We rode down the steep narrow road. Faster and faster we went. Blazing past the tall green grass. Zooming past the humble, wooden houses. I was struggling to balance myself, endeavouring to keep myself from tilting to either side of the road. I was focusing on the road ahead, attempting to control the metal contraption which I was riding on. I saw a turning ahead of me.
Bracing myself for the turn, I gripped the handle bars tightly. Preparing to cut the corner, I leaned forward. I hit the brakes. The wheels slowed. I swerved.
She stopped, and cycled back to where I was.
"Are you alright?" she asked, apparently concerned.
"Yea, I am. I'm alright," I replied.
I had turned too quickly. When I began to sense myself tilting to one side of the road, I immediately put a foot down. That prevented an otherwise nasty fall. It was my second day of cycling. I could cycle now but I was still learning, perfecting my skills, developing my control, and practising my technique.
She had talked me into trying my hand in cycling. Previously, I had been reluctant to place myself on the contraption due to my constant failures in maintaining my balance while riding. I finally had my first success in cycling the day before.
--
I had just alighted from the bus. Stepping foot on Ipoh soil, I made my way to the heap of baggages before me. Sifting through each one of them, I picked up those which bore my name. It was not an arduous task as I had previously thought. Within minutes, I had finished collecting all my bags.
After getting my bearings straight, I worked my way through packed bus station, pushing through the crowd. Finally, I landed myself in a less crowded area. Feeling a little relieved after making it through the hassle, I decided to have a seat and put my bags down. I was a tenderfoot to Ipoh. As much as I was excited about visiting this new place, I was also perplexed as to my whereabouts.
After composing myself, I stood up, picked up my phone and dialed a number.
The call connected. I heard a familiar voice greeting me.
"Hey, Grace. I've just arrived at the bus station."
--
I got myself on the bike again, with one foot on the ground.
"Come on, let's move on!" she nudged, looking pretty thrilled.
"Okay. Lead the way," I heeded. I was unsure of where we were headed, so I trailed her as she led me through the housing estate, a familiar sight to her.
She sped off ahead of me.
In a quick sweeping motion, I lifted my foot from the ground and crunched down on the pedal. And I was off on my way. I started slow, but gradually picked up speed. I pushed faster and harder, catching up on her.
We continued down the gravel paths and cement roads, zipping along the roadside greenery, dashing pass little children absorbed in their game of catch, whizzing by grownups immersed in their daily chores.
"Hey, let's go faster!" she said, and raced off down the mild slope before us.
I was a little hesitant at first, but soon accepted her challenge. I stepped and pedaled more forcefully and more rhythmically, determined to push the limits of what I could already do.
Faster and faster we went.
We felt the evening breeze beating against our faces.
"Hey, isn't this great! The wind blowing against your face, it's so cool!" she exclaimed.
I couldn't agree more. The cooling gust totally swept me away, it swept away my tiredness and weariness, it blew away all my fears and trepidations, it drove away all my worries and anxieties. It was an exhilarating feeling.
It was one of those magical moments when you could just let go of everything and just allowing nature to suffuse your entire being, permitting it to permeate your whole self, and you can't help but be touched by the warmth and gentleness of that moment in time. If I might say in retrospect, that was one moment when the grace and tenderness of God really touched me. I was a seeker back then. I had yet to secure intimate knowledge of His character, but I knew that He loved me enough to die for me. He had given me this opportunity to just spend that time with Grace, an opportunity I didn't think I would ever have.
Truly God opened the door to a beautiful friendship when I first met Grace, though I was not a believer at that time...
--
It was March 2006. The night of the awards ceremony for National Top Scorers for SPM, held in Kolej Islam Sultan Alam Shah (KISAS), in Klang. It was 6.00 p.m. I arrived at my designated table. There were 2 other people with, Grace being one of them. In her school uniform, she looked like a little kid. Since it was still early, we decided to have a little chatter while waiting for the ceremony to start.
"So where are you from?"
"Ipoh, Perak."
"I'm from Sandakan, Sabah. What subjects did you take for SPM?"
"Well, I didn't take Biology."
"Huh? No Biology?"
"Yea, I took Engineering Drawings."
"Haha, so you wanna become an engineer huh?"
