For God so loved the world..

Monday, November 28, 2005

*.* Christmas Tree *.*

We have a Christmas Tree at home!

kor bought a Christmas Tree and after which, mummy, Serene and myself decorated it, with Christmas Carols playing in the background. Sister was studying for her exams.

Anyway, here's the significance of Christmas Tree:

700-1000 A.D., Germany. Though Martin Luther, the German monk and church reformer, first started the modern concept of indoor tree decorations, the tree has been associated with celebrations since yore. In the Middle Ages, the Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope for the forthcoming spring. The modern Christmas tree evolved from these evergreen trees that were regarded as a symbol of life. The tradition then spread to other parts of Europe and the entire world.

According to a legend, the Christmas tree is associated with the birth of Jesus Christ. It is believed that on the night of the birth of Christ, all kinds of living creatures came to Bethlehem with gifts. The olive tree came along with its fruit and the palm with its date but the fir had nothing to gift the newborn king. So an angel, taking pity on the fir, commanded a cluster of stars to shine on its beautiful boughs. Baby Jesus smiled on seeing the lighted tree, and blessed it. Consequently, the fir tree is always lighted with many decorations on it, to please little children during Christmas.

Another belief is that the triangular shape of the tree symbolizes the Trinity and points upwards towards the God. While the light, gift and decorations on the Christmas tree mean heaven; love and charity respectively.

A Child of God blogged @ | 12:15 am

Sunday, November 27, 2005

*.* Godma or God-daughter: who is who? *.*

I attended a Confirmation mass last week. I was supposed to be a proxy godparent as my friend's friend's godma couldn't make it. So as my friend knew that I was attending her Confirmation, she asked me whether I mind standing in for her friend's god ma. Of course, I accepted.

And I had the privilege of sitting in the 2nd row. Good view to the mass proceedings.

Next to me was an empty seat. Infront of the empty seat was a neophyte getting confirmed. Poor girl. Her godma was not here yet. I observed that there were some attempts to contact her god ma so I guessed her godma should be on her way here.

But mass started. Opening hymn, act of contrition, gloria, opening prayer, first reading, second reading and.... heng ah... the godma came!

And Confirmation went on as usual, with the Archbishop anointing the confirmants with chrism oil.

But what was really strange was this... After a long while, the godma who came late realized that there was still a whole string of confirmants waiting to be anointed. (Cos it is an adult cum youth catechism Confimration). So I overheard the following conversation which took place between god ma and god daughter:

God ma : ..... my car... parked...at an inconvenient place... dunno if..... cause other cars...
God daughter: Hah then how?

God ma: Then I dun take communion lor... or I leave straight after communion.

(Here, there's a slight interruption cos the godma talked to this "godma":)
Godma: After this whole thing, got any more duties for godmothers?
Me: Got... we got lifetime duty to look after our god children.
Godma: But I mean, after this whole Confirmation, must we come down for anything?
Me: Dun have lah but our role as godma is always lifetime.
(Note: I emphasized LIFETIME.)

And the conversation continued on:

God daughter: But have you received communion this weekend?
Godma: Yesterday I went for sunset mass. Came late. Sat right behind and I didn't receive.
God daughter: But you MUST receive communion otherwise must go for confession.
Godma (deliberating, looking at the endless stream of confirmants): Aiyah... I think I cannot wait already. I'm going off. I will just pray to God and ask Him for His forgiveness. God is loving and forgiving. He will understand.

So God ma went to pray and after that bid her farewell to her god daughter.

My heart went out for the god daughter.

I think there is a something wrong working with our Catholic Church.

Firstly, when is the issue about "must receive communion once this week" to be exempted from confession? MASS is something compulsory. As long as you attend once in a week, you have fulfiled that obligation. And MASS is from the BEGINNING where the priest proceeds in till the END where the priest gives us his final blessings.

Secondly, are the roles of godma clearly outlined to the catechumens when they were making their choices of godparents? And are these roles related back to the chosen god parents? There has to be clear understanding that the godparent has to guide the godchild in faith, not the other way round.

I guess the bottomline is, most godparent-godchild relationships end after Confirmation. But there has to be something to keep the relationship going. It can either be from the godparent or godchild or perhaps, some church program that keeps this relationship going.

