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The Year After

We arrived in New Zealand on 29 December 2016. We had high hopes of the future, given that we are confident that we have prayed for this decision, planned and plotted timelines tediously, and that we are certain of the support Howell’s family has generously committed.

Several bittersweet things happened in between. I named my blog post for today as The Year After, mainly because around the same time last year, we feel our life in New Zealand has finally started. This post is about recalling our leaps from last year and some of the many things we are grateful for.

Work

Both Howell and I were both blessed with good jobs here. Coming here, we were prepared to take on any role, irregardless of its relevance to our past work experiences. All we knew is that we were to earn dollars, and we’re pretty much content with that.

We’ve had our fair share of disappointments applying for a job. We both applied for entry-level jobs here that we were confident we can do but there would be close to a hundred (I kid you not, I think I did apply for 100+ jobs) letters saying that we were not qualified and that other high caliber applicants applied for the job. Apart from the rejection, it was ridiculously painful to receive messages like those.

We were ready to start from the bottom and move our way up but the Lord, in His generosity, had better plans for us. Howell was the first one to find a job. He was hired as a Graduate Engineer, with the main responsibility of doing reports for an insurance company which dealt with Earthquake damage claims from the 14th November 2016 earthquake event (i.e. Kaikoura earthquake). A few months into his work, he was given design jobs and a year after, he is already one of the Intermediate Engineers in his company, doing design work, account management, and client liaisons.

I, on the other hand, found a job as a Marketing Manager in one of New Zealand’s wonderful wildlife reserves. The role, the company itself, my workmates, and the environment, fit well with my needs and wants. I could not have wanted a better job for myself.

It is amazing how we were restored specifically in this area of our life. Work was one of our anxieties then. We had to pray for humility to accept whatever job the Lord grants us. We had to prepare for whatever opportunity may open for us.

Home

If I could remember it right, we transferred to our flat around April. We lived for 3 months with my in-laws. Our relationship with them isn’t perfect but I am proud to tell the world that I have learned to love them as my own and they love me the same. However, no matter how good our relationship with them is, we still had to stand on our own and build our own family, thus the decision to rent a home of our own.

Transferring home has been one of my concrete experiences of God’s generosity through the people around us. Most of our furniture and appliances, even our cutlery, came from my in-laws and from members of the Lamb of God community. Salvation Army and the Trash Palace has been one of the most helpful places we’ve been when we were starting. Little by little, we are able to build something that we can call ours. It is a joy to experience this with Howell.

Community Life

Community life has a completely different meaning here in New Zealand so I’d have to put a bit of context. When I say community life, I am referring to my prayer group here in New Zealand, the Lamb of God community. It is different from communal living, which some religious groups do.

We started as observers for almost a year. We adjusted to the way they did things, tried to learn their patterns, and basically established relationships with all of the other members. Today, we are happily serving the community’s youth. Bigger things are laid out and we are praying that someday, all these will bear fruit.

Quality of Life

One thing that has greatly improved is the quality of our life. We have quite a number of responsibilities here but the way New Zealand’s overall systems work is that it allows you to have work-life balance. You are encouraged, and in fact, supported, even by your employers, to pursue your passions.

We both are able to exercise regularly, eat healthy meals, and do our individual interests.

Howell is actively playing his most loved sport, ultimate frisbee. He will be playing at Nationals in 2 weeks. That’s a huge leap he would not have experienced back in our home county. He is also able to play music (drums and guitar) in our community events, something that he always wanted to do even back home.

Meanwhile, I get to regularly swim because there are heaps of swimming pools here. I get to read at least one book a week because the library is a few blocks from our home and they have good choices of books. It’s worth noting that Howell was also able to get interested in reading books simply because of the e-book app that the library has. I also am able to get back to my love for arts–calligraphy, painting, photography. One thing I am not able to do now is practice piano but we’ll get there.

Gazing Forward

Last year was a leap of faith for us. We had to trust that God delivers what He promises to do. It was an unbelievably eventful year for us. We are proud to be settling nicely here, with the help of our family and friends. We never would have imagined to be where we are now a year ago. We are humbled by all your kindness and generosity to us, especially in our time of need.

Today, we are gazing forward. We are praying for a child soon, but we are not rushing into anything. We know that that child will come in God’s time. We will continue to prepare and to look ahead as we’ve only just begun. We are continuously setting our sights on all of God’s other promises to us but for now, we live fully in the here and now.

If there is only one thing that I can describe our past year, it’s that it started with a leap of faith that led us to other leaps we never would have dreamed of. Trust that once the Lord has spoken, no matter the circumstance, He will deliver.

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Turning 29

My 29th birthday celebration yesterday was unlike no other. There was no fancy celebration, nothing huge like my previous birthdays when I used to meet with my friends. It was a simple and quiet celebration.

