Kuala Lumpur June 2024 "It wasn't for you part 2"
13/06/24 09:18
We had been visiting family in Ipoh, a city 180km north of where we live. The evening before we head back home my wife has a long conversation with one of the ladies there who was stressed from worrying about her husband and family and that worry was having a serious impact on her life. Suffice to say that person was feeling a lot happier about herself after receiving encouragement from my wife. The following day was a Sunday and we were off to church for the 1100 service and then lunch. It was only at this point I discovered we were heading back to KL today and the intention was for us to get there in time for the 1700 service at our usual church! Well we don't usually go to church twice on the same day but the lady my wife had been talking to the previous evening had missed the morning service in Ipoh and my wife had offered to take her to the one in KL as she was staying in that city for a few days. So I faced two problems, firstly driving from Ipoh to our home in KL usually takes me over two hours and that was just about what we had to get to the church and secondly would I be able to find a car parking spot in the evening at a venue that would be crowded at that time of day?
Sunday driving on Malaysian roads is not a favourite of mine. Lots of people go from KL to visit relatives living in the north at the weekend and then head back home on a Sunday afternoon. I would be in the middle of that and to make matters worse there would be a lot of motorbikes on the motorway and over here those riders know no road etiquette. If you are driving in the middle lane then you should expect a motorbike to pass you on more often on the inside rather than outside as would be the case in the UK. I find it quite disconcerting and they seen oblivious to the dangers as they weave in and out amongst the moving cars at speeds of 110kmh. I usually drive a little slower than the speed limit but today I would need to be at it for most of the journey if I was going to be close to being on time for the evening service at the KL church. However whilst there were a lot of cars on the road I have seen far more than that in the past and we made good progress, albeit that the journey was quite stressful due to the bikers antics and an emergency brake application when the cars in front were forced to come to a halt on the motorway. I had not expected to be anywhere close to 1700 when we arrived in KL but I was and it looked possible we could get to the venue on time.
Now we come to car parking. The church venue has what we call a "valet parking" option. It costs four times what a normal parking spot would cost but a space here is more likely to be available here than in the car park itself. I headed straight for it and my heart started to sink as I saw a row of cars seemingly occupying every space. Every space bar one that is! I couldn't believe it and immediately parked the car in that one space. We walked into the church service just a few minutes after it had started. I was relieved and amazed at the same time. A similar thing had happened to me a few years ago in Wellington (NZ) and you can read about that here. Why I had been able to get here in time was about to become clearer once we had got to the "message" part of the service. Today it was being given by the same Pastor we had listened to the previous weekend. Not only was it the same Pastor but it was exactly the same message as we had heard that day! You see we had gone to the 1100 service that weekend and that day the 1700 service would have had a different theme. A week later it had probably been reversed but for me it was like, wow, I've driven all this way, found a car parking spot, arrived on time and for what purpose? To listen to the same message again? Only it wasn't for me. You see the message was one of hope for those suffering from worries in their lives. In fact it was exactly the message the lady who had come from Ipoh with us needed to hear and it had the desired impact on her. I never heard the words "It wasn't for you" like I had a few years ago (see here) but I knew us getting here safely and on time was for our passenger's benefit and not our own.
Sunday driving on Malaysian roads is not a favourite of mine. Lots of people go from KL to visit relatives living in the north at the weekend and then head back home on a Sunday afternoon. I would be in the middle of that and to make matters worse there would be a lot of motorbikes on the motorway and over here those riders know no road etiquette. If you are driving in the middle lane then you should expect a motorbike to pass you on more often on the inside rather than outside as would be the case in the UK. I find it quite disconcerting and they seen oblivious to the dangers as they weave in and out amongst the moving cars at speeds of 110kmh. I usually drive a little slower than the speed limit but today I would need to be at it for most of the journey if I was going to be close to being on time for the evening service at the KL church. However whilst there were a lot of cars on the road I have seen far more than that in the past and we made good progress, albeit that the journey was quite stressful due to the bikers antics and an emergency brake application when the cars in front were forced to come to a halt on the motorway. I had not expected to be anywhere close to 1700 when we arrived in KL but I was and it looked possible we could get to the venue on time.
Now we come to car parking. The church venue has what we call a "valet parking" option. It costs four times what a normal parking spot would cost but a space here is more likely to be available here than in the car park itself. I headed straight for it and my heart started to sink as I saw a row of cars seemingly occupying every space. Every space bar one that is! I couldn't believe it and immediately parked the car in that one space. We walked into the church service just a few minutes after it had started. I was relieved and amazed at the same time. A similar thing had happened to me a few years ago in Wellington (NZ) and you can read about that here. Why I had been able to get here in time was about to become clearer once we had got to the "message" part of the service. Today it was being given by the same Pastor we had listened to the previous weekend. Not only was it the same Pastor but it was exactly the same message as we had heard that day! You see we had gone to the 1100 service that weekend and that day the 1700 service would have had a different theme. A week later it had probably been reversed but for me it was like, wow, I've driven all this way, found a car parking spot, arrived on time and for what purpose? To listen to the same message again? Only it wasn't for me. You see the message was one of hope for those suffering from worries in their lives. In fact it was exactly the message the lady who had come from Ipoh with us needed to hear and it had the desired impact on her. I never heard the words "It wasn't for you" like I had a few years ago (see here) but I knew us getting here safely and on time was for our passenger's benefit and not our own.