And the other bottom line is, pls make a clear discernment in deciding your godparent.

A Child of God blogged @ | 1:29 am

*.* It's Advent! *.*

It's Advent!

So so fast... within a twinkle of an eye, a year is going to pass.

Anyway, I was thinking that for every week of Advent, my blog will have a new song. The song this week will be "When a Child is Born".

For every Christmas, I'm always spending it abroad. I'm kinda missing the Singapore spirit of Christmas already... what exactly is it? Shopping? Sales? Hmmm...

I finally went back to Novena and Risen Christ with my mum. After so many months of being away from Novena and Risen Christ due to RCIY and tuition, I'm back to the original - back where I was in 2002.

Novena is good... in fact, I wanted to tell or to make known that everyone should attend Novena. We need spiritual input and Novena provides the simplest form of spiritual input. It is a must-have for every Catholic. I always feel that if we believe in God without Mother Mary or the Saints, the person has not come into full reality with the Catholic faith. We cannot believe in God and Jesus alone. We have to integrate the saints as well as, souls in purgatory in our faith. Cos when the time comes, we may be one of those souls in purgatory that need people to pray for us OR one of those saints/angels in Heaven praying for people.

Risen Christ... no matter what I will still prefer CTK to RC. But CTK has found one competitor - SVDP. SVDP has 3 out of 3 good homilies. But CTK only has probably 2 out of 3? And RC has only, sadly, 1.

RC sings really good hymns which cannot be compared to CTK. But the homily needs to be improved. BIG SIGH.

That's why I always tell my mum... go to CTK or SVDP... good homilies! But she will always stick to RC.

It's Advent! New liturgical season and new beginning... mass with my family all over again.

A Child of God blogged @ | 1:26 am

Thursday, November 24, 2005

*.* My Birthday photos *.*

okays... here's the long-promised-but-never-delivered-till-now photos of my 25th birthday celebrations! I tried uploading the photos onto blogger but the big photo size makes it difficult for uploading. So in the end, I tried shutterfly but the slow uploading speed also makes uploading take a longer time.

Anyway, do check out these pictures. My celebrations started off at NIE. It was organized by my group mates who were very sweet to buy a birthday cake and give me a surprise celebration. Since Charissa's (my NIE friend) birthday and mine are just a week apart, I invited her to join me in this celebration.

After class, I went out to celebrate with my family at Soup Restuarant at Changi Airport. I was very fascinated by their famous chicken dish. After the dinner, I went to cut my birthday cake and open presents.

On Saturday, I went out with my five beloved for a sinful dinner at Pizza Hut. It was a simple outing, last one before meixia and alycia study real hard for their O Levels. And we promised to meet up again soon...

Anyway, here are the pictures. Let the pictures do the talking!

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2EYt2LNqzYuOg

A Child of God blogged @ | 12:10 pm

Sunday, November 20, 2005

*.* From a Teacher (II) *.*

Similarly, from the same teacher who posted the blog entry below, here's her message to her students:

To those who have finished their A levels..

--Soppy post below, so for those who feel the need to roll their eyes, take off contact lenses or go read someone else's blog--

Dear students who read my blog,

Congratulations on having completed the most gruelling and intensive academic exercise in your life! I stick by what I've said. You'll never be so stressed again, in uni, except perhaps when it's dissertation time.

Let me just say, that I know it's been a harrowing two years and the journey for some of you was fraught with doubt, insecurity and much anger and angst. And now, you're free. On your blogs, you breathe this collective sigh of relief, almost audible even over the iridescent glow of the blog page. Well, even though you hadn't quite figured out how to describe tone when it was required of you, each blog post that I came across was filled with a great sense of exhalation and delirious, giddy gratefulness that it has finally come to a close. And for that, I am proud of each one of you.

I'll probably never see you in a formal setting anymore. Actually, most definitely and toward the last weeks, there really wasn't much time to talk to you about the life you're heading out to face. You will no longer have the protection and the sheltered environment of the classroom to shield you from the outside world and some of you are much more prepared than others to face it. So, instead of me trying to put it into words, this was taken off another teacher's blog and she in turn took it off a site that some of you should try to read(There are some hoops that you will need to hop through to read the whole thing, but I promise, it's the last piece of reading I am fobbing off to you).

