You know what is best for me.
Give me what you will, how much you will,
and when you will -Thomas à Kempis
Reflections on 1992
As the year of 1992 ends, I realize that I will remember this year as a time of great learning. During this year, I began to think more seriously about my future and what my goals reveal about my values and faith.
From the beginning, 1992 contained events that came unexpectedly. In January, 1992, God revealed to me that he wanted me to stay at Oberlin for Winter Term instead of completing a magazine internship in Chicago. I stayed in Oberlin, braving the cold Ohio snow, and edited for The Oberlin Review and interned at the Oberlin Alumni Magazine. This month was packed with journalism and meeting students who were to become my close friends (Carrie, Anneke, and Sarah). I also realized, even more, my love for writing and how it is a part of who I am.
Second semester, 1992. This semester was to be one of the most difficult periods for me. I edited the Features Section for the Review, encountering conflict from those who disapproved of the Christian magazine on campus, Ichthys, that I helped put together. Editing proved to be a great deal of work, but God helped me to have the best semester that I have ever had academically at Oberlin. When I began to doubt the reasons that I wrote for Ichthys, I learned that a Russian student at Oberlin became a Christian after reading the magazine. Again, another surprise!
During the spring, I began to search for a summer job. My search for an internship was unsuccessful. I remember praying one night, “If I can’t leave Oberln, then please give me a housesitting job this summer in Oberlin so I can save money.” Two days later, I received an unexpected letter from a woman in Oberlin. She remembered the lawn work that I had done for her last year and asked me if I wanted to house it for her. I was delighted. I spent the summer in a beautiful home with the cat, Charlo, writing and working, and surrounded by the home’s three libraries. Truly heaven for a book lover.
Now as fall semester closes, amidst exams, the Review, and internship applications, I am faced with another event. I will be leaving for a five-month stay in Europe on January 28, 1992. I am incredibly excited and curious to see what lies behind this door. This trip as has been the object of prayer, desire, and dreams for four years. I am grateful for this opportunity.
I trust that this year has been meaningful to you as well. Embrace each experience fully and never be afraid to plunge ahead into the unexpected. God Bless. Shalom.
Love, Teresa
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