'04 to '09

Jeremiah 29:11 says, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’.

When I was in church today this verse spoke to me during worship session. It struck me like a lightning and I was practically in tears (u know, guys would always hold back their tears, but this time some managed to escape from my eyes). God truly had a plan for my life. As I ponder over the events that had happened in 2009, I began to see God’s hands upon my life. Things that I assumed were to go wrong in my way, became right in the end. It was like divine intervention in everything that I did. Studies, relationship, family and all. It was hell of a struggle to juggle all these at one go but somehow I managed to do it by God’s grace. Without God, I not have been who I am today. His blessings upon my life were countless. Starting from the beginning of my life till now, I am still being blessed.
My recent graduation was a classic example of God’s grace in my life. Without God, I would not have gone overseas for my studies. Back in 2004, I applied for all sorts of scholarships to further my studies and sadly none of them bore any fruit EXCEPT for my current programme. Well, I was awarded this scholarship and the challenge began. In fact, finding for guarantors for my scholarship was the first of the few hurdles in my study. It was not easy for someone to guarantee you your study but by God’s grace, two of my church members helped me out. Without them, I would have had so much trouble in finding for 2 guarantors, not 1! Thanks Uncle Voon and Uncle Edmond! Without the both of you, I would not be what I am today! Well, that was settled, and the class challenge began! I was elected as the leader of a class of 24 students and the best surprise of all was that 23 of the students in the class were Malays and 1 was the only non-Malay! Gosh, that was too much of a surprise as I did not have a companion like my other friends! Great! I was like oh no…….. I am so DEAD! But to my surprise, God's hands were upon me and well, I could truly say that being the leader of the class was really great! My classmates were cooperative and we learned to respect and help each other which I thought was really good!!!!
Then when we were placed into different universities during our first year of degree, the struggle starts again. This time was the seriousness of my studies. Things were more complicated this time and at times, I really broke down and cried. My family was the my strength and rock during these times. They were really supportive of me and were backing me up in everything I did! You see, without God’s perfect plan, I would not have such a great family! Without God, I would not have seen daylight at the end of my studies!
During my second year of study, this time in Wellington, during my first church service in Wellington, I did actually cried as I was so touched by God. Not really by the sermon but by the fact that His grace has brought me all the way to Wellington. Without His blessings I wouldn’t have been there. It was all these small little things that really made me realize that life is too short to miss anything. I want to catch everything that God has for my life!
Third year was pretty much like year two but with some extra problems. Well, instead of talking about the problems, let’s see what the problems have taught me. First of all, it taught me to be patient. I notice that I get agitated easily whenever I dislike something. Not that I am all good now, but I did really learn to overlook some things that happened and I think I am more patient nowadays. Secondly, they taught me to be independent. Well, I can honestly say that I am very independent since secondary school days but this third year of degree truly taught me to be more independent so much so that I learn to rely on myself when it comes to task completion. Not really as in independent from God, but independent from friends… Why? There were problems which I faced in my friendship with others which made it difficult for me to trust others anymore. Okay…. Third year is not all about bad things…. It was also full of wonderful memories when I met my loved one….. She was truly God-sent as she was, is and will always be supportive of me……. We spent countless hours together…. Laughing, joking, doing crazy things and going for holidays… Gosh… I really miss those days…. Throughout the whole year, I think I flew to see her so many times that I lost count of them…. Whenever there were cheap flight tickets on sale, I bet you, my name will definitely be there! What can I say! This is also God’s blessing for granting me job to sustain my expenses!
Well, for the fourth and final year, I was back in Malaysia. Looking back it was a year of toil and sweat! So much of struggles, so much of problems and yet so much of blessings from God! Studies had to be one of them! There were so many struggles to complete all the assignments at hand! Imagine, having to complete and submit a group assignment the Monday after the holiday! Gosh, definitely not a wise thing to do, especially for a group task! I wouldn’t call it a holiday then! That was just one of the problems with the course…..
Since the beginning of my degree year, I have always wanted to graduate in the university which I studied in… I certainly do not want a mere celebration of graduation in IPBA which is not as grand compared to the graduation in Wellington. So I planned…. Initially everything worked out well but towards the end, we were told that our course will be stretched on till 16th of December 2009 and this date clashes with my graduation date which means I would not be able to graduate in Wellington this year… I was devastated! When I heard that news, I thought to myself everything is over…. No more graduation…. However, with God’s intervention and blessing, our programme was cut short due to a shortage of funds to run our programme which means that we will be having our holidays earlier than 16th of December 2009! Not saying that it was a good thing but for me to graduate? Wow! I thought to myself! God made a miracle! The impossible is now possible! All things are possible with God! So I got on with my planning for the trip of my lifetime and guess what, my whole family and I had a wonderful time bonding together as one! We had fun travelling around New Zealand…. To cap it all up, it was a trip of a lifetime for my mum as well because she thought that she will never be able to go overseas anymore after the studies in Scotland! Well, well, well… what else could this be…. Definitely God’s blessing!
So, that was a short summary of my degree years till I finally graduated on the 16th of December 2009! There are more challenges ahead of me as I prepare myself for my chosen career… and I truly believe that God has a plan for me! He has put me into this, and He will definitely see me through this! True enough, He sent Jeremiah 29:11 to me in church today!!! Hallelujah!!