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Welcome to KJ’s wrap up of the New Year.
It’s been a while since I’ve said this but 2010 was a GREAT YEAR. It was a fantastic year. And it’s been a while since I’ve been able to reflect on a year and be proud of it.
Before I got my butt into the States, I was living a very dull and unproductive life. I was teaching music part time for three years almost and doing really nothing in between. The years were filled with much time wasting, much procrastination, failed university applications and a lot more stuff not worth mentioning. I used to wake up each day asking myself - what on earth is God doing in my life right now and what on earth am I doing about it?
It wasn’t a waste. It was a time of maturing and growing and preparation for the life I would live outside my home, away from my family and into a brand new environment. There were ups and downs and there were highs and lows. That was before this American Adventure began.
The pursuit for musical excellence and a career in music began after I graduated ‘A’ levels, at the age of 17. Even before I finished that, I had already decided it would be music. It was a strange decision coming from me, the boy who studied sciences and did reasonably well at them. Coming from the person who used to want to build mechanical arms for a living. Then again, I remember clearly my ambition to become Doc Brown from Back to the Future so obviously I know nothing about my own ambitions. I’m 22 now verging on 23 in a couple of days (YIKES!) and that brings my pursuit for this to five and a half years now. Five and a half years and more than half of that time was quite unproductive.
God’s way of doing things usually never coincides with how we want to do things. I believe that’s because we’re just so far from God sometimes that we don’t want what He wants. And what He wants for us is always the best. If we truly were with Him and know Him, we’d do what He wants because we know He knows best. The journey to where I am today was completely not my choosing. It deviated entirely from the plan I was making. I arrived in a school I had not originally intended to go to, I spent over two years longer than I would’ve liked waiting to get here, and so on and so on.
But reflecting upon the journey until today, God really does know best. I always imagine what it would be like if I arrived in this country at the age of 19. I think my mom would be completely freaked out with her every waking moment.
But I deviate. I’m telling the story of 2010, not the story of 2005-2010. It is necessary to give some context though to give you an idea why I say I’ve never really had the chance to call a year ‘great’. Perhaps my idea of ‘some’ is somewhat thwarted. Yet again I digress.
2010 has been a year of fulfilling. It has been a year of faithfulness. It has been a year of fulfilled promises.
For the most part the year was taken up by music college. Until September my days were filled with productive classes, training and practice. The tough part came when graduation came closer and closer each and every passing week. The question of ‘what are you going to do next?’ kept coming at me like a pesky insect that I didn’t want to deal with at that point in time. But it was coming and I knew it. The day was coming when I would be out of school and out into the working world.
So began the exploration of options. I basically did everything within my power and left the rest entirely to God. I sent out applications to another school, not sure whether I was even going to go to school for more. I looked online for jobs, sent out resumes, called phone numbers, met people, did all I can to try and get some kind of work - including my one audition for a cruise ship. I gave it all I got. I gave it my best shot. The rest was literally up to God. I had no idea if any of it would work. I was never sure if I was ever going to make it as a working musician.
All this has only served to build my faith in Him and trust His faithfulness.
God has been faithful to provide me a job.
God has been faithful to provide me places to live within my budget.
God has been faithful to provide great friends, great community.
God has been faithful to provide great teachers who’ve helped me mature in my Christian life.
God has been faithful to provide relationships that will last forever.
God has been faithful to literally provide all I need, and then some.
One entire year, just witnessing the faithfulness of God. Witnessing Him fulfilling His promises that He will take care of me, that He will not forsake me, that He has my best interests at heart, that He is in control of everything and as long as I trust Him, He will be there for me.
2010 has been also an incredible year of learning. There’s more to college life than learning academics. There’s a lot more to college life outside on your own than learning your profession. You learn to live. As cliche as it sounds, it’s the first real taste of the world, cuddled safely around the normality of study life. There is still a routine, there is still something to do each day, but there are also aspects of life that will continue on forever.
It’s life. Managing finances, managing meals, managing time, managing resources, balancing social life with work or study, learning to live in close proximity with people as neighbours, learning tolerance, learning how to show grace - learning how to live life on your own. A taste of what life will be like once we’re all grown up. Learning how our parents do it.
It’s also been an incredible year of learning about Christ. I’ve been so blessed to have had great mentors in my life every step of the way. God has always provided men of wisdom and men of faith and men of love around me to teach me and show me what it means to be a Christian and what it means to live by faith and what it means to live for Jesus.
I’d highlight some awesome events during the year, but honestly there are quite too many that I can’t keep track of them all. That’s what twitter is for I suppose. I wish there were some better way of going through my old tweets.
2011 - Here I come. A brand new adventure.
