Student exchange in Thailand (perhaps)?

A few months ago, my girl had been successful in getting a hard-to-get placement in a Thai University. She has been working very hard to maintain a good enough GPA to have a better chance of exchange. Of so many choice universities in the world, she had opted to apply to go Thailand. She had the option to accept or reject the placement. It was a nightmare for us but in the end, she had to reject the placement. Due to some misunderstanding (literally lost in translation), the available courses and credits which she would have subsequently been able to transfer back to her local uni were just not in her favour. We took it in our stride and said we would try again.

Fast forward to a few days ago. She and I had been sitting at the table, deciding on her options. She had a deadline to meet and choices to make. I know that deep down inside, she is an Asian girl. She loves the Asian culture and Asian food. Her heart is still set on Thailand. She left the table for a while as I prayed over our choices. In less than 2 minutes, she walked back to me, gasping in shock over the news of the bomb blasts at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine. My first reaction was, "Oh my goodness, that was fast". 'That' meaning the answer from God.

Today, I sit here wondering if I have done the right thing. We had still put Thailand as an option for this round's selection. She has my support. Why? Because we will never know where we will be safe. Thailand is a very big country. Singapore is a tiny country. Still, anything could happen to either country. Anything can happen IN either country. We can only pray for God's protection. This is what I try to imbue in my kids. It is so important to pray, pray, pray. Still, I know that I know no other parent who would immediately after hearing the news of a bombing, allow their child to choose to go to that place. But I know I trust God.

I need to mention something else. Perhaps this is just for the record. After I  had heard about the bomb blasts in Bangkok, I had told the kids to leave me alone for a moment. I retired to my room to pray in tongues. I was suddenly plagued with a dark, sinister, sinking feeling and the word 'Exeter' entered my mind. It was so bad that I stopped my praying in tongues and said the Hail Mary instead. I did not feel that it meant a university in Exeter.

Refusing to let it rest, I looked up the word late that night and to my horror, discovered that there exists a 2015 movie named 'Exeter' and I had not even heard of it before. What does this all mean? I'm not exactly keen to watch that movie and scare the poop out of myself! I am not clairvoyant and I know I get made fun off by people (even if they are too polite to say so) but I only know that I get these extra sensory promptings sometimes when I pray. I don't ask for them. I am not bothered if people believe me or not or if people think me weird or look at me as showing off. Even my own kids annoy me no end with their, 'Hurry up, leh, Mum, quick pray and tell me the answer!'. What in the world? I'm not a fortune teller. I am only trying to listen. If we all tried hard enough, we might hear something other than our own voices.

By the way, if she had accepted her earlier placement at the Thai University, she might have been walking at the Erawan Shrine on that very day. The reason being, she had made friends with another NUS undergrad and they had planned to travel Thailand together. That undergrad did accept his placement and had planned to go visit the Erawan Shrine only 1 day after the bombs had blasted. The girl said that guy (who is just starting his exchange programme there) is now terrified and the girl asked me if this was the reason she 'couldn't' accept her first placement. I believe that we can only pray for God's blessings and trust in Him even when we struggle to make sense of things. If we believe in His goodness, than we have nothing to fear. It's not an easy task but we can help each other along. I hope that by reading this, you won't feel so alone with whatever fears you have and whatever tasks you find daunting.

Now, I don't know if I should be happy if she does get a place in Thailand again. The other option is very, very far away. Perhaps she won't go anywhere. Who knows. We leave it up to God.