, had the nurse take my blood to confirm I had the disorder, said, "You'll be pregnant within six months," and left the room. That was it. A 5-minute appointment.

I was excited that I finally had some sort of explanation, but was still very guarded, as the pain and heartache of my miscarriages was still very present. I prayed again. I prayed for God to continue to manage this problem, as I was still too vulnerable and couldn't take yet another loss. I took a leap of faith and let Him have total control of the situation. I let go of my obsession of becoming pregnant, and refocused that energy on getting back to church and working on my marriage and relationship with God.

Three months later, my husband and I both went public with our faith and re-commitment to God and were baptized on Good Friday of 2010. THAT VERY EVENING, we conceived our daughter. Today, we celebrate her 3rd birthday. She is so beautiful and smart beyond her years. While I hated the dark days of my miscarriages, I am grateful for them. They make every giggle, every snuggle, and every, "I love you mommy," THAT much better and more special. God blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. To The Crossing Church: Thank you for always guiding us to keep our focus on Jesus, and let Him handle the rest. I truly believe that our little girl is a miracle that was set in motion by God through Pastor Eric's talk about praying for the supernatural.

It All Started With A Prayer | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

Yesterday was an amazing day. As my daughter and I were getting ready for work and daycare, she started talking about a show called Make Your Mark. Then she said, "Like you, Dad. You have made your mark. You know, because you go and help people." It made me think about my life and where I have come from! My life since I found Jesus!!

I look back at what my life was like before Jesus... and at that time my life was a little crazy. My wife had come to me saying she wanted to end our marriage. We were losing our home (2nd home), our vehicle, and ended up having to short sale our first home to get out from underneath the loan! A few months later, I found out my wife was having an affair! To say the least, life was pretty stressful and I didn’t really know where to turn.

I started to see a counselor and it helped to get things off my chest, but things didn’t seem to get better. I would talk to my wife asking her if she wanted to work on our marriage. She said yes, and we started to see a marriage counselor. Even though she said she wanted to work on our marriage, I found out she was still seeing her lover. At this point, feeling like the counseling was not getting me/us anywhere, I decided to try some local churches to see if maybe there was a God.

After visiting a few churches and not experiencing any change or feeling of a God, I sought God through a prayer! As I laid on the couch, I cried out for God to bring me to a church where the pastor had passion and to also use me for a bigger purpose something that would affect the world. This is when I found The Crossing Church! I believe God had His hand on my life and guided me there. My first visit was at the Zimmerman Campus. When I entered, I just wanted people to leave me alone and not talk to me -- to let me go at my own pace. People greeted me and were very nice, yet didn’t overwhelm me, so I felt comfortable.

I don’t remember anything from the talk except a few songs. One was Jingle Bell Rock (it was right before Christmas) and Green Days 21 Guns (which to this day still hits me in a different way)! I do remember being overwhelmed with emotion. Like I said, I didn’t even remember what Pastor Eric preached about, but I knew it hit me right where I needed to be and I wanted to come back.

As I kept going to services, God kept working on my heart. After a few months, I remember when I decided to hand the keys over to Jesus!! Pastor Eric talked about generational curses and how if we don’t take action those same curses would carry on for generations to come. He asked us to write down 3 good and 3 bad traits we carried from each of our parents. I was able to remember the traits I gained from my Dad, but not my Mom. She died when I was 12 and my Dad died when I was 25. At this point I went to my oldest sister and asked her to tell me what our Mom was like -- her good and bad traits. She told me my Mom was a great woman of God, she was dedicated to the Lord, attended church weekly. She also attended on Wednesday nights and she was a loving and caring woman to everyone she met! When I found this out, I decided if Jesus was where my Mom's heart was, and so many people loved her, that’s what I wanted in my life, too! This is when I decided to say a salvation prayer. From this moment on, I attended church pretty much every week and God was at work on my heart, but I wasn’t really living out my faith. I would show up 5 minutes late and run out the door as soon as service was over.

