WITH HOPE
This is not at all how
We thought it was supposed to be
We had so many plans for you
We had so many dreams
And now you've gone away
And left us with the memories of your smile
And nothing we can say
And nothing we can do
Can take away the pain
The pain of losing you, but ...
We can cry with hope
We can say goodbye with hope
'Cause we know our goodbye is not the end, oh no
And we can grieve with hope
'Cause we believe with hope
(There's a place by God's grace)
There's a place where we'll see your face again
We'll see your face again
And never have I known
Anything so hard to understand
And never have I questioned more
The wisdom of God's plan
But through the cloud of tears
I see the Father's smile and say well done
And I imagine you
Where you wanted most to be
Seeing all your dreams come true
'Cause now you're home And now you're free, and ...
We have this hope as an anchor
'Cause we believe that everything God promised us is true, so ...
We wait with hope
And we ache with hope
We hold on with hope
We let go with hope
(Steven Curtis Chapman, 'Speechless')
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
REMEMBERING ERINA
Today I just found out that my dear friend Erina (29), a young and dedicated doctor who was serving in a remote area in Papua, was killed in a car accident after she helped deliver a bleeding pregnant woman to a hospital in Fakfak. To save her last patient’s life, Erina decided to drive the ambulance herself throughout a winding and dangerous road. On the way back to Kokas (where she worked to substitute another doctor), her car slipped and fell to a ravine of 20 m depth. The nurse who was with her broke her leg and climbed up to ask for help, while Erina was injured badly and passed away on the way to the hospital.
And because I was traveling, I did not follow the news on TV or newspaper, and nobody told me about it until today (I guess they all assumed that everyone knew about it since it became a highlighted news lately). Anyway, I heard another friend talking about the death of a young female doctor in Papua several days ago, and I directly remembered Erina, wishing it was not her. Her last email to me was sent from Fakfak, on May 24 (she congratulated me on my first novel and promised to get a copy when she is back in Bandung), so I drilled my friend to find out whether it was her, but she could not remember any details, so I convinced myself that there must be lots of doctors in Papua, and it could’ve been somebody else.
This morning, before my devotional time ended, my cellphone beeped. Three sms notifying and confirming her death. I fought my tears but gave up. I remembered the times when she drove me home after our Tuesday Bible Studies, listening to her fave Josh Groban’s songs, talking about the future and her medicine studies. I remembered how she willingly helped out with the SRT project I was working on back on my SIL days. She even drove my teammates to her local clinic outside Bandung, where they could interview some of her patients for the project. I could not join them because of my dengue fever. My Mom said, on TV she saw those villagers weeping over Erina’s death, saying that she was such a loving, hard-working and attentive doctor. She was a light there. Not many doctors are willing to help poor people in remote areas. Erina was exceptional.
To think that her life was so brief and had to end so abruptly, in a tragic way, really saddened my heart. I don’t understand why God took her so soon, surely she could be used to help more people with her talents and godly desires. But who am I anyway, to ever question God’s wisdom? One thing that consoles me right now is the assurance that she is now with the Lord, smiling, and happy to have finished her duties on earth, even accomplishing her final task perfectly.
Erina, I am so proud of you. I will always remember your radiant smiles, your heart of gold, and your gentle spirit. Surely you’ll be missed a lot here, but someday we will see each other again, in heaven.
(One of the news about her death: http://www.detiknews.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2007/bulan/07/tgl/16/time/152105
And because I was traveling, I did not follow the news on TV or newspaper, and nobody told me about it until today (I guess they all assumed that everyone knew about it since it became a highlighted news lately). Anyway, I heard another friend talking about the death of a young female doctor in Papua several days ago, and I directly remembered Erina, wishing it was not her. Her last email to me was sent from Fakfak, on May 24 (she congratulated me on my first novel and promised to get a copy when she is back in Bandung), so I drilled my friend to find out whether it was her, but she could not remember any details, so I convinced myself that there must be lots of doctors in Papua, and it could’ve been somebody else.
This morning, before my devotional time ended, my cellphone beeped. Three sms notifying and confirming her death. I fought my tears but gave up. I remembered the times when she drove me home after our Tuesday Bible Studies, listening to her fave Josh Groban’s songs, talking about the future and her medicine studies. I remembered how she willingly helped out with the SRT project I was working on back on my SIL days. She even drove my teammates to her local clinic outside Bandung, where they could interview some of her patients for the project. I could not join them because of my dengue fever. My Mom said, on TV she saw those villagers weeping over Erina’s death, saying that she was such a loving, hard-working and attentive doctor. She was a light there. Not many doctors are willing to help poor people in remote areas. Erina was exceptional.
To think that her life was so brief and had to end so abruptly, in a tragic way, really saddened my heart. I don’t understand why God took her so soon, surely she could be used to help more people with her talents and godly desires. But who am I anyway, to ever question God’s wisdom? One thing that consoles me right now is the assurance that she is now with the Lord, smiling, and happy to have finished her duties on earth, even accomplishing her final task perfectly.
Erina, I am so proud of you. I will always remember your radiant smiles, your heart of gold, and your gentle spirit. Surely you’ll be missed a lot here, but someday we will see each other again, in heaven.
(One of the news about her death: http://www.detiknews.com/index.php/detik.read/tahun/2007/bulan/07/tgl/16/time/152105
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