Heaven Shin
I visited many offices on campus, trying to figure out how taking a year off would affect me. Things seemed to be working out well and I was quite ready to take a year off with my thorough planning. However, God had a different and a better plan for me.
Only last year, if you were to ask me if I think miracles could happen in my life, I probably would have said yes, but not a huge miracle like the ones told by people in their testimonies. This year, however, I have encountered miracles.
In fall 2016, acting on conviction, I decided to change my major from biology to integrated science secondary education. This was a difficult decision for me to make but I felt a deep peace in my heart. During the first week of Christmas break, my parents and I came to the conclusion that we wouldn’t be able to afford the extra year of schooling required as a result of me changing my major. The only viable option seemed to be to switch my major back to biology and hope that in the future I’d find a way to become a teacher. I didn’t sleep that night, as I was on the phone with my parents trying to calculate the credits I would need and the cost of tuition, and as morning dawned, it became clear to me that I should go back to being a biology major.
I was greatly disappointed and complained to God for getting my hopes up and letting me go through a semester as an education major only to make me change course again. I knew I had to leave it up to God and let Him guide me, but when I did, it wasn’t because I fully trusted Him but rather because I just felt like giving up.
As Christmas break drew to a close, my mom and my dad called me on separate occasions. They asked if I thought I should be an education major again, and in my skepticism, I gave them all the reasons I shouldn’t. I didn’t know why my parents were bringing this up again, but then my dad told me he had a chance encounter with someone he used to work with in the U.S. who had encouraged him about me staying in school for another year to get the degree I wanted. I knew this was God’s way of reassuring our family that he would take care of our financial situation and that I should continue my pursuit of becoming a teacher.
After all the tossing and turning, I was able to start my spring semester as an education major. However, as I still had to find a way to pay off my tuition, I finally decided to take a year off to go back home to Korea and teach English for a year. I wasn’t too excited about being delayed another year, but I thought I might as well think positively about this opportunity to build my teaching experience.
I visited many offices on campus, trying to figure out how taking a year off would affect me. Things seemed to be working out well and I was quite ready to take a year off with my thorough planning. However, God had a different and a better plan for me.
A week later, my professor carefully asked me if it would be okay for her to help me find a possible source of financial support. Even though I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up, I felt very encouraged just with her offer of help. Over the course of the semester, we seemed to be getting better news about financial support. I prayed, but I was extremely careful not to get my hopes up. Then one day, as I was studying in the Honors office, I received the wonderful news I had been waiting for two months to hear: I would be able to continue my education without taking the year off. This was a miracle.
As the semester is now drawing to a close, I cannot but hold my breath as I reconsider the ways God has led me. I didn’t think miracles could happen in my life. I was adamant about making thorough future plans and taking practical and realistic routes in life; however, I learned that through Christ, everything is a miracle. It’s a miracle that I was born, that I can speak English, that I can learn; and it’s a miracle that God loves me and that He will continue to guide me until I reach our heavenly home.
PR
