During my sophomore
year, I was a part of the ladder leader team that belongs to the ISP office. We
organized events for international freshmen. And this is how I met Maureen. She
attended one of the events that we organized. We happened to sit down next to
each other and we started talking.
Maureen is the wife
of a professor in Wheaton. She is very active in the international community in
Wheaton. Our first conversation was all over the place. We talked about our
experiences abroad, our favorite food, and a bunch of random things. I was
surprised by the way that she talked to me. Instead of being an elder, she is
more like a friend. After that long conversation, we exchanged our phone number
and started to meet regularly.
Last semester, I
did study abroad and didn’t get a chance to meet Maureen. So, this is actually
my first time meeting her since last summer. I talked to her about my
experience studying abroad and my transition back to Wheaton. She also shared
several things that happened in her life recently. One of the things that we
talked about is post-graduation choice. Before this semester, I always tried to
avoid thinking about post-graduation, not because it was very far away, but
because it’s a tough decision to make. Honestly speaking, I am a planning
person and I like to keep everything under control. So, once there is something
that is out of my controlling zone, I tend to avoid it. So, I talked to her
about my feelings and worries. Then, she told me a story about her husband and
how God planned out his future perfectly for him but is completely different
from what he was planning to do. This story is quite encouraging and she also
reminded me to turn my eyes to God and just trust in His decisions.
We also talked
about what I learned in this management class and she mentioned that in every
field, certain degree of management knowledge is necessary. She listed several
examples that she experienced. Maureen went to Heidi for a mission trip when
she was in college, and she observed different group performances with
different group leaders. Some leaders did a good job carrying out their responsibility
and caring other group members, while some didn’t. And the teams with good
leadership performed better than other teams.
It was really nice
talking to Maureen, and I look forward to talking to her again.
Celine! I really liked reading your post because I felt that it was something that I could relate to. I think that that OMD and ISP are great places to meet such a variety of different people with such broad experiences who want to learn more about different cultures. I liked reading about when you first catching up with Maureen that your conversation was all over the place because this is how I feel that a lot of my conversations are with people that I don’t get to see everyday. I think that it is always encouraging to hear not only from mentors, but even from strangers that God has a plan for us, even if we are not able to see it clearly in the beginning.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! Your post reminds me of Proverbs 16:9:
ReplyDelete"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD directs their steps."
I think that as important as it is to be adaptable to life and always prayerfully willing and open to change and wherever God leads us, I think too often Christians are willing to settle for failure by saying, "It must've just not been God's will," or "God just must not have wanted me to _______ (have that opportunity)."
Personally, I believe when bad things happen, for example when you don't get into the graduate school you want to go to or get the job you want, it's often not God's will, and just the course of life's circumstances. God rejoices when we rejoice, his heart is saddened when we are sad - empathy is part of true love, which, God made. Unless it's sinful, he wants us to have what we want - ( I know, dangerously close to prosperity gospel, I'm not saying He will GIVE us what we want) - and sometimes I believe He does hold good things back, to build us up, but I think these occasions are very rare. Instead, often we don't get what we want or need because we haven't worked hard enough, or it just didn't work out because of this world's fallen nature.