Maddy (Rehr) Dahl’s first year of college at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management left her feeling empty and knowing something was missing.
“I found myself really seeking after a lot of things that I had come later to realize were idols in my life,” Dahl said. “(I was) getting that reassurance that I’m worthy from other people, and at the end of that year I found myself really run dry.”
Coming home from a family gathering that summer feeling down, she prayed for direction. “I heard Him in my heart whisper, ‘Bible School,’” Dahl said. “I almost immediately pulled up my computer and started looking at what it would look like. … It was almost like the Lord said, ‘This has always been the plan.’”
That fall in 2017, Dahl started her Free Lutheran Bible College journey.
Meeting at FLBC, Dahl and her husband, Cristian, were married not long after they attended college together. They are raising their two children in the Twin Cities area. She works for a consulting company, RSM US LLP, helping customers effectively implement Microsoft products into their businesses. As she lives out her daily life, God’s pursuit of how she would spend her college years is a lesson Dahl takes with her today.
“The Lord is always chasing after you,” Dahl said. “… It’s been so evident to me time and time and time again how present He is, and how He is unmoving.”
During her first year at FLBC from 2017-2018, Dahl also attended UMN simultaneously. She attended UMN with a light, but full-time credit load and lived at FLBC and took FLBC classes part time.
“(FLBC) was His way of redirecting the attentions that I’ve been giving other things in the creation,” Dahl said. “(It was) Him trying to point me back to the Creator of where I can really fill my cup back up.”
Dahl decided to step fully into FLBC her second year.
“There was a lot of things that the Lord wanted me to see as being a part of the community at the Bible School,” Dahl said. “While I was still at the U, it was really hard for me to be able to fully see that.”
Though her first year’s part time status means she did not officially graduate in 2019, the value and impact of FLBC are something Dahl took with her, especially the value of community discipleship.
“If there’s anything that my two years at Bible School really ingrained in me is just how impactful the community is,” Dahl said. “The community is one of the biggest things that the Lord uses to really refine us during our time there and continue to point us to Him.”
Fast forward to today, Dahl’s daily community in her workplace is much different than what she experienced at FLBC. At RSM, Dahl said there is only one other within her circle of coworkers who actively professes Christian faith, and many avow the opposite.
Dahl’s main ministry to her workplace is through prayer for the salvation of her coworkers. Dahl said she also works to normalize a healthy view of Christians by including mentions of her faith impacting daily life. “(I am) trying to humanize it a little bit too of what that looks like,” Dahl said. “I’m a human that loves other people and I just want what’s best for them in accordance with what God declares is best.”
Dahl has been with RSM full time since 2021. Dahl has been part of creating and giving training and Microsoft implementation resources to their clients across multiple industries. Dahl started by specializing in Microsoft Teams and now has moved into Microsoft Copilot A.I.
Dahl’s work includes helping clients onboard and best utilize Teams and Copilot for their employees, helping clients decide what Microsoft tools are beneficial financially, and providing training to ensure clients’ employees have the same knowledge level.
Because of her extensive Microsoft training background, the Microsoft blog and LinkedIn posts that she makes, and her nationwide Microsoft speaking engagements, Dahl has become a Microsoft MVP. The MVP program has less than 5,000 professionals in the world and can only be secured by extensive involvement and a current MVP’s nomination.
Thinking back to her time at FLBC, from Dahl’s current vantage point as a FLBC alumnus with an established career, her advice to current students is similar to what she herself learned: to allow God to pursue their heart and to hold nothing back from Him.
Dahl’s advice to students: Allow God to pursue your heart and to hold nothing back from Him.
“The Lord has brought you there (to FLBC) for a reason,” Dahl said. “Really lean into that … and trust His plans for you.”
As Dahl walks into the future as a young mom, wife, church member, and Microsoft training expert, she walks with that same trust: that God is leading her and chasing her soul.
“He wants my heart and He wants me to be with Him,” Dahl said. “He is my steady presence that keeps me grounded.”
Share this Post