A New County

Image by Ben Scherjon from Pixabay

My College journey is nearing the finish line once again. Today was my last Saturday in class, thank the Lord!

Ten hours in class, homework, and assignments, on top of what I was already carrying at work and home, felt like a marathon. Completely draining. I thought this was supposed to be part-time studies! It felt more like a full-time job. Plus overtime.

Furthermore, my sleep has been off for far too long. I’m pretty convinced that I’m mentally fatigued, however, the show still must go on. I have 6 weeks of practicum to complete. That’s 200 hours to acquire my Early Childhood Educator Infant/Toddler Specialization.

Nevertheless, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel means It’s a time of relief. This extra burden will soon be lifted. Then I can have most evenings and weekends back. Pheeew!

In class today we studied the essay by Emily Perl Kingsley called “Welcome to Holland” You can read that HERE. <— Just click this hyperlink.

Welcome to Holland is written by a mother whose son was born with Down Syndrome. It’s a personal metaphor of her own experience as the parent of a child with special needs. She likens the experience (the loss of a dream) to a change in the flight plans. Instead you’ve landed in Holland, not your dream destination—Italy. However, after being in Holland for a while you begin to see that Holland has tulips, windmills and Rembrandt. It doesn’t mean that the loss of the dream stops hurting, just that spending life mourning the loss would mean that you would never be free to enjoy and appreciate all of the wonderful things that life still has to offer.

After my Instructor read this essay aloud, one of my peers spoke up about how it reminded her of her own experience coming to Canada. You see, she comes from a war torn country—Iran.

In her first days everything felt so different. Even the sky looked different, she recalled. It was unsettling, but after a time she began to realize and appreciate her new found freedom in this new county.

Scripture speaks about a new country as well. One that believers in the Lord Jesus should be eagerly awaiting and longing for—that is, our heavenly home.

But [we are different, because] our citizenship is in heaven. And from there we eagerly await [the coming of] the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who, by exerting that power which enables Him even to subject everything to Himself, will [not only] transform [but completely refashion] our earthly bodies so that they will be like His glorious resurrected body. Philippians 3:20 – 21

There’s a lot we can glean and process in all of these analogies and metaphors. Connecting the dots and deciphering the code that applies to my own life is going to be a long journey itself with my tired brain. However, one thing I can tell you for certain is that coming to terms with a lost dream, or coming to Canada from a war torn country, isn’t the only way to find peace. Even greater freedom, peace and rest can be found in Jesus Christ.

Please pray for the final days of my college journey, and then the days thereafter. 🙏 Healing will definitely be in order as I finally rest from this adventure. Thank you for following and reading.

God bless. ❤️

—-Tina