"Yea."
That was one thing I remembered about her. A girl who opted for Engineering Drawings rather than Biology. Interesting options.
"Are you a PTS student?" I opened my next line of questioning.
"Yea, I am."
"Hey, that's great. Me too!"
Another thing that caught my attention. A PTS student, meaning that she was of the same age as me. Most other people whom I met were a year older. So, great! I've found one who's of my age.
We continued talking a bit longer until more and more friends arrived. When the full number had arrived, we decided introduced ourselves to one another and exchanged contacts.
Soon after that, the ceremony began. All went smoothly that night.
The subsequent day was the day of departure for all recipients of the award. As she was about to leave, I approached Grace.
"Can we have a photo together?" I asked shyly.
"Sure!" came the reply.
Snap! The photo was saved in my camera.
"See you soon then. Keep in touch!"
"Yes, see you soon. Take care."
"You too!"
We said our goodbyes and parted ways. And that was the last I ever saw of her, or so I thought...
--
I didn't think I'd be seeing her again after we separated. After all, what are the odds of a friendship developing from a one-off meeting? Especially when we were so far apart. But I soon learned that distance was no barrier to a friendship.
We applied for the Malaysian Public Services Department Scholarship together, along with everyone else at the table that night. All of us kept close contact with one another, asking one another how our applications were going. When the results were announced, all of us made it through. Grace and I were sent off to different colleges, however, so I thought that was it.
But I was wrong. We kept in touch through emails and MSN Messenger, sometimes through SMSes. Surprisingly, our friendship continued despite the long distance and despite not seeing each other since our first encounter.
We'd have a good chat on MSN every now and then, and talk about a whole range of stuff.
It was during college days that I came to know Christ. As for the reasons that prompted me to take that step of faith, well let's just say I could feel a difference within me after allowing God to work in my life. I also soon discovered that she was one who was passionate for God. So, another thing that we share: faith in the Creator. Though that did not have much bearing on my faith, it did help solidify our friendship.
Throughout our college days, we kept in touch and whenever I contacted her after a long period of silence, she'd reply in her old chirpy manner.
Towards the end of my course, I made plans to organise my own tour around West Malaysia, contacting my friends from other states and making arrangements with them. Then, the thought came to me. Why don't I use this opportunity to pay Grace a little visit? The idea seemed good at that time. Eagerly, I typed in a message on my mobile phone:
"Hey Grace. How r things? Hope they r alrite. When r u going back to ipoh? Can i ask u sth? Would u mind if i stayed at ur place for a couple of days?"After I had finished typing it, thoughts were coming in to my head. This is a crazy idea, Brian! I was starting to feel uneasy and nervous. I wrestled with the idea, but somehow it won the battle. I closed my eyes and pressed the "Send" button.
I waited...and waited...and waited...
A buzz on my mobile phone alerted me.
"New Message: 1"
From Grace Chan.
I paused before opening it. Just open it Brian! The inside of me yelled out.
Despite the hesitations and the burning objections from within me, I quickly opened the message and read it.
"Hey Brian! So great to hear frm u. I'm fine here. Busy wif exams tho. I'm going bek on d 7 Dec. Sure, u can stay!"
My heart leaped for joy. Hurray! Ipoh, here I come...
--
What was it that held our friendship together?
I pondered as I waited for her arrival.
Was it because she was cute?
Was it because of her age?
I have to admit. I was attracted to partly due to these factors.
But there was something more about her that really blew me away. But what was it?
The first thing I guess was her friendliness. She'd chat with me in her bubbly and cheerful self. It somewhat encouraged me to talk with her more, and each time I had a good talk with her, it was really uplifting.
The next thing was her willingness to listen. She was always willing to listen to me as I poured out all my problems, concerns, fears, insecurities to her. She would listen patiently as I told her about the troubles that I faced, the hurdles that seemed insurmountable to me or the lack of clarity in my life. And even though, she did not offer me any advice or exhortations, her attentiveness to my concerns greatly encouraged me and spurred me on.
