Enlistment Notice

So the date is finally set. He was expecting maybe May or June and at the rate it was going, I thought so too. But then he got a text message from the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) informing him of enlistment in early April. We've talked about National Service quite regularly over the last two years and especially after he finished his A Levels. Yet it still felt surreal when I saw the text message he forwarded to me. He is leaving home soon.

He quit his part-time job at the convention centre on the same day so that he could spend the rest of his time doing whatever he wants and meet up with his friends. He loves nature so he has been to visit the Kranji Wetlands, Gardens by the Bay and the SEA Aquarium. His maternal uncle from Canada was back for a month, and my sister from Hong Kong also visited the week before. Great timing. 

This reminds me a little bit of when I was getting ready to leave for the UK for my undergraduate studies at 18. At the time, I knew that spending a few years away from home was going to be life-changing but I grossly under-estimated its extent. So it is good for him to take it all in - the things and people that have been part of his life up until now and give thanks to God for his generosity, abundant blessings and unfailing love. 

God has seen him through many challenging time and will be faithful to see him through whatever is ahead. I hope that the time away from what he is familiar with will give him fresh perspectives of life and mold him into the man that God calls him to be.

7 Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.
~ Psalm 63: 7-8 (NIV)