Open Doors

I wasn't going to blog about this but I felt a need to do so. So, I'm doing it now.

This post is about doors. Doors being opened and doors being closed. It’s about blessings. And about trust. It’s also about my brother. And my family in general.

To mom and dad: Please don’t kill me for sharing this.

To my brother: I’m sorry if you wanted to stay anonymous. And you have a purpose going to where you are going. Don’t forget that yeah.

For those who don’t know, my brother is going to start a new phase in his educational journey.

It started out with my brother receiving a certain score and wanting to go to a certain school. My parents had other ideas though. This ended up (after a lot of discussion) with their school of choice being put first and the said certain school my brother wanted to attend as the third in the list submitted. When the posting results came in, he was posted to his sixth choice. This was when the appeal madness started.

To cut the entire 3-4 week saga of going to schools for interviews, calling up teachers, talking to aunts and uncles and cousins, as well as attending CCA trainings and the like, my brother got a call a few days ago. It was from the school he had originally wanted to go to. They were asking him to go down for an interview.

He did. And after his third tour or so around the school campus and an around-5-minute long interview, the interviewer looked up and said ‘okay, we’re going to accept you’. And that was it. My brother is now in the school that he had originally wanted to go to.

He whatsapped everyone in the family group chat “im in”. That was, honestly, the best news I probably had ever received. I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s better than getting grant money or launching a project/festival. But back to the point about this story being about doors and trust.

For this door (brother’s ideal school) to open, my parents had to accept that their first choice was not the plan He had. After exploring and crossing out other routes (international school, going overseas, etc) and accepting that he was going to the sixth institution of choice, to have the school call him up and then to be accepted by the school was (and felt like) an even bigger blessing than if he had been accepted into the school in the first round of posting. Being rejected twice made his acceptance into the school so much more appreciated. Really, no one can close the door(s) that God opens. And no one can open doors the way He does. My family learnt to trust His timing and His plans.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

Jeremiah 29:11