And It Was Seven!

And it was SEVEN!

Seven – the number of perfection. A symbol of completeness and divine union. A mark of totality and entirety.

Today was a good day. A good day indeed. Seven things I praise God for today.

 

Praise Point #1

I sat for my clinical interview examination. I predicted that the patient case would be related to cough, and it turned out to be true! When I read the patient case and saw that it was a case of cough, I could not help but laugh to myself.

The interview went pretty well. The bell rang to mark the end of the interview as I finished my final question to elicit all the necessary information from the patient.

Everything went well. And it did not end there.

 

Praise Point #2

During quarantine time after the interview, I had several good conversations. I was truly amazed that the Lord brought me to these few people, as I was pondering the night before about who I was going to talk to during quarantine.

I finally managed to talk to Sam, the girl in medicine who shaved her hair for a charity run for cancer patients. I have always wanted to speak to her to find out more about her motivation for doing what she did.

It turned out that it was something personal to her. She has had people close to her suffering from cancer, especially her mom. Her mom had cancer when Sam was still young, and she was accustomed to the sight her mom without her hair due to the side effects of chemotherapy. Therefore, to her, she was not afraid to go bald for these cancer sufferers.

I am truly amazed at the heart and compassion that she has for these people and I truly admire the courage that she has to step out and to do this give of herself to help these people. I believe that she will continue to stir more and more people into action through her selflessness and passion.

 

Praise Point #3

I also had the opportunity to catch up with Ope, a Botswanan friend whom I have not talked to for quite some time now. It was great to be able to share from my heart the things I believe about life to her. Just yesterday after my exams, I received an SMS from a friend back in Malaysia telling me that her friend’s dad had died of complication of a heart attack. That message truly reminded me of the beauty and the value of life. Each life has its own beautiful journey and at times it’s really just sad to see that circumstances that snatch away the life that we so dearly hold on to. Life is truly something that we should be thankful for and treasure each day.

Ope also shared with her some the struggles that she had when she was younger to get to the point where she is today. I think that it is true that at many times, in the busyness and hubris of life, we tend to forget that there is so much more to life than just getting a good job, getting good grades, getting the things we like. There are just so, so many people out there who are less fortunate than we are, people who need grace, and love and forgiveness, people whose lives can be radically changed if only they had even a small portion of the blessings that a lot of us privileged enough to be studying in Australia are enjoying today.

 

Praise Point #4

After the quarantine, a bunch of us Meddies decided to go have dim sum in the city. I was pretty reluctant to go initially because I did not fancy the idea of big groups, but I decided to tag along anyway. I am glad I went. We had much good food and a chance to chat about random things and to laugh about them, especially Seok’s name being pronounced “Sheok”, which is kind of like “Shock” (But it was all Iv’s fault! She influenced my pronunciation!)

Also, I finally got to know more about a Vietnamese girl in Med whom I have seen around often, but haven’t really had much opportunities to talk to. On the way, I was thinking if I would be sitting with her, and surprisingly I did! When I arrived, the seat next to her was empty. My “predictions” were freakishly accurate today, and it was really starting to scare me. Seems like God really does have a way of answering prayers. But still, it was good to be able to get to know her more after seeing her around in the medical building for a year and a half.

 

Praise Point #5

I went to Uni after lunch, and had a nice cup of hot chocolate with Ivena, and today, it was our seventh for this semester – a perfect number with which to end the wonderful semester.

I always enjoy hot chocos with her. It’s one of those times when I can just sit around her and share time with her. She truly is a good listener and I feel that she can really connect with the small, insecure person that is inside of me and she is able to open the space where I can just share openly with her about things.

We talked about our past childhood experiences. But as we did that, I was suddenly overcome by the feelings of “emo-ness”, nostalgia and poignancy. I do not know why I suddenly had these feelings today, as I have not had them for quite some time now. I guess there are just many things that I regret and wished I could have done. And maybe I have been bottling up my emotions too much and have not fully conquered the ghosts of my past.

But still, I am glad that she was there to just listen and to share in that “emo” moment. It is always a great comfort knowing that she is there to support me.

 

Praise Point #6

After spending some time at Union House, we walked to this restaurant on Lygon Street called “Taste of Asia” to celebrate Seok Mei’s birthday.

It was a really great night I must say. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was great to be able to celebrate birthdays with friends, and to just lay back and relax after a stressful week of exams.

I seriously loved Daniel’s deserts and pastries. My gosh! They were the best pastries I have ever tasted! He beat the girls hands down! He should really consider working at the Brunetti’s shop.

Also, I got to know the person serving us that night, Jack, and his wife, Amethyst. Apparently, the restaurant was his father’s business and he moved to Melbourne from Malaysia three years ago. It was nice to be able to meet him and to share a bit of his life. I might drop by the restaurant again in the future and talk to him again.

 

Praise Point #7

The night before, I was thinking of visiting one of the beaches in Melbourne.

And today, I asked a friend if she wanted to just hop on a train during the holidays and cruise along to one of the suburbs. And she suggested, “Let’s go to Frankston!”

I said, “OK, but what’s in Frankston?”

“The beach!” came her reply.

I was shocked yet amazed at the same time. That was just where I wanted to go!

Truly, God has been gracious to me today. He has granted me my heart’s desires, and I accept them with humility and thanksgiving. It is truly a blessing and joy walking with the Lord each day. There is just so many things to discover each new day and so many opportunities that He opens up to just enjoy the friendships that He brings into our paths, to listen and learn from other people’s life stories, and to appreciate and treasure the simplicities of even a small cup of hot chocolate…

Thank you so much, Father Lord! You are good all the time, and all the time you are good. Amen.

*Coincidentally, this is the seventh post for this month. Just perfect...