‘Thou art now the blessed of the Lord.’—Genesis 26:29
‘Thou art now the blessed of the Lord’ is a verse from Chapter 26 of Genesis, and its modern version is ‘And now you are blessed by the Lord’.
A cuppa
A few days after I started working, my supervisor introduced me to our librarian, so I made a ‘trip’ to the library. It is right next to my office building, and it is about 5 minutes' walk. The librarian was very friendly to me, and she showed me around the library and gave me hints and tips on how to make use of the library including its many collections of books, references, multimedia materials, and online resources. She also introduced to me her colleagues who work in the library, one of whom also comes from China. Knowing that I am from China, he started having a chat with me in Putonghua. Knowing also that I had worked in Hong Kong for five years, he then had a brief chat with me in Cantonese. I was very impressed. What impressed me even more was that he offered me some very good tea. The Australians would refer to a cup of tea as a 'cuppa', although this time the tea was in a glass. I felt blessed, and very welcome here in the library. With books and a cuppa in the library, what else could I dream of in a winter like here in Melbourne?!
A simple life
A friend of mine wrote in an email to me, saying that ‘life can become very simple, if we know what we really want in life’. I think it is very true. I came to Melbourne all by myself, with a suitcase, a backpack, and a handbag of my personal belongings. To settle in this place, I needed to find my own accommodation, a bed, and some basic cooking utensils. Therefore, apart from going to work on a daily basis, I started looking for a house. I inspected around four to five places, including a townhouse, two to three units (apartments), and a house, and I decided on the house. It is a simple house without any furniture. So, the next thing I wanted was a bed. Fortunately, there was an airbed in the house. However, I needed to inflate it. Without a pump, I couldn’t blow any air in it. A friend then helped me drive to a nearest petrol station (which is called a service station or a servo in Melbourne), and we inflated the airbed. For cooking utensils, I simply bought a pressure cooker. Well, with a house, an airbed, and a cooker, I started my ‘new’ life here. Indeed, to start a life in a new place, I was constantly aware what I really wanted in order to survive. When life was all about survival, it couldn’t be simpler.
The Skylight
There are a number of things which impressed me about the house I currently live in, including the lemon tree and the many bamboo trees in the backyard, and the many flowers in the front yard, which form a bit of a ‘landscape’ around the house. Inside the house, I was impressed by the ‘skylight’ in both the kitchen and the bathroom. Every morning, when it is still a little dark in other rooms, the kitchen and the bathroom become relatively brighter, because of the ‘skylight’ on the roof. The skylight does not only help to save energy, but it often brightens my day. To have a cup of tea and some light breakfast in the early morning, with the skylight, has become a joyful experience since I moved in, and it usually gives me a good mood and sufficient energy to start a new day.
The Blessed
A local friend of mine has been very friendly and helpful to me so that I could settle in Melbourne. An airbed was only a makeshift bed. With my wife and daughter joining me, an airbed would not be sufficient for the whole family. So I needed to buy at least two beds: a queen sized bed and a single bed. On a Tuesday morning, my friend organized a trailer attached to his car, and we drove to a furniture shop. There were a number of choices there, so I decided on a queen bed and a single bed. The shop assistants helped us load the beds onto the trailer. In the meantime, I also chose two bedside tables to go with the beds. Within around half an hour, all things were sorted out, and we were ready to go. At this moment, I saw a car with a plate saying ‘BLESED’. I couldn’t feel more grateful and blessed!
Home … Sweet Home
Wednesday evening was a time when my wife and daughter arrived in Melbourne from Perth. My friend and his wife rang me and offered to drive me to the airport to pick my family up. It was very considerate of them as they also brought roses with them for my wife and daughter. I was thrilled when I met my wife and daughter, after months of living apart. Home, sweet home … after we arrived home, my wife and daughter arranged the flowers in a vase, while I cooked noodles for them. It was good to have a family meal together, with roses on the dinner table. A friend from the U.S., knowing that my family were going to be reunited with me, wrote an email to me saying that ‘for a day (of a family reunion) like this, we seemed to have been working hard for our entire life’.
