"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty." ~ Eric Liddel
The day I learned that I was going to Australia was a truly bad day. I had a hard time accepting the facts, that 1) I would have to render return service for 3 years; 2) I have to do well or else I have to pay the school the training and accommodation fees they spent on me; 3) I would miss the 25th Anniversary of the college organization I was part of; and lastly 4) I'd miss the block screening we scheduled for Harry Potter 7 Part 2.
Even my boss was extremely stressed with me because I exerted no effort in organizing the documents necessary for my travel. I only completed my requirements 2 weeks before the scheduled flight (which left very little allowance for delays).
The week before I was set to leave, I showed no excitement at all, instead, I was stressed with all the money matters I had to deal with, the materials I needed to read, the labs I had to perform and the very cold weather (which I am not used to) that I had to bear, which brought about another problem, my clothes were not meant for very cold weather (I have skirts, dresses, knee-length leggings and a few pairs of pants). So I had to fit it in my schedule to buy thermal pants, jeans and long-sleeved thermal shirts. I was able to start packing at 11pm Saturday and my flight was at 9am Sunday (I forgot my medicine kit at home! Talk about panic packing!).
And so the journey began. Arriving at the Tullamarine Airport in Victoria at 11pm (GMT+10) literally gave me goosebumps! I didn't anticipate that the 6-degree-C temperature will be accompanied with windchill (took me a couple of days to acclimate, nah, not really!).
I was in constant communication with God, I was declaring my obedience no matter how reluctant I was with all of this, I believed that I was led to this path because He wanted to show me something. I did not think of the rationale behind it, I just OBEYED. I will not say that the training was smooth-sailing, oh no, I had a LOT of difficulties. There were times that I remained silent and wanted to cry, times that I thought I couldn't handle the tasks at hand, but I believed that I was there because He knew I had the ability and skills to do it. If God believed in me, how can I NOT believe in myself? At the end of the first training, I emerged to be the only one to pass of the eight instructors who took the exam that day. The rest had to re-do the exam the following day. And I was extremely thankful for His silence when I was questioning Him (but obeying). It was then I realized that He wanted me to realize my skills, skills that I was not really aware of. He wanted me to gain confidence, the one that I lost when I encountered a difficulty at the beginning of my career in Networking. I rewarded myself by going to the movies. Guess what, Harry Potter 7 Part 2 was also showing in Australia! =)
The second week was a lot difficult than the first. The topics were twice as much, the lab activities were more difficult that the first training. There were topics that I couldn't understand, labs that I couldn't implement successfully (more of equipment that doesn't agree with me.. hehehe!). And so I was really fearful that I will fail the skills exam. To my surprise, on the last day we were allowed to practice, I knew a lot of the commands to use without looking at my notes. The next day, I was ready for the skills exam and I ACED it!
I am really thankful to have obeyed and not think about why I had to do these things. I truly appreciate the skills God gave me, and the hardships I had to go through to realize His gifts.
After two weeks of hitting the books and doing labs, I finally had the time to explore Melbourne. Here are some of the places I visited in the city. Took the Tourist tram to tour the city.
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| The Parliament of Victoria - It's like a city hall where weddings are held, the structure is quite similar to the Manila Post Office. Check out the background, bridesmaids and groomsmen were lined up for pictorials. |
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| I think these are artificial grass. Felt real though! |
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| That's Flinder's Street Station. I love the elaborate design of the exterior. Felt like I was in the "olden days". Don't be misled by the huge shopping bag. It is quite empty. I wanted to make sure that I had enough bags to fit my things in (including two lab manuals about 1.5 kg!) |
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| John Batman! This photo was taken at Queen Victoria Market. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw his name, I definitely had to take a picture! |
Thank you Lord for giving me the skills, strength and courage to push forward even when the enemy kept on discouraging me that I could not do it. I am very happy that I chose to obey, and go through the challenges. I am extremely happy with the experiences, the people I met, and the things I learned about myself on this trip. Thank you, thank you thank you! I AM EXTREMELY HAPPY!!
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