Journey mercies

I used to raise an eyebrow a little whenever I read someone's blog where they say they are just simply too busy to update it, or when a friend takes simply ages to reply a mail I sent because of the same reason. How busy can they be to not spare 20 minutes to write a blog entry or an email?!

But, now I know. My weeks are packed and my weekends even more so! I've got just enough energy to check my mail but very little to respond to them.

I had a blessed weekend!

It was an amazing time spent with friends, and Sunday was simply beautiful because I woke up nice and early and spent time reading the Bible, journaling, praising God and praying. It's one of those days you wake up and you want to thank God and praise Him for every single thing. As I wrote in my journal notes of what to pray for, one of them happened to be for a flat that was "clean, accessible, reasonable rent and people I get along with and can be a blessing to".

I went to church after that without thinking much of it. After the service I was speaking to one of the church elder, and he mentioned that there was a couple from church who was interested of renting out a room from the house and he could speak with them if I'd like.

But for some reason, I felt unenthusiastic with the idea and told him that I would like to hold on that offer. I felt I didn't want to live in a house full of Christians. Ironic huh.

I just didn't want to live with people who might have expectations over me and my conduct in the house. Sometimes, Christians can be the most judgmental lot. But more importantly, I wanted to be with non-Christians who I could interact with on a daily basis and pray for them and be a blessing to them.

That same afternoon I went to view a flat near the church. I found out it was on top of some shoplots, which initially got me worried. Having viewed a flat like that on Saturday, which turned out to be a little nasty, I was just a little worried it would be the same. But when I stepped in...

I fell in love with the flat! And the two girls!

The room was big and spacious with brand new mattress still in its wrapping! The toilet beside it was small but incredibly clean! And trust me, all the other places I've viewed was quite nasty. And the two girls... I love them. They were sweet, sincere, lovely. Can you imagine living in a house where you don't like and even worse, don't respect the others living under the same room?

Within 10 minutes talking to them, one of them said that there were a few people who had come to view the place, but they think they would like me to move in because they felt they could get along with me (AC afterwards dryly commented about how flattery get me anywhere :P).

But Saturday, when I went to view the other flat, I knew within the first 10 seconds I didn't like it. And something within me told me that when I find the perfect flat, I will have something click in my heart that will tell me that's the flat. And that's how I felt when I went to see the one on Sunday.

I was a little hesitant to commit to anything because the cost of the flat was just a little higher than I originally budgeted for. And told them I would let them know the day after of my decision. As I walked back to church for lunch, I asked God in my head whether I should choose this flat or not, and it felt like He was saying go for it. He will provide the finances for it.

Then I spoke to my parents after lunch and my mom was telling me to go for it as well, which was very encouraging. As the day wore on, I got more and more excited thinking about living in the flat. By night time, I was quite convinced that I should do it and commit to it, but waited just a while longer to sleep over it and see how I felt about it the next morning.

Woke up, and it was one of the first things in my mind. At 7.30am, I texted one of the girls and said, "I take thee and Anne to be my new flatmates!"

Really, what more can I ask for? Lovely flatmates, lovely flat, close to the church, close to 52 and some other friends from church, close to the tube and train station and bus stops, and close to supermarkets and convenient stores. And to boot, nice, leafy neighbourhood and a few lovely parks for recreational purposes. It's perfect!