A Refreshing Escape in Little India

It was such a joy to be with my sister again. We were seated on her bed, inside a cozy studio room, on top of Little India in the multi-cultural land of Singapore. The windows were closed and so there was no smell of those colorful Indian spices. The curtains covered the sights and sounds outside. The lights were deemed. It was time for some catching up and sharing of stories.

I got to see how God has been faithful in her life as she recounted some of her treasured memories. It all started when Edivita was sharing about her struggles in Singapore. Her job was really more than a handful. Imagine, only four people were handling the social responsibility aspect of SMU, a school with a population of about 6,000 students. And she was one of the four.

Then her stories regressed to a recent past experience..

She took a pair of slippers from her closet - one side pink, the other side black. She asked if I already knew the story behind it. I said no. It was in East Coast (this is a name of the beach if I'm not mistaken), during the National Day Celebration, when she spent a beautiful afternoon with a friend. As they watched the Singapore flags danced to the breeze of the sea, a sharp wave rolled to the shore and dragged her slippers away. It was only after some time that she was able to take notice of her missing slippers. Together with her friend, they walked on the sandy shores barefooted in search of those pink Havaianas. They found the left-side slipper. And after moments of walking, they declared the right partner was lost.

As they continued walking, they spotted a black slipper not so far away. No one seemed to own it. It was lying on the sand all alone. Nobody in the area was minding it. It was old and a little bit torn, ready to be picked up and thrown in the garbage can. But Edivita found it still durable and wearable. The thong was in place and there were no holes under the sole. This black slipper was a right-side slipper, and it was of the same size as her pink slipper. What a compatible pair!

Many may see it as a mere coincidence. But since God has planned for everything, there is no coincidence in God. She took it as God's gift.. as simple as it it. This experience reminded her that there is Someone who facilitates the time and details of our lives. There is that great Someone who orchestrates the world.

It was past midnight, and she continued on with her story..

A few days before the slippers incident, she was seated on the same rock facing the same breathtaking sight. She was thinking of giving up and going back home (to the Philippines) or giving up and becoming a missionary. But something inside her reminded her that when God gave the sea its boundary no waters would overstep this command (Proverbs 8:29). Therefore, if God places her there, she cannot go where God is not telling her to go. It was a manifestation of the Holy Spirit that was counseling her to not overstep God' plan. And so she went back.

Being a dear friend of hers, I was able to witness many miracles in her life, both big and small. (Like how she got her job for example, or how she was healed from her sickness, or how she knew that her mission field was in Singapore.) Her life testifies that when God leads, He is clear and concise. And when you follow by faith, no matter how difficult the trials may be, God will equip and provide. Whenever I see my sister taking leaps of faith, I also see God doing extraordinary things. It is such a refreshing sight. I am reminded that it is not what we do or what we don't do that matters. But it is the faith to wait upon His leading and the faith to follow and obey when He calls.

Upon remembering what God has done in her life, her worries turned into joy. When I saw the joy that only God could give, I realized that just by spending time with a child of God, people would be drawn to Him because they would be touched with that unspeakable, incomprehensible joy.

Even if Edivita and I were merely contained in the four walls of her room, I felt more than the breeze of the ocean, I caught a glimpse of heaven. What a refreshing escape indeed! :)