the answer in jeans??? [Church, General/Catholics and Protestants]

this is a follow-up on my discussion yesterday. i always like interesting metaphors so here goes.

i think the answer may lie in jeans. yes, jeans. as in, the kind you wear.

apart for looking for a job, i've also spent the last few months looking for a good pair of jeans. i was looking for the skinny emo type, either full white or full black. alas, my search yielded no fruit for the last few months.

last week, i went on a desperate hunt for the perfect pair of jeans. i found many tops, but no jeans. i was so exasperated that i proclaimed that finding a great pair of jeans that worked for me, was like finding a life partner. very hard.

and luke replied that a lot of pple said that too.

hmm, so i was right i guess.

here's my problem. skinny jeans just don't work for me. most of the type i'm looking out for now are skinny. bootcut doesn't work too, cos i'm too short. straight is boring, and i have two really great pairs of straight cuts that i wear all the time, and all other jeans look similar. so everything was either too bland, not unique, or exciting but didn't suit me.

my searches seemed in vain.

but today, something interesting happened. it was a marvellously amazing day for me, even though i didn't plan any detail. and at the end of the day, on the train, when it seemed like it couldn't be more perfect, something interesting happened.

i really had to pee.

now, boon lay to pasir ris is no joke. it's a straight one hour plus plus train ride with no pee breaks. but i desperately needed one. so i alighted at city hall, and (reluctantly) paid the extra fee. thinking i might as well not waste the stop, i decided to browse around river island and topman, just for fun. i almost left, but then suddenly remembered that i was looking for jeans!!! so i turned back to serach one last time, just to give it a shot.

and i found this pair of full black jeans that were "Slim", which is in between skinny and straight. i knew i was short, so i needed Length 30. and so i deliberated between W32L30 and W30L30. W32 seemed to sit just perfectly, but W30 was more interesting. i almost left and asked luke to come back with his card on another day to but me the jeans so that i could use his discount. but then.... i realised that there was a sudden 20% discount, which was more than his 10%, and rendered his card useless for the period of the discount!!! so the $60 jeans became $47!!! so i didn't hesitate. i bought the jeans.

God paved the way perhaps?

thinking back... i think i see some lessons here. bcos i now know it's the perfect jeans for me. why? bcos:

1. i know i'm short, and L30 is the shortest, and L32 is too long, so my pair is not too short or too long.
2. i know it's not too big, cos W32 worked.
3. i know it's not too small, cos W30 looks more interesting than W32.
4. i know it's the best "slim" fit i can find, cos the only other one looked like the one i already have and it costs more than $100.
5. i know black is better than white cos the only white is skinny, which doesn't work for me.
6. i know black is better than red, or blue, for the same reasons above.

so in other words, this "perfect" jeans, and the PEACE in the certainty that it is indeed perfect, could only have come from hours and hours of endless searching and trying on of skinny jeans, long jeans, short jeans, and searching for different colours, patterns etc... in other words, disappointments have made me find the perfect pair. and this time, i wasn't even looking.

ok maybe, this is going a little too far and bordering on the superstitious... but maybe it's true. today, i was extra prayerful. i mean, i felt good today, so i started the day confident, and offered it up to God in prayer. i carried my Bible around (which is rare). and i prayed the rosary.

it's not a 'bao gao liao' thing, but more of an additive effect. you see, i started out the day feeling good. so i pray. and good things happen to me. and so i feel better, and happier. and so i pray even more. and more good things happen. it's just one of those really good days. and i owe it to God.

i mean, EVERYDAY is owed to Him, yes... but i felt that today, He went just that little bit extra. and it made my day. perhaps it's His way of reminding me that He really is God. The big guy. The Big Kahuna. The boss. The guy who can make or break me, or anyone else, for that matter!

So it's a timely reminder to trust in Him. Right when i need it most.

And perhaps the answer does lie in my slim jeans...? That all this searching, all this confusion, stress, frustration, and anxiety over my destiny.... all these questions.... perhaps all of them ARE indeed necessary. in order for me, when i get in the final Uni course, be it Local or Overseas, be it Engineering or Medicine or whatever, be it sponsored or self-funded, be it NUS or NTU or SMU... whatever!!! that where i end up, i will know that it is perfect for me. like the perfect jeans.

or maybe not.

maybe it'll all never end.

but it is days like these that make life worth living. it is days like these that remind me, with ever greater certainty, that there is a Big Guy out there, and that He's looking out for me.

Amen.