in thanksgiving
and so…the A’s results were released last friday. i received conventionally not-so-good results but acheived 3/4 of my goals, so i guess that’s as good as it gets. im praying that God will help me accept my grades and whatever He has in plan for me.
in thanksgiving, to uncle victor and auntie linda, whom i know have been praying hard for me, and the most understanding supervisors anyone can hope to have. they genuinely care for others and are concerned more for things above than for things on earth. auntie linda spoke very frankly with me before i left the centre to receive my results that while she hopes i do well, she is more concerned over my spiritual health. i know uncle victor feels the same way as her. i thank them for all the guidance they have given me during my short stay at aiscc.
to ian and russell, who have been great friends over the past few years and always humble despite their fantastic results. ian was so so encouraging before the release of results, and after the release of results russell gave me a timely reminder that ‘godliness with contentment is great gain’. it’s hard to be contented but thank God who sends such wonderful friends to help me along the way.
to rose and amirahh for sitting at the bleachers with me as i cried my eyes and my heart out. they put their disppointment over their mother-tongue temporarily behind them to accompany and comfort me- they’re amazing.
and there’s one person whom i cannot even begin to thank. he was with me through my academic ups&downs, the minor victories and the major blunders, the ‘oh-i-get-it-now’ as opposed to the numerous ‘huh-what-talking-you’s. he pulled me on the Long March, which eventually led us to the Emergency in British Malaya and Singapore. along the way, we trudged through the trenches with Sassoon and visited Owen in Craiglockhart before observing the signing of the Treaty of Versailles which stopped a war but began another. after all that, we popped by the 38th parallel to see Russian soldiers cosplaying as North Koreans, and swam across the sea to watch Japan’s economic miracle. we survived Op Rolling Thunder in Vietnam, during which he brought me into a mathematical bomb shelter somewhere in bukit batok which ensured my survival. several decades later, he came out of the Cold War unscathed while i survived with some minor scratches and wounds.
he didn’t stop there. on thursday evening, he encouraged me with God’s Word, and seeing as that wasn’t enough, took off despite a heavy workload to accompany me in school on friday as i prepared to meet my doom. as i stood in trepidation before my teacher, he took my trembling hands into his own and reassured me that everything is in God’s hands. the tears started streaming down when i read what was printed on that fragile sheet of paper, but he hugged me and said there was nothing to be upset about because i’d done my best. he stayed long enough for a smile to peek through my tears before going off to console others who needed his company as well.
God worked a miracle through jinli. thank God, and thank you. :)
