I’ll be going back to Jakarta tomorrow. I was back in KL a week ago for Christmas.

No one thought that we will be having any holidays during Christmas, not even the department secretary who was suppose arrange the timetable.

According to the official letter from our uni, we will only have holidays on the 24th and 25th. We contacted the department secretary and were informed that we won’t have any holidays except for those 2 days.

 

It wasn’t practical to return to KL for 2 days because fight tickets were sold at festive season prices. Also, we need to be on-call in the emergency or ward during the holidays and going back Malaysia would also mean that we would waste precious time studying for the exams. At that point in time, we knew it was impossible for us to return home and even if we want to, it wouldn’t be convenient.

In my heart, I just prayed and surrendered everything to Him. I knew if He wants me to be back home, God will open a way.

 

 

2 weeks before Christmas, against all odds, on the first day of our new rotation in the Pulmonary department. The coordinator asked us to select our holidays and we ended up with 9 days worth of holidays. Furthermore, we are exempted from on-call duty. Hallelujah!!!

 

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

1 Corinthians 2:9

 

Only my group was able to return home to Malaysia as the other groups in the other departments were not given any holidays. Our re-entry visa was also completed within days, I managed to get all the tickets at a reasonable price and everything worked out perfectly.

Honestly, this holiday was only possible by His grace. I haven’t been celebrating Christmas in Malaysia for the past 4 years. It had been such a blessing to be able to spend time with love ones during this holiday. This year’s Christmas had been a very memorable one for me. Thank God for the fellowship, the dinners and all the love.

 

 

 

Oh ya, before I forget, I’m currently recovering from varicella, thank God for getting it in the right time, when I’m in KL (and not during the busy clinicals in Jakarta) and directly after all the Christmas gatherings.

Indeed, God makes all things perfect in His time.

 

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Ecclesiastes 3:11

What I received during this Christmas was that how we shouldn’t get caught up with all the programs, the festive mood, the dazzling decoration, the carols and everything which we can see with our own eyes or hear with our ears.

 

How many of us actually stop, and take time to ponder about His great love?, to realize that it is all about Christ? How percent of our attention was given towards praising the beautiful decorations in the mall rather than His love for us? Truly, it is not just a birthday celebration but a daily reminder that it is all about Christ. For all things were made, for Him, through Him and by Him.

 

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Romans 14:8 

 

Therefore, are we living for Him or for ourselves? Ultimately, all glory goes to Him.

 

Blessed Belated Christmas & Blessed New Year 2011.