Tuesday, March 4, 2008

My story of COURAGE

COURAGE. COURAGE. COURAGE?
Two years ago..there was a girl. Her name was Caroline Lee. She was shy, unconfident, self-concious. Until..There was a moment of her 13 years of life that changed her. She raised her hand in class. Sounds strange? Well. Not many people might believe this, but she used to be REALLY quiet. She didn't talk at the dinner table with her family very much, she wasn't involved in class discussions. She was a seriously different person. Some of the time she tried to fake courage. Actually, a lot of the times she still fakes courage. Some may have thought that she was some sort of really brave person that did things no one else would do. But deep down inside, she was scared. So scared she would hide behind herself. Still..everyone has fears, right? But you know what? None of you people were probably as cowardly as she was. Anyway, two years ago, she came to a school called TCIS. Before all this, she was a homeschooled student almost her whole life. Being a new student, she was SO scared. In classes, she would sit in a corner and be silent. But gradually, after seeing how things worked in a real school classroom, she started to listen to teachers, and paying some attention. However, still, she didn't, or couldn't, answer any of the questions that teachers asked. In one of her classes, there was one certain student. This student inspired her. This student seemed to have a great personality. This student was funny. This student was so friendly. This student seemed so happy. This student had courage. One day, a teacher asked a question. No one else knew the answer apart from Caroline. She finally got the courage to speak up in class. She raised her hand. After doing this, it seemed like a tiny burden rolled off her back. But it still felt so good. As you can imagine, this girl changed. She changed into a girl that had so much more courage. And that girl is me.
Today, I heard that my grandmother has cancer. Currently, she's in the hospital. My mom had to fly from China to see her. When I heard this, I had some mixed feelings. I felt deprived, bitter, angry, heartbroken. I couldn't believe this happened to my grandmother. In other words, I wanted to blame it on God. Why did He let this happen to her? Why couldn't it have been someone else's grandmother? But I wasn't going to cry about this. I felt anger and hatred. I thought to myself, why be such a coward and cry about this?? This isn't your fault. Have some bravery. Have some courage. Save your tears for worse things. I had these thoughts for a while, when I just suddenly broke out in tears. My heart felt so full of things. It needed to be emptied out. As I cried, I asked Him to forgive me. And I knew He did. And what I realized was that though someone that I love has to go through so much pain, God has a reason behind all this. It could be that He wants to take her away. But I don't think that's the reason. I think He wants to get her attention. What I want to get across with this is that sometimes courage doesn't mean not to cry. It doesn't mean that you should stop your tears. But what it could mean is that when you really need to cry, the best thing to do is cry.

8 comments:

David S. said...

Thanks to my colleague Joseph Kim who led me into here heh. (=3)

First of all, I am really surprised that you were a quiet person !_!. That means you have got much more courage! Yay. Good thing. I'm very sorry about your grandmother, but yet I'm really impressed and inspired by your faith. My respect. God sometimes does things that we don't have an idea why it is happening. Not a life threatening disease like cancer, but I actually had two people who were seriously ill and one of them actually go few time unconscious: My mom and dad. They both were very ill, and due to that, our family had to move back and forth everywhere. Well, I thought "Why in the world is this fate happening to me?!" and although I never actually said it, I think I had resentment for God as well(which was wrong) for a while. But it all turned out to be the short journey through pain gave me an unforgettable lesson(although I don't live by it many of the times:[). You really, I believe, have courage. Not a triumphant and the army-like bold and bravery but the mild and yet not-breaking courage like a wheat stalk.
I pray for your grandmother
(=3) [from the sides, it is a mushroom]

Christine said...

HONNIIIEEEE:))
I hope your grandmother gets better<3333

Caleb J. said...

...:O u were quite!!! >_< wow, well I am really sorry for ur grandmother and I really hopes she gets better. I think you put a lot of time thinking on this post, you were really "Courageous" to but this so that every one could see. You were being really honest with youeself and others, not many other people would do that. Nicec blog, good posts, I will be here again!!!


Caleb J.

"=3" thats a bone if its fliped on its side. and u spell it =S anyway. :P

BeccaR said...

CAROLINE!!!
You are really an amazing person!! I would never have thought that you used to be quiet! You are always sooooo fun and always have something nice to say to everyone at school. You're always there for me and have really showed me how to be more courageous and have fun in life and not be scared or shy about anything. I know I get scared inside too but especially when I'm with you I feel like I'm on top of the world and I can do anything because you make me feel so courageous becuase you're courageous.

I'm really sorry about your grandmother. I hope she gets better soon. You have every right to cry because of your grandmother and I'll be praying for you and her and I'll always be there for you if you need anything.

thanx for always being there for me!! <3 ♥♥

Dong-HyunK. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dong-HyunK. said...

I hope your grandmother gets better too. It was a shock to hear that you were really shy. Anyways, the courage you had compared to the main character's courage in Lost Names is so similar. You, like the main character, cry and don’t feel ashamed of crying but feel more courage by crying. The main character is in a crisis where he lives in a neighborhood controlled and persecuted by the Japanese. You are also in a crisis, which is the sick condition of your grandmother.

Vincent Bang said...

wow. u were quiet. unbelievable. ur grandma isn't christian? anyways pray for ur grandma. peace sista.

Kangaroo said...

did you know?
if you pay attention, it won't pay u back... ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

keep praying!!!
God works miracles...
I know that for a fact...