Sometime late last week I was looking at pictures of Jerusalem and trying to figure out the location of JUC in respect to the temple mount. I have a picture of the Jerusalem skyline set as my desktop background, basically the same one that is at the top of my blog right now (also included below), and I was wondering where the college would be in that picture. Turns out it would be somewhere way off to the left, not even in the picture.
Still, it was quite satisfying to daydream about waking up in Israel and seeing the old city just outside my bedroom window. I imagined getting up early and doing my quiet time in some discreet garden, sitting among the olive trees and looking out over the city where Jesus once walked and talked. I could almost feel the early morning rays of sun streaming through the branches and falling upon my face as I read the Word of God in its original language, slowly sipping some freshly brewed coffee. Perfect.
But as these thoughts were running through my mind, other, less-happy ones began intrusively elbowing their way in. How are you going to pay for it? Where is that money going to come from? What about your undergrad loans? How are you going to pay for them? If you go to JUC, you will be paying off loans for the rest of your life. Is that the responsible thing to do?
What can you say to such thoughts? It's true, I do owe money for undergrad loans. With the paycheck I am bringing home now, it would be years before I could pay those off, let alone pay off more loans on top of them. Is it foolish and irresponsible for me to even think of going to JUC if it would mean taking out loans? I want to do what is right. I want to be wise. But I don't want to put off getting a master's degree because of finances. If I do that, then I may never get the degree. After all, when will I ever be able to pay for such an education out of pocket?
Further, at this point I believe that continuing my education, especially in the area of languages, would be the best stewardship of the gifts God has given me. For whatever reason, God has given me an understanding of languages, and I enjoy working with them. It would be a mistake to neglect this gifting on account of something so minute as finances. If God has given me the ability, and desires to see me explore and develop that ability through a master's program in Israel, He will certainly supply the funding for it. Our God is not limited by finances, and because He has chosen me for Himself, neither am I.
As a friend reminded me just last night, it's not my money after all, it's God's.Labels: education, reflections