So, the lessons I hope you take with you from the last two years aren't the ones that teach you how to write a good essay but the bigger lessons that I have taught in class. The ones that bear no notes but greater consequences. The ones that you helped remove some of the rose colour off your tinted glasses. And whether or not you end up as a teacher, the ones that you will pass on to those you teach in the future.

With that, go out there, see, feel, think, explore and discover. And occasionally, stop to get your bearings, looking back at where you've come from and ahead at where you want to go.

Godspeed.

A Child of God blogged @ | 1:02 am

*.* From a Teacher (I) *.*

I have been following a teacher's blog for quite some time now. She's a JC teacher from another college (not from Anderson). Anyway, here's a post from her blog which pretty sums up how I was feeling a few days ago.

A Sound of Relief

Much as I was not the one taking the A level exams, I am now thankful it is over. Perusing the blogs of some of the kids I teach, I got the sense that they were coming loose at the seams and while it sounds about right, deep down, I wanted it over for them.

I didn't worry the way KW worried, but I did feel so sorry for the girl who looked so emaciated, everyone thought she was anorexic. I think she just studied and stressed herself out so much that she lost all that weight. I felt bad for the kids that had tears welling in their eyes after the GP paper. I wanted to hug every one of them and tell them it would be okay but I knew I shouldn't because for some of them, the fact of the matter was that it wouldn't be okay and we would just have to face it when the time comes.

Even though I wasn't the one taking the exams, it felt like I was going through the roller coaster with them. Seeing them in school, wound so tight made me wonder why all this was worth while. I mean, seriously, no one's looked at my A level certificate since I got into uni. Well, the Civil Service did, but then again, they'd demand my PSLE cert if I could actually find it. But, to everyone of these kids, the sanity in their worlds depended on how well they would do for these dastardly papers. So, what do I do? The night before the GP exam, I think I fell asleep praying for every single student that I taught and some that I didn't. Unlike KW, I didn't send them "good luck" cards. I think I was just too caught up in getting their work back and their testimonials written that I plain forgot. I figured, then, that the least I could do, was to pray for them, by name. I'm sure I didn't get through everyone, but I'm sure God figured my intention by the 57th name that came to mind.

I really don't know how these kids would do and I shit in my pants everytime I fast forward to next year when the results are released. They are indeed my first graduating batch and no matter where I end up next, I think this will be the batch I remember most by sheer fact that they are my maiden batch. Too scary.

People have asked me what I will remember of these kids. I don't know. Some days ago, R and DC were talking about how everytime they went back to serve reservist, they come out feeling very humble, because they meet people from different walks of life. I guess, that's what I'll take away from this batch. Humility.

When you grow up almost monolingual and all the people you hang out with are monolingual, you grow to forget that there is another world out there where people struggle with the language you take almost for granted. And when it is your responsibility to teach these people your language, you stop laughing quite quickly and try and figure the best way to bridge the gap between what they know and what they need to know.

Of course, irresponsible reporting in some newspapers make it out to sound like all you do is to laugh at them. My conscience is clear. I have never been mean-spirited to my students. Angry, yes. Sarcastic, absolutely. Snarky, totally. But never mean.

I never imagined to feel nervous about exams that were not my own or to empathise so greatly with them that now that it is over for them, I feel that only now, I have a right to go out there and enjoy myself. Perhaps, more than I've wanted to admit it, they have snuck up on me and gotten under my skin.

A Child of God blogged @ | 12:50 am

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

*.* the race has ended *.*

I gave my last tuition in 2005 today. It ended at 11 15 am.

When I gave my last tuition to my 2 students last night, my heart was heavy. Mixed with emotions. A bit sad to leave them, yet happy to see them "graduate". A bit disappointed to see them "not yet fulfiling their potential" but yet, happy to see them trying more and giving more of their best shot.

I was particularly touched when my two girls broke down for Econs paper. One broke down before the paper while studying. And the other broke down after the paper. It goes to show how much Econs meant to them. It goes to show how much effort they have invested and how much they valued this investment.

