Four years ago this weekend God lead me to Taylor
University for four amazing, life-changing and lovely years! Oh, how I miss
Taylor and all the people who impacted my life while there.
This summer for me has been a huge time of reflecting,
grieving and anticipating new things; reflecting on the last four years of my
life, grieving by leaving a place a called “home” and anticipating life after
graduation. It has been a time where God
has drawn me closer to His heart and has shown me His faithfulness in so many
ways.
One day this summer I was reflecting in my journal on the
different impacts that I believe Taylor has had on my life and then yesterday I was reading
through them again and realized that these impacts can be applied to my life
right now as I transition. I strongly believe that God prepares each step of
our journey on earth and I am so thankful for that.
The journey that God has brought me on since I was born
has truly been amazing. I am so thankful for growing up as a missionary kid,
and having a supportive family. And as I
reflect I am reminded that in our journey there will always be ups and downs,
but we have the chose to embrace each phase with either a happy heart or dissatisfied
heart. As I talk about Taylor and how I have loved
all four years of being there I want you to know that I am not being naïve. I
know that there were definitely ups and downs throughout my years there, but I
believe the downs changed me just as much as the ups. Taylor is by no means a
perfect place, but it is a place that has had a huge impact on me.
So here are some of the impacts/lessons I learned while
at Taylor:
…deep friendships
with friends, mentors and professors…
these people impacted my life through care, support, prayers, funniness,
laughs, cries, runs, teachings, listening ears, and memoires that will last a
lifetime! From these relationships I know that in Korea I desire to develop some
deep friendships and be accountable to a mentor. My relationships from college
will not be replaced, but with a welcoming heart I want to embrace “new”
friends in this new season of my life.
…healing…
Taylor was placed God used to bring healing to my life in the death of my aunt
(who I was very close to) and a broken heart.
...a desire to worship and hear truth… being surrounded
by so many amazing examples of Christ was humbling. My faith was challenged in a positive way and I
learned how to make my faith my own. The privilege of having chapel three times
a week and attending a church where truth was spoken from the Bible fed my
faith in many ways. I anticipate this growth to continue as I live in Korea and teach at a
Christian school, attend a church and surround myself with other Christians.
…God is faithful in all
things… there are many stories that I can
share about God’s faithfulness throughout my time at Taylor. And God has already continued to show me
His faithfulness in Korea. He daily shows me that He is my friend, my provider,
and all that I need. He has placed small blessings in my life that have touched
me in many ways.
…how to rest and have fun…
Taylor was a place where I got involved in many awesome things, but it also
taught me to rest and have fun. This was a hard lesson to learn especially my first
three years of college. My senior year my housemates really challenged me to
take more time to have fun (man, did we ever- we baked, went on fun road trips,
watch Taylor soccer games in the pouring
rain, stayed up late and did so many crazy things) and a mentor who challenged
me to rest. These are two things that I
am quickly realizing that I need to practice again in Korea. I need to set down
my school work to have fun and I need to spend time of just resting and not
feeling guilty about it. This is definitely a goal of mine this next year.., to
rest and have fun!!! J
My time at Taylor was an amazing journey of ups and
downs. There countless more things that
I could say about Taylor, but I have decided to make a digital scrapbook to
remember all the memoires instead of blogging about each one! Now I anticipate
and eagerly wait to look back on my journey in South Korea someday. I know that
God has me here for a purpose and I can’t wait to see the impact and lessons I
learn.
If there are any freshmen reading this I want to tell you
one thing and that is to enjoy the journey of college… it flies by so
fast!!!
Love, Daniella
A few pictures to capture some of the moments (it was so hard to chose... I wanted to put all 1,000+)
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| My college housemates who taught me to have fun! |
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| My college housemates who taught me to have fun! {I couldn't find one with all us together :( } |
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| A mentor, Sara James, who showed me how to rest! |
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| Elementary Education friends who kept me laughing through all our "work" |
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| A mentor who poured into my life and played many games of dutch blitz with me!! |
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| A friend who gave a listening ear whenever I needed one especially freshmen year! |
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| One of best friends who ran and prayed with me all through college! |
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| Awesome friends who encouraged, and challenged me! |
