NYE emergency

On New Years Eve my parents and I were getting ready to go to church for Watchnight service.
I had spent the arvo writing my testimony for the year and was ready to share it at the service.
It has been a great year of improving myself and learning to lean on others for help. I am particularly grateful to Olivia my discipler who really helped me keep it together this year.

Towards the last semester of my university degree I wasn't prepared for the anxiety attacks from job hunting. The struggle was real and there was one week where the stress of exams, literature review and interviews peaked.  It was hard to see my uni mates all secure their favourite jobs easily while I had to wait. As with any family, there was conflict at home and that was grating on my emotional state as well. My mind was honestly stuck in a cage of anxiety that exhausted me, and I lost my motivation to study. In those times all I could do was stay in bed, read my bible and pray. God was always with me and all I could do was patiently cling on. When it got too much one night I headed to Olivia's house and just talked to her.

There's nothing better in this world than a friend who will lift you up when you're fallen. I thank God many times over for Olivia's godly wisdom and guidance in my life. To be listened to and have my feelings validated by someone instead of just being waved over was significant to me.
By God's grace I found a job before the year was over :)

Then on NYE my mum suddenly came out of the shower before watchnight service with extreme pain and numbness running down her left leg. I immediately recognized that something was definitely not right and the short of it is that we ended up in the emergency department all night. She went for an emergency MRI and surgery and I was glad that I had worked in that hospital before. It made me feel almost at home and comfortable because I knew the system and the care she was going to get. I stayed with her while my dad and brother went in and out of hospital.

We got to see the first baby of the year that night and in many, many ways, as my mum said, this emergency surgery was a blessing in disguise.
For me, I always wondered how my family would cope without my mum around because she's always been like the pillar of the family. I wondered if I would have to take all of the burden and if I would cope. But I soon realized that my dad and brother were ready to step up in responsibilities and we actually did very well in the weeks of her recovery. 

It was also a time where we felt the love of God from our church family gather round and support us. 

So thanks be to God who provided for our every need. I end with a photo of my mum.
In all these changes she never complained or even looked discouraged or sad.
If I could describe mum in one word, it would have to be resilient.