One kid was telling me, "After As', I'm going to file up all the essays, DRQs and case studies and MCQ and dump them infront of you. I want to show how much you have "tortured" me." (To which, she ended off by agreeing that this drilling was good.)

They have finally graduated from Economics 9079. 5 months of sheer drilling, endless nagging, counselling, motivational talks, marking essays, setting questions, writing out essay outlines, working out MCQ, doing data response, case study, making sacrifices...

I really hope it will somehow pay off when they get their grades next year. I just hope the grade they get on the result slip will be the best they ever received in JC. Lord, please help them.

Now, I am really free. No school till 2006. No tuition. No RCIY. It's time for my family. It's time for myself. Wanna catch up with lost time with my family and friends.

I did something for myself today, finally. Before class started, I bought myself a mocha and read a book in the library for 30 mins. It was a good treat and pampering. And there's more to come...

A Child of God blogged @ | 11:14 pm

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

*.* the last 200 metres *.*

So fast, after many hundreds of tuitions, this is the day where my students will take the plunge - Econs Paper 3.

I had finished my rounds of tuition with all my three kids today (Remember the TJ boy stopped earlier?)

Anyway, the point being, I got really worried for them. And I think I was unconsciously putting pressure on them. I was flabbergasted at one who somehow, suddenly have the memory of a clownfish. Whatever that we did for the past 6 months, have become so vague to her. Until I asked her," do you tend to space out before your exams?" And she nodded. Immediately, *oh dear* flashed through my mind.

And the other one... suddenly lost her steam, her motivation. And I got worried for her cos suddenly, her priority is not on the important stuff anymore. It seems like she's putting emphasis but it's not. And no matter what I did, she doesn't seem to respond. She wants to end tuition early. I know she's tired but we barely started for an hour. It's her freakin As' and there's no sense of urgency. I got worried.

The other one...thank God for tuition was a breeze. The only thing I hope and pray for is that he doesn't fall into the temptation of watching Star Trek VCD (yesh, before his paper) when he haven't read through his notes yet. He got the stuff but tends to be a bit complacent. And he tends to give in to sianness. If he feels sian, he doesn't want to study.

The temasek JC one... I really wonder how he is doing nw. I feel so helpless. I want to help him but he's rejecting it. I dunno whether it was a good decision for him to stop tuition so prematurely. But I did what I could do. Have been smsing him every day a motivational quote to encourage him, sent him stuff to read up and have been smsing him essay tips continuously today.

My kids are going on the battlefield today. And I feel like I am on the battlefield with them today. Until I cannot sleep even though it is 2:20 am now.

I guess, this is the batch of tuition kids that I feel attached to, besides the last harvest batch I took 2 years ago. This has been the most challenging batch cos I had the most difficulty in getting them motivated to study. It's an eye opener for me cos' they come in different characteristics:

1) notes that are like kiam chye, not filed and scattered all over the whole house. I had to literally make my kid number his notes from 1 to the end.
2) I taught my kid to file his notes. For the first time.
3) notes that are totally neat and filed. Except that, she doesn't know any single thing about the content.
4) One who finds it sian to have tuition.
5) little condfidence, with near suicidal tendencies, and despondent.
6) Complacent and needs me to burst ego so that he will learn to start from scratch. I will never ever forget him asking me before this tuition was confirmed," Can you guarantee me an A?" And I told him,"I can guarantee you if you work hard."
7) One who simply nods in agreement but I think she only got 40% of what I just said.
8) One who chooses to nod in agreement but in fact, mind is elsewhere.

The list goes on.

I have been quite fortunate in fact, to have loving parents who would feed me with food everytime I give tuition. God Bless their souls cos otherwise, I will have to teach with an empty stomach.

This has been the most challenging batch I ever taught. It has been difficult getting them motivated or even develop a liking for Econs. I have tried. It has worked. The rest is up to them. I have watched each one of them change to a better person - more serious attitude, a person with dreams, a person who wants to try, a student who knows what is Economics now.

I really hope they will do well. I'm not aiming for As' or Bs', but just better than their prelims or maybe, the highest grade they ever got in their JC lifetime. So that at least they will feel a sense of achievement. So that at least they will discover that hardwork truly pays off. So that they will experience that if you want something, go all out to achieve your dreams.

