I just finished reading Tim Keller's book, The King's Cross. There was a paragraph that has stuck with me, especially as I have continued to struggle at times about why I'm still here in Bloomington and how to handle it:
"If the circumstances of life don't satisfy the present desires of my heart, I'm not going to suppress those desires, but I'm not going to surrender to them, either. I know that they will only be satisfied, eventually, in the Father. I will trust and obey Him, put myself in His hands, and go forward."
So I'd say I've been choosing to trust and obey Him, while going forward. One of the ways to move forward is by challenging myself to learn new things, and remain engaged with the community and friends. Lately I've neglected some of my greatest loves--fellowship, dance, studying Chinese, and being with international students.
To remedy that, I've started up taking ballet classes at a local nonprofit in town after a 3 month hiatus. The instructor is fabulous, and reminds me of my old ballet teacher--she yells at you, makes you work on a correction over and over again in front of everyone, and is quite eccentric. It's wonderful. I'm also back to my usual Sunday school class at church, and have been attending intermediate Chinese classes at the IU Asian Culture Center. For professional development, service projects, and networking, I joined Rotoract, which is the branch of Rotary club for young professionals. With international students, I've begun volunteering again with the Bloomington International Student Ministry, and enjoyed an awesome picnic with tons of internationals last weekend.
Even though I'm out of school (maybe for good), that doesn't mean I have to stop learning and growing! I've had a lot of great role models in this area, some of whom may be reading this blog. So thank you for the inspiration!
Tomorrow I leave for a long weekend in Rochester to see my grandparents. Please pray for a blessed time with them, and that I will be an encouragement!
Oh, and if you're looking for something else to read, you can check out a little summary of the "How to Thrive in Grad School" panel I was a part of that I mentioned last blog post:
http://gfmatiu.com/2012/08/in-case-you-missed-it/
2 comments:
Great suggestions in your presentation! I think they hold true for all of us regardless of age! Love you lots, always your BBF
I love all your blogs on all the different websites!!
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