The Long Weekend

It was a very difficult yet fulfilling weekend for me - four straight days of work in the Emergency Department in the mornings from Friday to Monday. It is fun work in the ED, no doubt, but it can be physically draining as well, and that's why they've kept it to four days of work a week for all doctors.

Working the mornings always leave the evening open for potentially wonderful dinners, and it started on Friday when I managed to catch up with my K and PL at Kake di Hatti, which was the equivalent of the Indian Rose Garden, given the speed at which the food was served to us! It was fast Indian food which was pretty good, and we adjourned to their apartments which I have yet to see. It was a really nice little place, and against the Melbourne city night skyline as our backdrop, we chatted late into the night the way we used to.

I was really excited about Saturday night because I was going to see P who was coming down from Sydney for a dance conference. P is a good friend and my Christian mentor back in my IMU days, and seeing her was a rare annual treat.

It was pretty late in the evening when we finally went out that Saturday. We walked the streets of Toorak just catching up, and when it was time, we went to squire'sloft for some pretty darn good steaks. Having said that, however, whenever I meet up with P, the food becomes an aside, and it is always the conversations that takes centre stage. She becomes my sounding board, and well, let's just say that I continue to discover things about myself through her eyes which continue to surprise me.

We had such a good time and the few hours flew by too quickly, and so we met up again on Sunday night for dessert. This time she got to tell me her stories and I marveled at the journey that shaped her life and her marriage - I thought I knew all there was to know about her, but I was so wrong!

She shared this verse with me this visit, and unbeknownst to her, she actually shared this verse with me 4 years ago after Dad passed away.

Psalms 84:5-7

5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

7 They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.

I feel that there she herself must have clung on to these words during her hardest times, and now she continues to reinforce it in my life, as I set my heart on the pilgrimage, into the journey of understanding who I am, and how I got to where I am today.

That's partially why I write this blog.