At 2pm tomolo, I will be in the battlefield with you guys. My best won't stop here. It will be in the exam hall. Press on students. Don't give up. It ain't easy; I know you have your fears; be brave and move on. Try your best.

Dear God, please take care of these 4 young kids I have here. Naughty they are, but a good heart and vulnerable soul they have, the journey is going to end soon, may they end this Econs journey with hope, courage and confidence. Anoint them with your wisdom, courage and hope O Lord.

Mother Mary, All angels and Saints, papa in Heaven, pray for them. Amen.

A Child of God blogged @ | 2:40 am

Sunday, November 13, 2005

*.* sunday *.*

It's sunday today and strangely enough, I'm not giving tuition. I went for 1130am mass at CTK, had lunch at the coffeeshop outside church and went shopping at Junction 8.

Eating at the coffeeshop brings back memories. About RCIYians eating lunch behind coffeeshop and then the sponsors would proceed for the never-ending Monthly Sponsor Meeting. And I will order my usual fish soup with rice or mee pok. Life just goes on...

After that, went on to Junction 8 for shopping. It's a bit carefree and relaxing... hah.. was doing speed shopping for a while and I realized there wasn't any need to do so. I've no tuition later. I dun need to go home and rush out assignments. I have time to shop.

Somehow, it feels great to shop leisurely, admiring at the things you saw and contemplating whether to buy this item or not. Now that tuition is going to end in 3 days' time, I will be having time in my hands. I'm gonna use the time usefully.

It's really funny but I dunno when I started this habit. The moment I wake up, sometimes I will put my feet on the floor, sometimes I don't but I will spend some time talking to God, asking Him to guide me, that I may use the time usefully; that I may see Him in all situations. And then, unconsciously, I just move on to my daily business. It's strange somehow. Dunno when this thing started.

Things to look forward to:

1) Movies! Just like Heaven, Oliver Twist, Harry Potter and many more!
2) Books! Reading a book on Pope John Paul II
3) Korean Dramas! Yesh... I am getting the craze!
4) My India Trip. Family has decided to proceed after all
5) JB Trip

Thank God for this relaxing time I am having now. In a lazy Sunday afternoon, listening to Fish's CD, blogging and later, doing my maths assignment.

Last week of school ! WHEEE!!!!

A Child of God blogged @ | 5:36 pm

Thursday, November 10, 2005

*.* christian living *.*

I finally caught Amazing Race, the Family Edition today. And I am really glad that Amaxing Race has not lost its flavour even when it is on its 8th run. Kudos to the producers! Very ingenious of them to come up with the family edition.

Of all the families, there was the Weavers family who caught my eye. At the pit stop, Rebecca broke down, saying, "It's so hard to be Christian when all the others are not being nice to us." How true, indeed. I was thinking about this statement after the show ended and I arrived at this conclusion. Be it Catholics or Christians, we have chosen to follow Christ and in the world we live in, it is indeed hard to be Christ-like especially when people turn against you or hurt you. But as Christians, if we want to be Christ-like, we cannot adopt a secular perspective of life. We have to adopt a supernatural, godly persepective of life that enables us to believe and hope in the joys of loving our neighors and receiving our rewards, not on this earth but in our heavenly kingdom with our Father.

And so I got prompted to read up on this family and it dawned onto me that they also lost their dad. They lost their dad in a car racing event and now I understood why it was particularly hard for the family to go through this event when one family member had to go car-karting.

Read up on them here: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/amazing_race8/teams/bio_weaver.shtml

I'm glad I caught Amazing Race. At least i am not too late for the finale. And I am glad that the Paolo family got eliminated. I admire the mum for enduring her son who always curse," Son of the bitch!" Doesn't the son realize that he is in fact cursing his mother?

Anyway, it was a well spent 4 hours tv watching. I just finished one of my Maths assignment. Will probably start on Q1 of my last Maths assignment in 2005. *Joy is dawning*

A Child of God blogged @ | 2:11 am

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

*.* School, Teachers and Exams *.*

School ended on a super dull mood today. Just when I thought there are no more assignments, in came another Maths assignment and a journal entry. I dun understand (actually, I do.) why she must give us homework. We are overworked trainees who are desperate for a life after no life and in comes one assignment. My classmates's faces fell and colour changed to black when she gave us a homework to do it. INIDIVDUALLY. And on top of this, just because there are no more test, she is making us write a journal on the latest topic covered - Trigo. It's like... she is making sure there is some form of assessment to asses our level of understanding. Why can't she let us off.