But all in all, the most important thing I felt that attracted me to her was her godliness. Though this attribute played a more minor importance at the beginning of our friendship, as I grew closer and closer to God, it was this characteristic that continued to sustain the interest that I had in her. I was really glad to have found someone with whom I could relate my thoughts and perspectives with. In essence, it was a great joy to be able to share my walk of faith with her, to be able to drive each other on and to be able to relate our experiences back to one common source, the Creator.
A taxi pulled up at the bus station. Abruptly, a figure exited the vehicle and walked towards me.
I snapped myself out of my deep reflections. I looked to the figure of a girl standing right in front of me. Realising who it was, I smiled and raised my hand and waved towards her.
"Hey Grace! Long time no see..."
"Hi Brian! Yea, long time no see..."
--
We were about to leave the residential estate to the main road. I was feeling a little nervous, as out there was a sea of vehicles zipping past us, a torrent of cars and trucks and motorcycles sweeping down the road. I had not cycled out of the housing area before, but I decided to give it a shot.
Falling off my bicycle here was certainly not an option I'd like to try. I could scrape myself on the coarse gravel road, or worse I could get knocked by a car and the outcome of that would almost unquestionably be an unpleasant one.
She took off in the lead as she had previously. I had reservations about what I was about to do. The thought of forfeiting my balance and collapsing onto a road with motor vehicles, especially a 2 tonne truck, going at top speed towards me sent shivers down my spine. Nevertheless, I challenged myself, thinking of it as my final test in order for me to graduate from Grace's cycling lessons.
Positioning myself on the bike, I set my focus to the scene ahead of me. With one fleet move, my right foot was on the pedal and I pushed forward as hard as I could.
--
Argh! I'm never getting this right!
I always knew that my experiences on the bicycle were never pleasant ones. I tried to learn how to ride a bike, but failed miserably as had my previous attempts. There was once after a parish meeting at a church member's house in Shah Alam in my college days, I tried my hand at cycling but kept falling off the bike. I became the laughing stock of almost everyone there. That really smothered my interest for cycling.
Back at my hostel, I contended with God yet again.
God. Why can't I cycle like everybody else? Am I just not meant to cycle? Am I just not good enough to master the technique? What is it, Lord?
But it was without an answer, or was it?
I had arrived at Grace's house after a 15 minute ride in the taxi. It was a traditional, village-style house, an abode that a city boy like me was quite unfamiliar with. The familiar scene of concrete walls and tiled floors dissolved from my mind and a novel scene of timber walls and wooden floors was painted before my eyes.
Despite the traditional look, it was really quite a decent and cozy place to live in. The area was peaceful and serene, an excellent place to escape from the hustles and bustles of city life.
After settling down in the room that she had prepared for me, after unloading all the heavy and burdensome luggages I was rolling around, I went out to have some fresh air. It was really soothing to be able to enjoy the fresh, refreshing, clean air, allowing the crispness of the surroundings to bite into my being.
Grace came up to me and asked, "What would you like to do?"
"Err...anything would be fine with me," I responded, not wanting to sound demanding.
"How about we go cycling?"
Her request hit me. I tried to dodge the question, but finally decided against it.
"But...I don't know how to cycle," I replied sheepishly, but honestly.
"Haha, that's great. Now you can learn!" she cried enthusiastically.
I supposed her enthusiasm got to me, sparking a sudden interest in learning to cycle again after the many times I flunked, prompting me to reply eagerly, "SURE!"
It was, however, a discouraging experience when I got on the bicycle. It almost seemed like I was destined to never ride on a bike. My first few attempts were met with defeat and disappointment. Coupled with my past failures, I was devastated.
"I'm never getting this right!" I heaved a heavy sigh.
"You can do it, Brian!" she continued to encourage me.
"But...but..."
Then, Grace's mom came to me and said, "When you're riding a bike, don't look down. Look ahead and push forward."
Determined not to give up, I tried again. I positioned myself on the contraption, gripped the handles with both hands, placing one foot on one pedal, the other on the ground. Concentrating ahead of me, I allowed the "feel" of cycling to just take control of my mind, banishing all the logic and reasoning that tried to work out the mechanisms behind the act. Then, without any more hesitations, I lifted my foot off the ground and left the rest to God.
"You're doing it Brian! You're doing it!"
Hey yea, I am doing it!
--
We arrived at yet another housing estate.
