Wow! Thank you for all your kind, warm words, greetings and blessings. It totally made my day when my very cool and ageing phone hanged as I received the flood of messages from loved ones.
Here’s to spending many more birthdays with you special people until I’m a hundered and twenty. Boom De Yada!
So the past few weeks have been chaos. Really. I have a table in the staffroom groaning from the weight of 5 stacks of excercise books I have not finished marking. I have innumerable blisters on my feet, no nails to bite anymore, lost my voice and I am freaking out right now having just found out that I have been wrongly spelling “excercise” in the classroom.
I get all these amazing, experienced teachers I used to admire coming up to me to ask how’s teaching been so far and all I ever say is “It’s interesting!” Well, there’s more to add… its tiring, overwhelming and so difficult to keep up with the hype of my Secondary 1 students who seem to be very high on sugar.
I had absolutely NO idea how much work went into planning lessons and executing them in the classroom. And there’s always this worry if you’ve put in your best, if there was a better way “highest common factor” and “lowest common multiple” could be taught, if my students can really really really tell the difference between “square root” and “divide by 2″.
So it should come as no surprise to you when I say that most of the relief teachers at my school fell slightly ill 2 weeks into the sch0ol term. Down with flu, cough, slight fever and excruciating body aches, “weekend” couldn’t have sounded any better. I could almost hear Bethoven play in the distance. Ok, I exaggerate.
But despite all this, I have been blessed. I have a colleague who happens to belong to the same church as me. And its nice to see that I’m not the only one reading my Bible early in the morning with my iPOD turned on to a sermon or grooving to Hillsong. Minutes before my very first lesson as a relief teacher (but teacher nonetheless) Colin greeted me with a “Have a blessed time, sister!” and it totally made my day. Plus, it always feels so good to tell the other relief teachers that we have been healed of the flu, cough and fever in Jesus’ name!
I realise that God has been by my side so far in this ‘dektos’ year. Everything from the job, to the people around me, to my bank balance has been taken care of and it gives me so much hope. And yes, its tiring. It doesn’t help that I have to come home everyday to a empty house, feed Nikki, fold the clothes, iron the clothes, hang the clothes to dry, wash the dishes (my maid is on a one month holiday in India) and… MARK. But I tell myself I do it for Jesus and He makes it all the more delightful. To top it all, I have the cutest form class ever (the teachers have voted). Sometimes I find it hard to leave the class after my lesson.
Thank you Jesus for blessing me with so much and more.
Joy is very pleased to inform you that she has started relief teaching at a secondary school, all by God’s grace. She was eagerly awaiting the re-call. On 29 December 2008, she told her Daddy God that she wanted to start teaching on Friday (02 January 2009). She knew that it was only going to be made possible by Him and Him alone. She knew that her academic qualifications, abilities and lack of experience would not get her the job but Jesus’ finished work on the cross would. As each day passed, her spirit disheartened but her faith and belief in God strengthened and she continued praying.
On the morning of 31st December 2008, as she lazed around in her bed, feeling helpless and discouraged, she received a call from an unknown number and each time she felt the phone vibrate in her hands, her heart skipped a beat. Needless to say, it was a call from her alma mater, asking her if the services she was offering was still good news for the school.
She sits here today, typing with a smile on her face, joy in her heart and 6 sores and blisters on her feet, just to tell you that she has been blessed by the Lord. That He knows her heart’s deepest desires and the same goes for you. So, wait on Him and He’ll deliver.
As for Joy… she still prays each day before going to school. She thanks and loves her God more and more each day. She wakes up in the morning wanting to impact and touch the lives of her young students and she knows her Jesus is with her through every step of the way.
To say 2008 was a great year would probably be an understatement, for me at least. Personally, I achieved many things in 2008. I also failed in some areas, Geography topping that list (it still is such a thorn).
It was a year of many firsts for me:
The first time in a long time I regularly started attending church, Sunday after Sunday. The first time I grew so intimately close with God, my siblings, my family. The first time I failed Geography so miserably (you know, many of you would find it hard to believe me when I say I used to come in tops in Geography once upon a time). And also the first time I got a job. Yes, my very first job. Haven’t got my first paycheck though.
But at the end of the day (or should I say ‘year’), I have to admit that it was memorable; a year I will always look at in restrospect.
Happy Birthday Priya.
Well you’ve turned 17 and you’re still unbelievably goofy and hilarious in the “ROFL” and “LMAO” kind of way (I have literally rolled on the floor laughing at many of her jokes).
Thank you for being such a livewire, Priya. Sometimes when I’m down, your silly acts make my day. Don’t stop doing that even though being a year older may mean being sassy or “cool” because you’re way above any seventeen year old teenager my sweet sister. God Bless You.
My dad just started working for this company and although he holds a key position in the company (meaning he’s the boss of some people), he still has to report to this other dude who basically is his boss. I don’t mean to say this as a bad thing, at all. I think its fantastic that he has found someone who appreciates his work and committment and at the same time is willing to consider my father’s CRAZY ideas, let alone implement them.
Along with the pay, the opportunites and the flexible work hours, this job has many perks. And particularly one which benefits my mum, my sister and I: my dad’s boss is a tad bit fussy and it feels weirdly good when dad relates how supremely fed up he feels at times when his boss is so picky.
You wanna know why? Cos my dad’s picky and fussy. And because he’s the patriarch of the family, we take it. Any efforts at voicing our discontent with his behaviour sometimes, results in an angry dispute.
So forgive me for doing my little victory dance when he tells me his boss told him to quit blaming his kids for losing his USB cable, stop coming late to work, be responsible for his own things and not accuse his wife of throwing away important papers from his very cluttered desk.
One day daddy, I wish I could tell you those things without you walking away rudely while I’m midway in my sentence. One day.
If all our days are classified as either good or bad, today would most definitely come under the bad days category.
We celebrated a friend’s birthday in church today. Her name’s Bobbie and she was one of my very first friends when I first joined my care group. She has a knack for making newbies feel at home, very sociable unlike me.
Upon being asked whether there was anything in particular she wanted us to pray for she looked around the faces surrounding her, and very meekly replied “Um, no… oh actually there is one thing. I have a dear friend who’s leaving Singapore for good today. Can we just pray for her and the journey that lies ahead?”
I tell you, I was stunned. My overseer replied with “Your birthday wish is for us to pray for your friend who’s going overseas? How sweet…”
Bobbie, you’re such an amazing person. I thank God for you.
Happy Birthday.
Sometimes its just better to shut up and refrain from revealing certain things that you know would hurt the other party on the receiving end of the news.
Oh, by the way, I am doing everything in my effort to put on the weight I lost during the exam period. Some people would be happy to know that I am not anorexic or having any eating disorders.
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