And the ironic thing is, I think I would do the same if I were her.

And to add on to the 'holiday mood', she has already given us our assignment to be due to June 2006. My hols are gonna be so exciting.

And then, I had to make my way down for tuition. I am indeed sianz cos I am having LDMR already. But I am glad it ended on a good note.

At least my student is asking questions that will add learning. And at least she is now super on to learn and when students are super on to learn, somehow, their senses will be drawn towards Econs.

I just felt it was a good 3 hour class. Yes, I gave her an extra hour. That's the amount of support I want to give to her. To tell her that it is never too late and to try your best.

I really hope she does well.

Wednesday... Maths and Econs class. *Dread*

Tuition in the morning and evening. *Press on*

Finish up writing my half done essay plan. *Just do it*

A Child of God blogged @ | 11:50 pm

*.* random thoughts *.*

I noticed that it is now cool to say stuff like "Why you so random?" or "kay... random thots" or even, "RANDOM: ...."

So, I will have my random thoughts here.

1) I finally completed my last Maths test in my module today. I have conquered 3 difficult Maths test plus 1 SMMT at the end of Semester 1. Honestly, I have never developed such a phobia and freakishness for Maths test. These Maths test do not require you to solve but to describe how you would teach to your students. And it is one big feat to cover. I just hope I can do better for this last one to pull up my average mark.

2) I am currently busy writing essay outlines for my tuition kids. Clever me decided to push my kids a little bit more and give them a 3 essays test. I figured out this was the best way to make them study.

3) I went for Vienna Boys' Choir Concert last Wednesday. It wasn't that fantastic as I expected to me. I bought one of their Pop CDs and I got horrified. They sang "Get down" by Backstreet Boys in their choir arrangement.

4) I'm listening to Christmas carols now. I am in a Christmas mood.

5) I need to pack up my room. It is a total disaster.

6) I need to catch a movie. Desperately.

7) I am facing LDMR with tuition. Counting down till their last day. In a way, I know that I am pushing them but if I dun push, they dun get moving. Hope they will bear up with me and that I will bear up with them.

8) I have my 25th birthday photos but too slack to post them up. Will do so later.

9) I am kinda glad that all my tuition kids are studying hard and giving their best shot. This shot is definitely better than the past few months' shot. Proved the point that a student will be motivated when the time comes. And that the teacher should stop nagging or worrying. But the teacher should help to enlighten the students that it is important to be consistent in their revision.

10) Studying now, aint easy. My sympathies to my kids.

11) My day fell when my TJ boy terminated me 2 weeks in advance. Not becos I was no good but cos he needed time to study. He felt that it was useless trying to learn answering techniques when he had not even mastered his content. The day was overcast as I was really disappointed that he is giving up hope. He has even surrendered to the fact that he can't graduate with good results and is even preparing himself for SIM. And the fighting spirit is gone. I just feel upset that such a great talent is gone to waste at his mere giving up. Somehow, I feel that his teachers play a part too. His teachers have consistently told him to get retained for another year, even after prelims. I just feel that doing this, may even demoralise a kid more.

12) A couple of my students in AJ got retained. Of which, one student who was already retained got expelled cos he failed his promos. I am sad. On the other hand, another retainee got promoted. So I am happy.

13) I need to buy new clothes, shoes.

14) I just made a decision that could be a turning point in my life. God, bless and guide me.

15) I need to buy Sec 1 and 2 Maths textbooks. I feel like giving sec 1 or 2 maths tuition next year.

16) I have to try not to flood myself with tuition and spend more time upgrading myself. Anyone wants to learn guitar?

