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2009/3/9 7th AnniversaryToday (March 8th) is the seventh anniversary of my baptism. It’s like another birthday of mine, and is even more meaningful than my physical birthday. “Seven” is a perfect number in the Bible, so I think this anniversary is extraordinarily special to me. Lately I’m particularly grateful for God’s leading in my job hunting. Right now I’m facing a critical transition – from a student to a young professional. I’m approaching the end of my student life (finally!) and am about to launch a new life chapter. I feel God really favors me and is opening the door for me along the way – the process of successfully transferring my teacher certification from Taiwan to Texas teacher certification last year, and the perfect timing of a job interview this February so I was able to catch up the working visa application deadline (April 1st) and got enough time for my attorney to file my documents to the relevant government department. This is completely out of my expectation and makes me feel like God is performing a miracle on me. God’s provisions are beyond what we ask and imagine. Now I’m praying for the result of visa application… I’d like to share a Bible verse which pops up in my head again and again recently: “For we brought nothing into the world, and we take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:7-8). This passage is originally talking about love of money and exhorting people not to fall into the temptation. But I think we can make an extension and apply it to other aspects of our desires. God has given me so much, and I feel very content. I ask for no more at this moment. : ) 2009/3/1 Done!I’ve finally passed my dissertation final oral defense this week. Don’t really feel rapturous. What I have is more like a relief. To be precise, I even didn’t feel anything when I finished my defense, no specific feeling at all. I didn’t feel happy or relieved or anything else at that moment; it was just like I’ve finally got it done, a thing which I had been waiting for so long. I called home that night and told dad I passed. Dad said congratulations and something else really nice. His nice words served as positive stimulation and brought me a sense of delight. I was having a smiling face with peace and joy in my heart when I was lying on bed that night. What a journey! When I look back upon the past five and half years, there were just too many things. I’m not a highly intelligent person, and thus I had to rely on God more throughout the whole process… qualifying exam, proposal meeting, final defense, countless meetings/discussions with supervisors and revision afterwards. Had I not relied on God, I absolutely wouldn’t be able to achieve it. To me it’s certainly not only a matter of a dissertation/ degree/gaining knowledge/intellectual training. I think it’s more like a personality training – building up characters such as patience and perseverance, as well as a social training – developing and learning communication skills, as I needed to communicate my ideas with my supervisors and interact with other relevant people. Most importantly, it's a process of relying on God. I feel extremely grateful for God’s grace. He gave me a very supportive supervisor and a lot of great friends. Thank you all for your support, your company, your encouragement, and your prayers. : ) |
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