Now that you have an idea of where I started. I want to get back to what my daughter said about me making my mark. When she told me this, I was getting ready for work. It was only a half-day because that afternoon I was getting on a flight to head to Haiti. This was my third trip. In April of 2011, my friend Rich from church was talking about his upcoming trip to Haiti with The Crossing Church. As soon as he started talking about it, I instantly felt overwhelmed that I should be going to Haiti! However, this trip was already planned and they had the amount of people they planned on taking. I was out of luck on this trip.

In the fall life got busy, and I started to miss church (it was hunting season) and I wasn't attending very often. In early December, I was on a job site (I work in construction) when one of the workers from another company was singing the song “Moves Like Jagger”, from the band Maroon Five. He then told me he had heard the song at church and it seemed to be stuck in his head. He lived in the Elk River area and I knew right then that he must be attending The Crossing Church because I don’t know of another church that would play that song in a service! He told me that yes, in fact he was attending The Crossing. He invited me to the Christmas service and said he had gotten me a ticket for a service! (Those who attend a service know this, but for those who read this and don’t know, they give tickets out for free to disperse the attenders evenly so they don’t get to many people at one service).

Attending church again put a fire under me to start attending on a regular basis again. Not more than a month after the Christmas service, I was at a service and they put up on the screens that there was going to be a Haiti mission trip info meeting and I knew I needed to attend the meeting! I walked into the info meeting, and knew I was supposed to go. So did my now good friend Christy, who is the Haiti Director. She said as soon as I walked in the door she knew I was meant to go. This trip was so far out of my comfort zone, and it really did scare me to think I was going to a third world country. Yet God just kept telling me to trust Him.

This trip forever changed my life. It brought me some great friends and truly brought me closer to God. After the trip, I started to open up at church. I was no longer showing up 5 minutes late and leaving after the service. I was building relationships within the church, and I even started to teach in Crossing Kids. (This was scary as can be for me because I have always hated being in front of groups, even if they were little kids).

I have now been on 3 trips to Haiti, and am trying to start a non-profit organization with a close friend to help the people of Haiti climb out of one of the most poverty stricken areas in the entire world. All of this started with a prayer I prayed in desperation that God would show up in my life. That He would bring me to a church where the pastor was full of passion and to help me do something that was bigger than myself. If you have seen Pastor Eric preach, you know his passion for Jesus and the lost. God has shown up and brought me to places I couldn’t have even dreamed of! I'm not sure who will read this, but if you aren't sure what you think about God, and you're not sure if He is real, I challenge you to throw a prayer at God from the heart and see what happens! I know from experience what He can do when we seek Him! By the way, all of this comes from a guy who didn't graduate high school and has been through drug, alcohol and sex addictions! If you think your past means God can't use you, I'm a perfect example of how He can!!

God bless you and I pray my testimony changes every life that reads it!! Amen.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope!"

My Hope Dealer | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

Hello Crossing Church!

I just want to thank you for this past year! I started coming to The Crossing in January of this year.
Before I started coming, I was in a state of emotional chaos. I was in counseling and felt like I was living in a circus. The past few years had been difficult as I had been dealing with addiction in my family and with my own health problems. I suffered thyroid problems in 2010, which led to a stroke in 2011. I was 32 years old. Doctors couldn't give me any answers. With 3 kids, this terrified me!
However, I am grateful to have gone through all of it, as it was the start of the beautiful journey I am on now.]

In December of last year, my husband was out of town. I was up late and couldn't sleep. I turned on the TV and Oprah was on with a guest by the name of Joel Osteen. I listened and really loved his message. I thought, "I'm gonna try and live by this." I then had a dear friend invite me to The Crossing Church a couple weeks later. I said I would love to go and would after the holidays. On Christmas Eve that year, I heard God speak to me for the first time in my life. I ran downstairs to tell my husband and was in awe by what just happened. It was the coolest thing ever!!!! I was speechless the rest of the night at our family gathering.

