Leaving Someone You Love in the Hands of God (Part 3)

Our family subscribed to 8-DAYS and sometimes the girls would also bought LIME off the shelves. In some of the issues, booklets on cities such as Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, etc. came along with them. And children or youths these days are very much guided by what they read from any sources including the Internet, through discussing with their friends on msn, sms, blogs, etc. It will always be a tough challenge for parents to keep up with them and with what is happening in the fast changing world these days.

As parents, our greatest challenge is to allow our minds to be open to this "new world of constant change" and with what our children are going through. Understanding the heartbeat, aspirations, changing trends, likes and dislikes, etc. and keeping our communications lines, ears and hearts open for our children are definitely must-haves for parents these days, even if we are too busy chasing after our aspirations or keeping up with busy schedules. Ultimately, each person has to decide where his/her priorities at different stages in life are. For me, family comes first and when my "duty is done", my still to be achieved aspirations will "re-surface from the dead" and "hound me" for them to be met or realised.

Having decided that Sarah will go to Australia for her Foundation Studies, a 1-year matriculation programme for foreign students after Secondary 4 prior to enrolment in an Australian university, we made arrangements to meet up with fellow church leader Col Wee, wife Betty and their daughter, Cheryl who was back for almost a year from completing her Bachelor of Commerce degree at University of Adelaide at Crystal Jade, Toa Payoh after one Sunday 8am service. Their son, Gaius was then still studying for his Bachelor of Engineering degree in University of Adelaide. That meeting was a great help and I remembered Betty said that all you could do is to place your trust totally in God when the children are abroad. It might have been just a few wise words of advice for any parent or fellow brother/sister, but with these words a parent would only know their real meaning only when he/she are stuck in the situation. Thanks, Betty for the enlightment.

So, off we went planning for a 10-day college study and selection cum holiday trip to first Adelaide (5 days) and then to Perth (another 5 days). We flew off on 26 November 2005 evening, not before I had emailed 2 colleges, Bradford, just next to University of Adelaide and Eynesbury, near to Central Market, Adelaide and 1 college, Taylors College in Claremont, Perth to prepare them to expect my family at their door steps. Well, I am a planner and still am. In the corporate world, we would say that we are going on a study trip and call at least 3 quotations for any procurement to be done. It is my nature to familiarise, to account for any eventual decision to be made. Further, I do not believed the fantastic marketing hard sell carried out by the colleges, without being on site to check them out. So, I/we must see what we are going to put Sarah through, otherwise my family and I would not feel at ease with any important decisions that we are going to ask Sarah to make and also have a part to it.

Time for a break.