Holli Nicholson’s Personal Testimony
I was born in Dallas, TX on May 14, 1974 and lived there for 6 years. My family then moved to Poteau, OK. My parents wanted my brother and me to grow up in a smaller community. I was raised going to church. I was saved when I was 10 years old at church camp. Looking back I can tell there were times when God was trying to talk to me, but no one ever taught me how to recognize God’s voice. God was not really real to me, but something I knew I was supposed to believe in to be a good person. Because I did not really know God, I was lured away into the things of the world. I graduated from high school and went to a local junior college. I had plans to follow most of my friend and go to Oklahoma State University after competing junior college. Even though I was not following God, He was still directing my life. Instead of going to OSU I chose to go to Missouri State University. I did not know anyone at MSU, but I knew it was where I should go. I really needed to get away from my high school friends.
During college I would try to read the bible and pray, but I only felt guilty for not following God. I would tell God that I just wanted to have fun and live my life to the fullest and then I would get my life straight after college. I know God was protecting me during this time even though I was not following Him. Before I graduated from college in 1996 I had several job offers. I remember standing in my room at my sorority house asking God what was the right thing to do. I felt like I was making the biggest decision of my life. I had a job offer that was close to my family, but I chose to accept a job with Koch Industries in Wichita, KS. I had never even been to Kansas before my interview with Koch. I felt like Koch was really out of my league, but God had a plan and I moved to Kansas.
After I started working full time I was trying to find my place in life. I would go out with my co-workers, but I knew that there was more to life then the pointless time spent going to clubs. I met a few Christians that lived at my apartment complex and started to go to church with them. I got plugged into a great young adult group and started to seek God again. On May 14, 1997 I went to a cell group meeting. A new guy came that night that caught my attention. Zack and I started dating. Zack was in love with God and he introduced me to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Once I was baptized in the Holy Spirit a new desire to know God more and live a life of purpose was awoken. Zack and I were married on September 10, 1999. We heard about a place in Kansas City that had started night and day prayer from a guy that was teaching our Sunday school class. In 2001 we went to IHOP for the first time. It took going there a few times before I could get past just listening to the music or trying to figure out an agenda. This started our journey to knowing there was so much more to God that what we could have ever dreamed. We continued to go to the prayer room and attend conferences over the next few years. What we were learning about God’s love for us and His relentless pursuit for a spotless bride was only making us crave for more.
Our first child, Maycee, was born on December 16, 2003. Having a child made me realize so many things that I had not even thought of before. My career was no longer important to me. Zack and I chose to both work part time in order for us to be at home and raise our children. God showed me that being a good parent was like being a servant except I would get to choose how much I was going to put into it. I was learning that my selfish desires now had a higher price because they would be taking time away from our child. What I have given up in the worlds eyes is absolutely worth the pleasure of being a parent. I am so thankful that I will not look back in life and have regret that I didn’t spend more time with my children. Our second child, Mick, was born on November 9, 2005 and Jake was born September 17, 2007.
Zack and I went to a Onething conference in 2005. This conference really set our hearts to radically pursue God. We have always felt like God had a plan for us outside of the market place. We felt God inviting us to move to Kansas City. We fasted and prayed for several months. We wrestled with all the things we thought we would be giving up, a nice house, good jobs, living close to family. We started to see the weakness in our hearts and the tie to worldly things. We had to decide was God really worth giving up this comfort. In August 2006 I finally settled in my heart that if it took giving up my comfort and moving to Kansas City to know more of God, then I would do it. My hearts desire is to know the Uncreated One, to know His heart, to know His attributes, to know His ways and feelings and teach this to my children and others. This is what I want to know so I can teach my children that God is real and worth it all. Even more that what we teach our children, we want them to see our lives as an example that makes them want to live lives abandoned to God.