And He plans
Assalamu’alaikum!
2016 came with surprises and is leaving with some very welcomed closure. It is so cliché but true: that we plan, we have expectations and wishes, but God’s plan is the best and ultimately the one we submit to.
What I would remember from this year is the time that I was this close to enrolling in university full-time, which also meant being in a LDR and part-time-single-motherhood for two years, and then having a bomb dropped into my e-mail inbox, leading to a scramble of emotions and decisions while sitting in the passenger seat, car parked at the mosque waiting for Friday prayers.
Then came a halt to the study plans and an unsettling wait. Finally, the letter came with good news – not the idealistic wish I had but still very much better than what it was before – and my heart was as thankful as it has ever been.
Yes, I still have debt to pay but God willing, it is a manageable one and I can choose to earn the money in the way I wish to. Otherwise, I am free! Perhaps I hadn’t previously realised how heavy the burden in my mind was – the burden of upholding a promise, of being accountable to your decision, by serving for years in a role you cannot imagine playing, day in and day out – until the weight disappeared.
Allah has placed me where I belong.
And I am trying my best to enjoy it. Because, like everything else: it is a blessing.
“Gambar hiasan”, as they would say.
What do you think?