We have planned on going for a road trip but sometimes things just wouldn’t go our way. There was a huge change of plan for several reasons I’d rather not elaborate.

I started my day with a fun event with the Lamb of God youth, followed by a “shopping spree” in Wellington City, and a movie in the evening. I was so psyched with the shopping spree part because it was the first time in years that I was able to buy gadgets for myself. Howell bought a phone (this purchase wasn’t planned since my phone broke down a day just before my birthday, coincidentally) and a DSLR camera (since I wanted to dabble with photography).

My sister called me at midnight, just in time for my birthday. I was able to chat with her and my mom for a bit so it made my celebration so much special.

Another wonderful thing that happened is that my residency visa was approved! It was one of my biggest anxieties the past year, given the immigration changes here so it is such a blessing that this news came in. That will altogether be a different post, for those looking at migrating here.

It’s so surprising that even in this simplest celebration, everything that happened yesterday seemed so meaningful. I am in the process of restoration. All the things I have never thought would happen, happened.

As a friend quoted to me recently, it seemed that the lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. I am convinced that these things happening in my life is a fulfillment of God’s promises He made years past. The Lord is restoring the years stolen from me by the responsibilities I had to take on at an early age. I am now capable of exploring things that I have wanted to do in my younger years, such as swimming, writing, and several artsy things. I have so much time in my hands that I can use to develop and use my talents more.

At 29, I certainly do not feel young, but my heart is as young as it can get because of my hunger for new discoveries and the new opportunities life opened up for me. For these, I am grateful.

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A Tribute to Gallantry

gallantry

NOUN (plural gallantries)

mass noun

1 Courageous behaviour, especially in battle.

‘a medal awarded for outstanding gallantry during the raid’

2 Polite attention or respect given by men to women.

‘no young man offers to carry this burden for her: such gallantry is out of fashion’

 

As I mentioned previously, swimming is one of the things I consistently do. I usually go to this specific pool once to twice a week so I am pretty familiar with it and with the guidelines they have put to those who will be using the pools.

My visit today was the most annoying visit I had. I was quietly doing laps in one of the lanes when a group of four, late twenties, early thirties, rowdy guys, (calling them men would be a disgrace to all the men I know) arrived.

There were four swimming lanes, all of which were occupied. Of all lanes they could go in to, they chose mine. I never had issues with sharing lanes here since most people I come across are polite and good swimmers and so I didn’t pay much attention to them though I found it rather odd that all four of them chose to swim in my lane.

It was until I came to the end of the lane and I already had to deal with them so I asked them politely if they will be swimming so that I can give way. Their answer wasn’t in English and I was assuming they’d just want me to go ahead since they weren’t moving at all. They were just splashing and fooling around in a lap pool where everyone is expected to, well, do laps. It was already annoying since it is part of the guidelines clearly written out for all visitors to read that if you are not swimming in laps, then you shouldn’t be hanging around in that pool.

It wasn’t until I bumped into one of them, who was in the middle of the pool, in the side of my lane, floating, that I sensed what was happening. Yep, they were ganging up on me. It kept on for a few minutes until I knew that I already had to speak up. I was already supposed to go to one of the lifeguards to inform them of what was happening when a man swam closely behind me, making me feel relieved and safe from these guys. I did not know who he was until I took a short break on the other end of the lane. It was my husband!!! When I looked to the other side of the pool, the four rowdy guys were gone.

Just to put a context to it, Howell did not want to swim because he had a training for ultimate frisbee later that day so he was kind of reserving his energy and opted to go to the spa instead of swimming.

I love the presence of my husband but these was one of those standout moments that I am joyful that he is with me. It really felt like he was a hero! I asked him if he knew what was happening when he came to the pool and he said that he saw one of the lifeguards talking to the guys and when he looked, these guys were in my lane so he came to my aid promptly because I may be in trouble.

What contrast it was! Here is a man who almost instantaneously went to protect a woman from guys who would instantly jump to disrespect whoever they’d want to. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a damsel-in-distress awaiting for a knight as I was already on my way to do something to protect myself from these guys but here was a man who came through for me.

There still are gallant men these days. Some men will give you attention, but be very discerning of the attention they give. Some will only seek to take advantage, especially in times you are weak.

How do you know a gallant man? These men rise to the occasion. They are courageous in pursuing things that are of worth–principles, faith, respect, responsibility, accountability. They will treat you as equals but they will come through for you when the going gets tough.

To all the gallant men out there, the world is a better place with you in it. Continue to be courageous because our world needs men like you, most especially these days. The world needs men who will be brave and be brave enough to pursue the right things.

To the first gallant man I have ever loved, Dad, thank you for showing me that there still are good men, that there are things and people worth waiting for. And to my most gallant man, thank you for standing up for me even though you knew so well that I am capable of standing up for myself.