O Czech, O Spain

21 June 2008
Having been troubled for the last two weeks, I think I finally made up my mind. I will turn down the generous scholarship offer to pursue another master degree in the Czech Republic and the Kingdom of Spain. Instead, I will pursue the not-so-certain possibility of pursuing my PhD in Australia again.Will I regret this? I haven’t had anything to regret so far, and I believe, anyway and anyhow, the Lord himself will be my consolation in the years to come.Not long ago, I read a sermon by the Rev. Stanley Tjahjadi when he was ordained as a minister at GKIN. He said, let us not ask, "What if?" Such questions will have no answer and will only lead us to more questions. Rather, be thankful for what we have had so far. He also made a reference to Moses, when he was shepherding his flock in the middle of the dessert and saw the burning bush. Moses could have ignored the burning bush and just did things regularly. Instead, Moses took that irregular action of finding out more about the bush and there he met the Lord himself. Had he not taken that irregular action, the Israelites might have not been set free from Egypt as quickly as it was recorded in Exodus.I felt somehow, the offer to go to Czech and Spain was that call for me to do something irregular, to move out from my comfort zone. Nevertheless, I think when I am resolved to turn down the offer, I should not be intrigued to ask, "What if" and be bitter if someday my life does not turn the way I have planned it previously. That’s a decision and a resolution.