Dad wisdom #2

I met up with a very good friend today that I had not seen for about a year. We met up at Elixir Coffee Specialists which is a nice little cafe. I've been there only once before for a chai latte so this time around I decided to get the fruit and nut loaf with a blueberry, orange and apple juice ( a combination I've never had before. Delicious!). It was really just a cosy little place to catch up. The service was fantastic and the coffee apparently is good quality too.

Even though my 'somthing new' for today wasn't all that extravagant, the quality of those two hours spent catching up with my friend was what made my day grand.

My friend told me that she recently shared some big news with her dad who reacted in a completely different way to how she expected. You see, Asian parents aren't always the most understanding or predictable of people. But it caught my friend off guard when her dad reacted in a good way. For her, it was probably the best result she could have ever possibly imagined.

This good news kept me on a high all day long, and it got me thinking about dads who pull through for their kids when they need it most. Now, some people are extremely lucky and have fathers who always pull through, but you get those others who wait a very long time before they see anything like that. Sometimes all it takes is time and maturing of both parties. However, you get others still, who never see their fathers show love for them and although I wish I could fix a broken family, all I can do is use this as a driving force to never take my own dad for granted.

Yep, I love my dad. You'll read that a million times before this blog is finished. He has so much wisdom and I'd like to share another of my favourite little analogies my dad told me to help me get through tough times. This is one about God, so for all those who don't believe, feel free to read it or skip over it:

My dad told me once that God is to us, like a parent is to a young infant. At a certain age, infants like to explore and are very curious. If a young baby saw a knife and started to play with it because it looked shiny and interesting, then the parent would automatically take the knife straight off the baby and put it away out of sight. The baby would probably cry and demand for it back, but because the parent knows the knife is dangerous for the baby, they would never let it fall into the hands of their child again.
In the same way, God knows far more than we could ever truly understand. We may think we know what's good for us, but when those things are taken away or when they do not go according to plan, God is allowing this because he knows better. Trust is the key thing here. Humans don't really have the capacity to understand God, but we have the capacity to trust in Him.

P.s. Have you read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak? There's a really lovely father daughter relationship in there :)

Dad wisdom #1

Unfortunately I don't have anything new to report today, but I'd like to share with you something that my dad told me once. I'll probably end up posting a lot of things my dad shares with me. My dad is my numero uno rock and he almost can always pull me out of whatever rut I'm in. I'll post up whatever wisdom he gives me in the hope that it may be of some help to others too.

It has taken me 5 years to finally get into medicine. Those 5 years have consisted of a lot of hard work and persistence and my dad has always been my one-man cheer squad. He believed in me when pretty much no one else did, and on the days when I didn't think I could make the cut, he was always there to tell me otherwise. 

I remember talking to be dad in the car a few years back when he was driving me to uni. I can't remember exactly what I was upset about, but I remember that it had something to do with medicine and how horrible it felt having failed to get in so many times. My dad then told me this story:

A daughter is telling her mother how everything is going wrong; she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake." 

"Here, have some cooking oil," her mother offers. "Yuck," says her daughter. "How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!" "Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"

 To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!"

I remember the moment so well. We had just turned onto Riverside drive heading towards uni. I'm so glad my dad was there to tell me that story. It's been in my mind for the past 3 or something years now and it's been one of the many things that keep me standing strong despite whatever challenging things I perceive to be coming at me head on. 

Hearing the story really helped me  to accept the fact that sometimes things get/are bad before they get good. It may not help everyone as much as it did me, but remember the story anyways just in case someone you know needs to hear it.