In January of this year, I finally was able to attend The Crossing. I picked up my dear friend who invited me and headed to church one Saturday night. I got there not knowing what to expect. I thought, "This is not the church I remember!! LOL!!! This is so me!!" I listened carefully to Pastor Eric's message. In a quick moment, it came to me. One year ago, I suffered a stroke and in this moment I am in God's house. I knew this was where I was supposed to be. I continued to listen. I was inspired and hopeful.

At that point in the service, you played a commercial with Pastors Eric & Kelly and Pastor Joel Osteen; The Crossing was giving away his book! I was blown away!! I couldn't believe it!! Did this all start with that night I turned on my TV? I knew in that moment that God was working! He wanted me there and He had his hand in all of this. I was so excited and thankful to my friend for inviting me to go. I could hardly wait for the next week. I am still so excited about every week I get to attend The Crossing. I was baptized at Lake Beebe in July. It was an amazing day for me!!

Although I'm still struggling with family addictions and financial burdens, my health is better than it's ever been. I'm off of my blood thinners and I was blessed to have found a wellness center who has given me the answers I've been looking for. I have never met so many angels! I feel the Holy Spirit within me! And I'm filled with hope! I am finally at peace and have the supernatural joy that only God can give. I thank you Crossing Church!! I am blessed to have found you and have you as my HOPE dealer!! My life has changed, my family is changing and I know that I am favored and God has His hand on me. We will overcome our obstacles. I finally can feel at peace knowing that!

I wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas!! Thank you for all that you do to reach so many people with God's Grace!

Journey From Hurt to Hope | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

My Grandma that I called mom (because she and my Grandpa adopted me right when I was born) died when I was 12, and my Grandpa started to physically abuse me. Through a series of events, I was put in foster care. I went through many foster homes in less than two years. I was hospitalized three times for trying to kill myself. I didn't want to be alive if no one wanted me around.

The last foster home I went to was the home of a pastor. He made me start going to church. I really enjoyed it for a while, but at that point in my life I had relationship issues and did not trust anyone. So when I was 18, I moved out.

I was still dealing with my depression and anxiety and I lost my job for anger issues. After that, I was hospitalized four more times. I had become homeless five times because I could not get along with anyone. I just wanted to leave the world.

Finally when I thought I was ready to just die, someone gave me a chance. He and his mom let me live with them. [They invited me to church and] I remember wanting to go, but didn't think anything of it because I still wanted to die. I started taking more doses of my medications to numb the pain.

I finally went with them to The Crossing on Mother's Day of 2013. I attended and headed home again. I went off-and-on for about a month.

Then one day I walked into church and listened to Pastor Eric's talk. I had always listened to him, but this time I really listened. I don't remember what the series was, but it just tore my heart open. As the giving basket went by, I put my phone number in there to get more information about volunteering. I didn't know why, but something was telling me that I should volunteer just to get my mind off of things. And I did. I started volunteering. As I continued to volunteer, I started feeling hopeful. I started reading the Bible. I started praying a whole lot more.

I still have the scars on my arms from cutting so deep. Yes, I still have those memories, but God has entered my life, and changed it. I can look at those scars and move on. I still think about the past, but ever since I started going to The Crossing, my anxiety has almost completely gone. I do not worry as much. I have forgiven my Grandpa and we have a good relationship now.

Because of The Crossing and because of Jesus, I know that I am loved by God. I know that if I don't put myself first, great things will come my way. I am able to have faith in God because I know He has faith in me. I do not let the monsters overcome anymore. God is my leader and gives me the power to overcome anything that brings me down. Because of God, I'm not suicidal anymore and I have a bright future ahead of me. Thanks for helping me see that!