While I was composing these blog entries, I listened to a CD entitled ‘A New You’, and it was an album in the series of the Stream of Praise. I couldn’t help recalling verse 29 of Chapter 26 in Genesis, which goes ‘Thou art now the blessed of the Lord’ …
A cuppa
A few days after I started working, my supervisor introduced me to our librarian, so I made a ‘trip’ to the library. It is right next to my office building, and it is about 5 minutes' walk. The librarian was very friendly to me, and she showed me around the library and gave me hints and tips on how to make use of the library including its many collections of books, references, multimedia materials, and online resources. She also introduced to me her colleagues who work in the library, one of whom also comes from China. Knowing that I am from China, he started having a chat with me in Putonghua. Knowing also that I had worked in Hong Kong for five years, he then had a brief chat with me in Cantonese. I was very impressed. What impressed me even more was that he offered me some very good tea. The Australians would refer to a cup of tea as a 'cuppa', although this time the tea was in a glass. I felt blessed, and very welcome here in the library. With books and a cuppa in the library, what else could I dream of in a winter like here in Melbourne?!
A simple life
A friend of mine wrote in an email to me, saying that ‘life can become very simple, if we know what we really want in life’. I think it is very true. I came to Melbourne all by myself, with a suitcase, a backpack, and a handbag of my personal belongings. To settle in this place, I needed to find my own accommodation, a bed, and some basic cooking utensils. Therefore, apart from going to work on a daily basis, I started looking for a house. I inspected around four to five places, including a townhouse, two to three units (apartments), and a house, and I decided on the house. It is a simple house without any furniture. So, the next thing I wanted was a bed. Fortunately, there was an airbed in the house. However, I needed to inflate it. Without a pump, I couldn’t blow any air in it. A friend then helped me drive to a nearest petrol station (which is called a service station or a servo in Melbourne), and we inflated the airbed. For cooking utensils, I simply bought a pressure cooker. Well, with a house, an airbed, and a cooker, I started my ‘new’ life here. Indeed, to start a life in a new place, I was constantly aware what I really wanted in order to survive. When life was all about survival, it couldn’t be simpler.
The Skylight
There are a number of things which impressed me about the house I currently live in, including the lemon tree and the many bamboo trees in the backyard, and the many flowers in the front yard, which form a bit of a ‘landscape’ around the house. Inside the house, I was impressed by the ‘skylight’ in both the kitchen and the bathroom. Every morning, when it is still a little dark in other rooms, the kitchen and the bathroom become relatively brighter, because of the ‘skylight’ on the roof. The skylight does not only help to save energy, but it often brightens my day. To have a cup of tea and some light breakfast in the early morning, with the skylight, has become a joyful experience since I moved in, and it usually gives me a good mood and sufficient energy to start a new day.
The Blessed
A local friend of mine has been very friendly and helpful to me so that I could settle in Melbourne. An airbed was only a makeshift bed. With my wife and daughter joining me, an airbed would not be sufficient for the whole family. So I needed to buy at least two beds: a queen sized bed and a single bed. On a Tuesday morning, my friend organized a trailer attached to his car, and we drove to a furniture shop. There were a number of choices there, so I decided on a queen bed and a single bed. The shop assistants helped us load the beds onto the trailer. In the meantime, I also chose two bedside tables to go with the beds. Within around half an hour, all things were sorted out, and we were ready to go. At this moment, I saw a car with a plate saying ‘BLESED’. I couldn’t feel more grateful and blessed!
Home … Sweet Home
Wednesday evening was a time when my wife and daughter arrived in Melbourne from Perth. My friend and his wife rang me and offered to drive me to the airport to pick my family up. It was very considerate of them as they also brought roses with them for my wife and daughter. I was thrilled when I met my wife and daughter, after months of living apart. Home, sweet home … after we arrived home, my wife and daughter arranged the flowers in a vase, while I cooked noodles for them. It was good to have a family meal together, with roses on the dinner table. A friend from the U.S., knowing that my family were going to be reunited with me, wrote an email to me saying that ‘for a day (of a family reunion) like this, we seemed to have been working hard for our entire life’.
While I was composing these blog entries, I listened to a CD entitled ‘A New You’, and it was an album in the series of the Stream of Praise. I couldn’t help recalling verse 29 of Chapter 26 in Genesis, which goes ‘Thou art now the blessed of the Lord’ …
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