The two dreams I had at L’Abri clarified my understanding that premarital sex was not okay with God. But I wasn’t sure what to think about smoking marijuana. Drugs weren’t mentioned in the Bible, were they? Many Christians drank alcohol and even communion was celebrated with wine. Was marijuana any different?

One morning after John and I visited Cedar Campus, I asked God to give me a sign so I would know what he thought about drugs. Just a couple hours later my father and brother and I were canoeing down the Sturgeon River. I paddled ahead in a solo canoe. When I reached the little patch of sand where we always stopped for lunch, I pulled up on shore and spied a small plastic bag lying on the beach. I was shocked to discover it was a bag of marijuana. God had given me a sign! I quickly stuffed the bag into my pocket, not mentioning this answer to prayer to my father or brother.

Later that night I was about to sneak out of the cottage to get high when that inner voice halted me and I started to wonder. Was this really a sign of approval from God? If so, why did I have to hide it from my family? And what about the police? (I’d already had three encounters with them—in New York, Paris, and Exeter.) What was God trying to teach me? Could some other power be responding to my request? Reluctantly I decided to hold off on smoking the marijuana and wait for further clarity.

Over the next few months I had several close encounters with marijuana. One day I made two Famous Chocolate Wafer® cakes and took one upstairs to my neighbors. They had several rolled joints lying on their coffee table, but surprisingly didn’t offer to share with me.

Another day I told a Christian friend from InterVarsity that if someone directly offered me a joint, I would smoke it. That very night Diane, the person I shared my visions with at the co-op, invited me to dinner. After the meal her roommate and boyfriend began passing around a joint. When it got to me, I recognized God was testing me and giving me a clear choice. For the first time ever I declined to get high. I watched as my friends descended into foolishness and from then on I was free. God had gently and graciously weaned me from my desire.