Shannon's Story | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

For the past six years I've been battling an eating disorder. I've been in and out of treatment centers too many times to count, trying to find a purpose in life and to overcome this deadly disease. Doctors told me I wouldn't make it another year if I didn't get better. I felt like my life was slowly but surely ending, even though I was only a teenager. I had absolutely no hope in life anymore. I started isolating myself from everyone I once had a relationship with. I dropped out of high school my sophomore year because I simply did not have energy to go. I also quit the sport that I had been doing my whole life (swimming). A couple years after, I gave up on going to treatment. I wasn't making any improvements and my health was decreasing day by day.

This was my life up until a year ago.

Last October I decided to give recovery another try. I started seeing a therapist again to start working on gaining my life back. During one of my sessions she suggested I should try going to church. I was hesitant about that idea, but I decided to give it a try. Little did I know that Sunday was going to be a life-changing experience.

I stepped foot into The Crossing and automatically felt hope. I had chills running down my spine throughout the whole service. It seemed like God was by my side the whole time. I can't really explain the feeling, but I knew that this was EXACTLY what I needed. After that service I decided to give my life to God and to get baptized.

I was starting to see why I was still alive.

I've been attending The Crossing ever since. I'm still seeing my therapist and I'm still in the recovery process, but God has given me a whole new outlook on life and what it means. Over the past year I've made incredible progress in recovery. I graduated high school, I'm currently in my second year of college, and I have a job. Even though I'm not fully recovered from my disease, I now have faith and hope that I can get better. The Crossing has changed my life for the better and I can't thank you guys enough.

I'm Shannon. I'm 19 years old, and this is my story.

Flushed Her Addiction Down The Toilet | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

I just wanted to thank everyone at The Crossing, especially Pastors Eric & Kelly. I started coming to church about two months ago. When I first started coming, I was addicted to pain meds and was a completely negative person who was afraid to do stuff because [of the way] people judge you. Since coming to The Crossing and hearing about Grace On Tap, Kingdom Come and now Ace Your Test, my life is completely changed. I am no longer addicted to pain meds. In fact, I just flushed everything I had down the toilet before sitting down to tell you my story. I never had the strength to do this before, and now I am strong in Christ.

I was baptized two weeks ago and life got really hard after. I was struggling with lust for men other than my fiancé, and just felt like a bad person. After tonight's sermon I am completely changed. I just really want to say thank you. You all have no idea how much I have changed. Everyone around me [has been asking] what's been different, and I tell them my story about finding faith and some of the supernatural things that have happened since.

I am trying out for the band to give back to God with the talent I have. I don't know where I would be at this point in my life if I didn't have this church helping me grow in my faith and strength in Christ. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. My 11-month old daughter also wants to thank you for helping her mom not lose herself to addiction. Thank you for teaching me about faith and grace and Christ. Because of this, I can be a better mom than I ever thought possible. Because of this, I am stronger. Because of this, I will never ever fail in life ever again. Because I have this church and, most importantly, because I now have Christ. Thank you again to everyone! Pastors Eric & Kelly, I hope this letter gets to you guys. You rock! I love seeing you every week. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

James' Story | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

"My name is James, and God's message of grace completely changed my life."

This is James' story.

 

This video was shown during week 1 of The Crossing's GRACE ON TAP series.

CLICK HERE for more info about Eric Dykstra's book Grace On Tap.

CLICK HERE to watch the whole talk.

CLICK HERE to contribute to Life Change at The Crossing.

God Provides In Unexpected Way!

My husband and I give each week - not because we have to but because it's on our hearts to give.  In the past, I used to question deep down if we should be giving more.  Then, after a recent weekend at The Crossing, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and my husband and we had a conversation about giving more.  We both thought that maybe we weren't giving as much as we should be.  

The next Monday, after Heroes of the House, my husband mentioned that he had given some money (this was Monday).  What he didn't realize was that the amount he gave was literally all that we had in our checking account!  It's been a stressful year financially, so while he only gave a little - it was all we had.  When he told me I was like, "Oh, crap!  That's all we have until Wednesday babe!"  We both decided to leave it up to God.  

