TAYLOR’S STORY
WHY DON’T YOU COME BACK FOR SECOND YEAR?
I will never forget sitting in that chair, scrambling for excuses. It had been two long and difficult years since I finished my first year at the Bible Institute, and I was back on campus visiting some friends that had recently become interns at Word of Life. One of whom just happened to be an admissions counselor. A really, really good one. I’ll be honest. I was terrified. I didn’t like where this was going. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with my current life situation, but I had little interest in uprooting and “starting over.” My walk with the Lord was far from thriving, but was this really the answer? I skeptically began to pray about going back to the Bible Institute for another year of classes. I had a lengthy list of all the reasons why this would be a terrible idea, and I made sure to explain each of them (in great detail!) to God as I prayed. I’m sure He found it quite amusing. But the Lord works in mysterious ways—ways which I do not understand to bring about a plan that I can’t yet see. In the fall of 2012, I checked in to a South American dorm to begin my sophomore year at the Bible Institute. That year radically changed my life in ways I never could have planned for myself. In just one year the Lord blessed me with lifelong friendships, sharpened my mind, healed my heart and opened countless doors for future ministry opportunities. That year I received a solid foundation of truth that will carry over into the next chapter of my life. I was able to connect with and learn from missionaries and teachers from all over the world. And through it all, I gained hands on ministry experience and racked up academic credits that easily transferred into the online program I used to finish my degree. If I would have let all my excuses rule my decisions, I would have missed out on all that God wanted to do in me. I would have missed out on my great heavenly purpose.
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