Hey, I did it. I survived the road!
I was amazed at what I did. I never thought I could actually cycle along the main road and make it out in one piece. It would seem that God did answer my calls after all, although I did not see it back then. I was so caught up with my frustrations and disappointments that I failed to see God at work. I thought that the fact that He did not answer my call at that time showed that He did not want me to learn cycling after all. But how wrong I was. God was planning for me to cycle, and He delayed His response until this time, when I was able to spend times alone with Grace.
I was grateful to Him for having heard my calls and answering my cries. It was truly one of the moments in my life where He poured out His grace upon me.
We cycled on to a nearby grotto, located within a Catholic church compound. The gates guarding the church were unlocked, the sole barrier that prevented our entry was removed. We slid open the gates and entered the compound. We had fun cycling around the compound, enjoying the evening breeze and feasting our eyes upon the calm and tranquil surroundings.
As we were having fun, it suddenly began to drizzle. Droplets of water were falling down upon us from the heavens above. Rain poured out from the dark, gloomy clouds hovering above us. The repertoire of falling rain drops gradually built up to a mild downpour.
Deciding to have some fun in the rain, we drenched ourselves in the rainwater, allowing ourselves to get soaked and wet.
Then, I proposed to her, "Hey, let's climb up the grotto!"
"What? Are you sure, Brian?"
"Yea, why not? It'll be fun!" I said keenly.
We ran towards the grotto, but the gates that guarded it were sealed, disallowing entry to the peak.
Feeling a little adventurous, I exclaimed, "Let's climb over the gates!"
"Huh? Really?" she asked, surprised at my gesture.
"Haha, yea. Why not? It's ok to break in once in a while right?"
"Erm...okay..."
With a little rashness and dare, we made our way over the gates onto the stone pathway on the other side. Truly, that was one of the craziest things I have ever done. The great thing about it was that I did it with someone else, dragging her along into doing something crazy with me.
We followed the trail all the way to the top of the grotto. Feeling victorious after the successful break in, we savoured the brief moment in time.
"Crazy huh?"
"Yea, I didn't know you'd do such crazy things, Brian!"
"Haha, now you know. But you did it as well. So you're crazy too."
"Yea, so we're both crazy!" she said risibly.
And we had a good laugh, the rain pouring down upon us.
"Hey, it's getting late. Perhaps we should be getting back home."
"Yea, I agree."
We broke out of the grotto, scaling the gates once again and landing on the church grounds.
We got on our bikes, and cycled off in the rain.
--
"Hey, do you still remember the time when we first met?"
"Haha, of course. You still have that cute baby look on your face."
"Erm...okay..."
"Serious...haha..."
"You too. You look like a kid too."
I asked of our first encounter on the last day of my stay.
My time at Grace's place was up. It was time for me to leave as I was running on a tight schedule in my trip around Malaysia.
It was a sad feeling, having to leave the place that I had grown fond of within my 2 night stay there. But, I guess that's life. We move on.
I knew I would always have fond memories of the place, reminiscences of the times we spent together. I knew that I would always remember the encouragements that she had given me, the chirpy personality that would speak words of grace into my life, the listening ear that would be attentive to the outpouring of my heart.
Even today, the recollections are still fresh in my mind. Whenever I am cycling, my thoughts would take me back to the time of joy when I first cycled successfully. Whenever I am blazing down the gravel pathway, I am reminded of the moments of thrill when I blazed down the pathway with
I know deep down that our friendship would last through time. And I know that all these precious moments that I spent with Grace were made possible through God's grace. The chance that I had to meet her, the friendship that stemmed from the encounter, the opportunity to take flight on the bicycle, the lovely moments that I had with her, I truly thank God for them. The moments of grace that I had with Grace will truly become diaphanous memories imprinted in the very core of my soul. It was undoubtedly a great gift from God to me.
"Will we ever see each other again?" her words echoed in the back of my mind.
After a seemingly long pause, another voice replied.
"I'm sure we will. God willing, we will."
--
Note: I dedicate this post to Grace Chan, who has been a great friend to me and whom I have been privileged to meet by the grace of God.
Picture taken from http://osiris81.deviantart.com/art/Bicycle-58755600
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