You sometimes see that God works in mysterious ways.

The first half of the day was dreadful. I left home, only to find a massive jam on the Seremban Highway. And there were like, so many road hogs - I kept on screaming my head off ! I was afraid that I would be late for class.

Well, I wasn't.

Class today was nice ; the first half of Business lecture was used by Dr Chantheney to talk to the students one-to-one about their AS grades. As my name figured among the first few in the list, I was called up rather soon. But all in all, it was a good review. Then in the afternoon, we had Literature class with Ms Sunbeam and we finally finished "The Mayor of Casterbridge", at long last !

That aside, God showed me His mysterious ways through the kind, touching acts of two people.

Firstly, Ms Sunbeam. It was raining cats and dogs and I had no umbrella with me, and thus, no means of crossing the road to get to the YMCA. Ms Sunbeam found out that her son was going to pick her up from college - and when I was about to leave, hoping that I could run across, she lent me her umbrella !

I was touched. I told her, "Thank you so much. I owe you one."

She looked at me profoundly and said, "You don't owe me anything."

Again, I thanked her and left.

So then I crossed the road and went to the Y to pay for my parking ticket. As I was about to enter, the security guard outside talked to me. His name is Siva, by the way (I only found out his name while talking to him). Now, for non-Malaysian/non-Singaporean readers, don't be surprised as to why I put his name in dialogues as "Uncle Siva" - we have a tendency to call elder people "uncle" or "aunty" in respect.

Uncle Siva : I see you've spent a fortune in this parking area.
troisnyx* : *laughs* Well, I've gotta. I guess. This place is safe.

Uncle Siva : Rest assured, the safety is free. It's the Y's policy. What you're paying for is just the parking.

I went, whoa. Parking for a nine-to-five session in the Y is that expensive ! I paid the parking expenses and went out, and we talked for a while.

It turned out that this somewhat aged man is an ex-lawyer. He used to practise in court. I could tell from the way he spoke (his English is perfect, and this is quite unusual for a security guard), and he really knew his work well. (I can tell a good lawyer from a bogus one, by the way.) Seems that he took up this job as a security guard in order to be self-sufficient. He asked me if I was studying anywhere near that area. I told him, I'm studying in Brickfields Asia College - currently doing A-Levels, law-based. And we went on...

Uncle Siva : There seems to be a saturation of lawyers, eh ?

troisnyx* : The good lawyers are few and far between.

Uncle Siva : True, but from what I see, every Dick, Tom, Harry and Mary is reading law !

troisnyx* : I guess.

Uncle Siva : Are you intending to practise ?

troisnyx* : Yes.

Uncle Siva : Advocacy or solicitorship ?

troisnyx* : Advocacy, no doubt. I'd love to witness the proceedings of a court case first-hand. Also, I want to be able to defend the person. Something deters me from being a solicitor, though...

I recounted an experience my family had with a really bad solicitor.

Uncle Siva : Well, one in every two people is a bad egg. But what do you want to do ?

troisnyx* : I'm intending to practise. Not full-time though. I believe that when I start, I'll have to spend my days in the courtroom. And proceedings can be long. But once I make a name for myself-------

I didn't get to tell him about what I truly wanted to do.

Uncle Siva : There, there. You sound like an ambitious person. You do have a dream, don't you ?

I just nodded.

Uncle Siva : Just believe. Believe that you can. Half the battle is won. Once you believe that you can, your mind will work out the way. Also remember... never be influenced by a lot of money. I know quite a number of people who would change their minds about their humility once money is laid on the table. I see you are a humble person. Just whatever you do, remember that you are the master, and money is the slave.

These took me back to the words of Jesus : "You cannot be the slave of both God and money." I was awestruck. I was about to cry.

After another few minutes of talking, I had to head home. And when we parted ways and I headed to the car, I cried. I waved to him before I left the Y, telling him that I'd see him tomorrow.

And just a few hours earlier, I was feeling rather desolate, depressed... and the weather made me all the more depressed. I was doubtful about living my dreams.

God gave me hope through these two people - there is still hope in this world. I know there is. Hope hasn't gone to the dogs yet.

Perhaps, when I have the inspiration, I'll put my thoughts on paper and I'll sing my heart out to the world about these two words :

Just believe.