17) I am indeed amazed and touched at how great a mother's love is. Back to the TJ boy, his mum and myself have been corresponding, thinking of how to encourage this boy, making him feel more confident of himself. And both of us have been debating whether he is ready to take the big As'. And I have told the mum that I dun think he is psychologically ready. And on my 2nd last phone call with her, I told her that he may not be psychologically ready to give his best. Meaning, he will do it as if it is like any ordinary paper, wihtout exerting his whole energy and drive on it. In other words, prepare for doom. And to my horror, the mum cried to me, expressing her pain that her son is feeling despondent, giving up on himself and being very negative in life. It dawned on to me that a mother's love is indeed great and a child will never be able to understand the pains the mother goes through unless we are mothers ourselves. My heart went out immediately to the mum and I can only console her by saying," He will understand in time to come..." (Let's just hope it won't be too late.)

18) I have taken up an elective called Counselling and Guidance in Sec Schools. Beginning of my counselling interest? We'll see.

19) After my birthday week, I had an ego boost. *Big Smile* My ex manager from ACNielsen asked me to come over to be a Senior Research Executive. This means promotion and pay increase. Was super tempting and I was tempted. But I turned it down cos I am bonded and I feel that teaching is the vocation God has given me, not research. I wanna give myself time to explore this vocation.

20) I am thankful to God for His guidance throughout the time when I was rushing through assignments. Though I do not know the grades yet, but without His grace, I wouldn't have completed my assignments on time. In my dire exhaustion, I wouldn't have the strength to brainwash myself to go on. In the competitiveness, I wouldn't have the humilty to console myself and to ride my own competition. And fo course, thank God for waking me up on time for presentations. There was once I had a presentation at 830 but I woke up only at 8am. Horror! But Thank God for bringing me to the classroom on tine for my group presentation.

I also thank God for teaching me a valuable lesson on how valuable every person is. If I dissect all my students, they have their own internal struggles to work with. And as judgemental a human can get, I, as a teacher, may judge them on my own personal bias. But through many sessions with them, my tuition kids have helped me to understand that despite their academic struggles, they are still valuable in the eyes of God. Despite their lack of motivation, discipline and organization, they are still beautiful, gifted in their different ways. And as a teacher, if they were not to do well in their studies, we should learn how to fit our teaching methods to their learning styles. We must not give up on them, that they cannot learn. They cannot learn because we cannot teach. No matter how difficult it is, as teachers, we should never give up on our students or pass them the death sentence. We must continuously encourage them and learn to embrace them as beautiful kids. In God's eyes, they are still valuable and gifted.

Likewise, I am a beautiful child, made in the likeness of God. Whatever I have belongs to God. And whenever I doubt myself, I shouldn't do so anymore cos being anointed in God's grace, He will give me what I need to perform. I should not feel dismayed at all the competition but slowly, learn to overcome my own internal struggles and create cutting and winning edges for myself. I should not give up on myself, like how I will never give up on my students.

This is indeed a valuable lesson for me, to bring into my classrooms next year.

A Child of God blogged @ | 12:40 am

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

*.* Prayer Book & Daily Verse Added! *.*

Dear all who read my blog,

What I can't stand about boredom is not putting myself to good use. Think I have rested anough with more than 8 hours of sleep. It's time to get down to real pastoral work.

Gonna start small... so I found an online prayer book and decided to link it up to my blog here. If anyone of you have any prayer request, pls feel free to drop a prayer here and I will pray for you!

Also, added in a daily verse. May God's word enrich your day and may you put His word into practice.

Somehow, serving is still in my blood. Now that I am no longer in RCIY, I wanna serve by praying and sharing God's word. So if you have any prayer request, private or public, pls feel free to drop one! And please pray for one another, when you view my prayer book as well!

God Bless all!

A Child of God blogged @ | 1:49 pm

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

*.* Bored *.*

After two days of no school and no assignments, I am indeed bored. So bored that I took this lame quiz. At least I know I am a bear.

And so bored that I am too bored to blog.

You Are A: Bear Cub!

Bears are strong and independent creatures who roam in the forest in search of food. Bears are usually gentle, but anger one and be prepared for their full fury! You're tough -- a classic attribute of bears. Intelligent and resourceful, though lazy at times, you are a fascinating creature of the wild.

You were almost a: Kitten or a Pony
You are least like a: Squirrel or a Chipmunk
What Cute Animal Are You?

A Child of God blogged @ | 10:54 pm