Patti Streib is involved in women’s small groups at NorthStar, and also serves in our NorthStar Kidz ministry, where she generously gives her time to teach a kindergarten class on Sundays. If you spend any amount of time around Patti, you will find that she is meek, soft-spoken, and possesses wisdom that signifies a deep walk with God. If you rewind the clock 50 years, you’d find a different person altogether. You’d find a struggling teen in a dark place – one who couldn’t see anything but misery ahead of her. But, God had a grand plan for Patti…and His intersection with her came at the perfect time.
My intersect story started when I was 15 years old, in 1968. At that time I was living in a home that was not a Christian home. My parents were not saved; and not only were they not saved, they were alcoholics. It was a violent home that I was in. And, at 15, because that is all I knew, I thought that that was what it was like to be married, that was what it was like to “grow up.” And, I thought, “I’d rather not.”
So, I made plans to take my own life…and I had made those plans for quite a while. I actually had gotten to the place where I was ready to do it, and I had written my note, and I knew when I was going to do it. And that is when God intersected.
I went to the bus stop every day, and at the bus stop there was a girl (Cindy) who was a Christian, and she would ask me every Tuesday if I would go with her to Youth Ranch. I always said, “No,” and that was it. But, she would always ask me the next week, then the next week. Well, it was a Tuesday when I had decided to take my life. And, when she asked me to go, and I thought to myself, “Why not? I’m not going to be here tomorrow, so I might as well go.” And, it was at that meeting that I heard that Christ loved me, and that he died on the cross for my sin. And, I prayed and trusted Christ that night.
The Youth Director (Mike – I named my firstborn child after him) explained that once you trusted Christ, he took you further. It’s not that you’re saved, and that’s it. He loves you, and he wants you to have a life. And he has a plan for your life…not just a plan for salvation, but a plan for your life too!
So, I stuck around, and started to come to Youth Ranch every week. And, eventually I became a part of the leadership team.
My testimony to others is that if you are asking someone to come to church, or if you’re asking someone to trust in Christ, and they say, “no,” don’t give up! You never know what is going on in their life, and how God is already at work behind the scenes directing you to ask them. If Cindy had decided that week not to ask me to come to Youth Ranch, I wouldn’t be here.
A few years ago, I thought about Cindy, and I realized I could probably use social media to find her. And, I did. I reached out to her, and I ended up talking with her on the phone, and I thanked her for continuing to invite me. And, she said she was glad that God had used her.
As inspiring as Patti’s intersect story is, and how much it demonstrates God’s perfect timing and sovereignty, her story wasn’t finished. Someone had intersected Patti’s life – and saved her – but God would use Patti in a mighty way later in life. Stay tuned next week, when we share Part Two of Patti’s story.
