Hey everyone! Imagine having a second post being about whether or not I should go home HAHAHA
Before you keep reading, please go watch the vlog! It's a bit of a blubbering mess (sorry i cant help it I WAS SCARED OK) but it might make a little more sense with what I'll write about next.
Today when I heard of more people packing and leaving, other Australians in Europe who booked flights straight away, hearing all these new rumours about border shutdowns and lockdowns and travel bans... o boy was I scared. My friends here were leaving too, including one of the Australian girls. It was crazy because we were all initially so adamant on staying - we even did our quarantine emergency grocery shops together.
I called some friends in Australia, and they offered me some of the most comforting advice (thank you Andrew and Sarah!) They told me that I did have to make a decision, whether I stay or go, so at least I could be at peace with that decision and not wallow in the interim purposelessly. Both decisions would be God-glorifying, I just needed to CHOOSE.
After some time of prayer, I had chosen to stay.
But I didn't find peace with the decision at all. The rumours and knowledge of more leavers really caused me to freak out. My mind was a mess and I was overthinking like crazy. That's when I made the vlog, just to verbalise all my thoughts and to air it all out.
Eventually though, I called my parents. I really was expecting an immediate 'ARE YOU CRAZY, COME HOME' rant, but in fact, I got quite the opposite.
They were so calm. Actually, they told me to calm down, to not be so easily swept up with the panic surrounding me and to look at it rationally. What was actually wiser? To be kept in a room all day in a country that's about to be locked down? Or travelling a 30 hour transit with a whole bunch of other people who are desperate to get home?
They reasoned that at this point in time, Australia's situation is also unclear. Rushing home wasn't necessarily going to be in my best interest.
To have my own frenzied parents, who check for covid updates and text me with some pretty detailed instructional videos on safety measures on the daily, tell me that it's going to be okay...man, to say that was a comfort is a massive understatement.
They told me that if I wanted to come home, that they would welcome me home whenever I wanted. They would support me in any decision I made. But if only wanted to be home because I missed them, then that they were always just a wechat call away, at whatever day, whatever time. I found the peace in my heart that I was looking for earlier.
Then they yelled at me for not studying for the past few days. AHHH thats more like it.
But yeah, looks like I've finally made a decision to stay. I'm going to take my parents' advice: I needed to re-adjust my attitude, to allow the Holy Spirit so blessed in me to take control and guide me in all my decisions, to stay fit and not get too fat, and to remain positive with a smile on my face.
After all, God's love has never left me, and never will leave me, and there's nothing more I could ask for.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9
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