Wednesday, October 20, 2004

No camels spotted at the Suez Canal

Ches' ship is heading for Europe now, after passing through Egypt via the Suez Canal. The straightforward way he describes the place and his experiences is so natural, so vivid that when I read the sentence he wrote: "no camels spotted", for that brief instance I could just imagine I saw a glimpse of the Suez from onboard the ship, two sandy strips of land side-by-side, with sparse vegetation. My mind ponders on the similarly insipid lives we have led for the past 3 years as tertiary students and what a whole new world it is for us now. Has it only been 5 months since I graduated? School to me seems like an unfamiliar and distant place now... Although I do want to continually improve my intelligence and employability, going back to study seems so out-of-place.

It's so strange that being in the same ministry for 3 years we never said as much as a polite 'Hi, how are you?' and left it at that, yet through email we could just share so much.

I am looking forward to meeting my dear friend again; in January hopefully, across the border... I wish to encourage him as I can imagine how lonesome it must be, only 21 and sailing in the open seas... He has to be strong, for himself, and to be so independent to survive, without a support group of cell or church. That's one of the things I admire about Ches, as he humbly shares his struggles in doing his daily devotions, I feel so much more encouraged to make my walk with God stronger... compared to him, I have so much more support.

He, alone, has to take full ownership of his spiritual condition.



Dad's gone to Sabah to work for an indefinite period of time, I wish I could have gone too. Really close to Dad, he allows me to be who I am and I do have a sneaky suspicion that he's so proud that I'm very like him. It's strange to email Dad like a friend, and have him email things like, ' you are always in my mind, I love you so much', mushy stuff that makes me cringe so. I do miss him though, besides the financial services, transportation and entertainment provided, my noisy house seems a bit quietened down without his presence