He had been offered a new job, and on Tuesday he was planning on giving his notice to his current employer.  My husband had been praying that this would work out smoothly and mutually.  Before he could put in his notice, he was called into the office and informed that they were letting him go!  This is an awesome work of God!  God is so good!  

It may sound a little weird for someone to say that losing a job is great, because for most people in that situation it's not a good thing.  However, NOT ONLY did God give my husband a new job offer BUT he was told his current company (who just let him go) would be paying him for three more weeks and extending his insurance to the end of the month!  This was a HUGE blessing for us!  

My husband was able to start his new job today!  God always comes in and provides, and He ALWAYS comes in at the right time!  Through losing a job and being given a new one, we actually came out ahead financially!  We had planned on a certain amount of money, but I realize that it's not our plans that matter - it's God's plans that matter.  

Thank you for reading.  I really wanted to share this because if you had asked me about giving a year ago, I would have been in fear of not having 'enough'.  BUT I've seen the powerful work of God and He NEVER fails!  

Bri's Story | The Crossing Church, Elk River, MN

This is Bri's life change story.

 

CLICK HERE to contribute to Life Change at The Crossing.

 

My Baptism Journey

I've loved and sought after the Lord for 12 years, offering my life to him, my heart and my will.  I read by Bible all the time, and people nicknamed me "preach" in the past.  I have been married for 8 years and have one beautiful little girl.  

In 2010 I became sick with a a rare disease (endometriosis) and it caused me to cough blood.  In summber of 2012, The Crossing pastors laid hands on me and prayed for total healing for me.  A couple weeks later I found a specialist in Atlanta, GA who had worked wih women like me before.  In September 2012 I traveled with my family to Georgia.  I had 9 procedures and 6 surgeries (that included part of my lung being removed).  

It was a very, very hard recovery.  The depression and lost feelings that followed was somwhere I had never been, somewhere I never thought I'd be, and somewhere I was very embarrassed to be.  I suddenly doubt everything - even my own faith.  My body had been healed, the endometriosis was removed, but my soul was a complete mess.  

Here is my journal entry before Baptism (on 7/14):  "I feel like I can't go on too often lately... My only strength is you [God], my only salvation or love is because of and in you.  But being here stuck here on eath with these hard hard issues every day I can't heal from old ones because new ones don't stop coming... I'm scared and unclear of what's right or where to go.  I can't stand the assaulting stress and hurt day in and day out.  What am I to do Lord?  I am angry."  

I finally made it back to the House of God on 7/27/13 during the Heirs to the Throne series.  Pastor Eric talked about how we have strength in the Lord and how we can overcome the enemy.  I was invited to be baptized the next day.  

Journal entry after baptism (7/28): "I was baptized today.  I married my Lord Jesus.  My daughter was with me.  I am so at peace and in awe of His love."  

Journal entry a few days later (8/1): "Jesus, thank you so much for giving me "ears to hear."  Thank you so much for reviving me... Thank you for the price you paid and for not leaving us along.  How strange, I never really expected such a dramatic shift in consciousness as a result of baptism... There is a new fire in my spirit, Lord.  What once was uncontrolled, misdirected and misunderstood pain and anger has now [changed] into a warm blaze in my soul.  I see now my anger is at the enemy and not the person.  That God did not bring the hardships on my life, but the enemy.  And I see I can hurt the enemy and overcome it with love, and Your grace and compassion!"

I am now listening for the Holy Spirit and following Jesus in a way I never understood before.  I am so grateful and feel so privileged.  Before being baptized I would come to church randomly and would be so nervous and scared to tlak to anyone - constantly having doubtful and negative thoughts (which was odd because in the "world" I am a very social outgoing person, holding a management position in sales requiring me to reach out to new people!).  Now I see it was the enemy coming between me and the beautiful Body of Christ.