I love my class. I am really blessed to be their teacher. Each bright mind, each adoring face, each innocent heart, each cheeky personality, each hardworking character touches me on a daily basis. I want to give to them as much as I can with the rest of the time I have with them. Each of them is a blessing to me.

Thank you kids! You are God’s gift to me this year. Happy Children’s Day! May you all grow up to be a greater blessing to people you meet. I LOVE YOU 3G!

I smiled as I watched the kids sing “My Island Home” as they worked on the flags. Some were gyrating, some were singing on top of their lungs, some were doing the actions that accompany the song (which they exaggerated which was hilarious to watch!). I sat at my table simply taking in the sight of those 33 kids simply enjoying their art lesson with the music in the background. They were simply enjoying themselves as I delighted in watching them being children again. Their innocence shone through.

It really warms my heart when the kids are enjoying their schooling moments like this. They are uninhibited in the expression of their enjoyment of the music. Laughing and smiling and enjoying their classmates and teacher simply enjoying the silliness of their classmates and sharing one another’s joy. This is my sweetspot. Touching little lives.

played 2 violin pieces by Elgar and Beethoven for 6C today. they were mesmerised though some cheeky boys were being tickled by the crescendo. why i don’t know. i told them that the enjoyment of classical music is an acquired taste. i will be playing for them a Minuet 3 by Bach next week on my violin and reminded them to bring their earplugs. the point of dying to self is to show them just how difficult it is to do just what Linda Brava has done to Salut d’amour. Hopefully this will increase the appreciation for classical music.

My P1 pet student who is now S2 has just asked to visit me in school. I am going to bring him out next week for lunch. Whenever I see him online, his nick changes. Not that it matters. But what it changes to! Tonight it’s some nick unprintable for this blog. I know that it is a symptom of a root issue. Angst of a growing teen perhaps. I always find myself wondering how I should handle him. What role do I play? Fact is I am no longer his teacher so I can’t scold him, not that it will work. Now he calls me JieJie which is probably what I should be to him. A big sister. I know I don’t want to be his mother and start nagging at him. He’s gonna clam up and not confide in me anymore. So I should play it cool (what these kids are saying nowadays) and not be his language patrol. Yup that’s right! I should just be a friend to him. 

Came back to work today and blasted 92.4 FM as I cleared ALL my marking (bane of my existence) within 4 hours. I expected to take longer like a whole day. I am surprised it actually helped! So Ps Prince was right. It fired my brain cells and I became more productively. It’s also probably due to the last 3 days of rest.

Finally! It’s the much-awaited holidays! Hardly had time to exhale and when the holidays are finally here, a sheer tiredness just washed over me, an exhaustion I hardly had time to fully appreciate its impact. Friends said I looked tired this morning. Ya, couldn’t quite open my eyes. Need more sleep. More like more rest. Thinking about how to manage the workload more efficiently. The biggest part comes from managing the class. Have a month to think about it. 

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Reflecting on the Chess Competition held on Fri. Was presiding over it. Was standing over F & D’s game; last game for the day. Standing over them I had the vantage point of seeing the big picture. I watched as F’s pieces got swallowed up one by one. 21 moves didn’t save him. He was moving the pieces haphazardly with no strategy in place. I cautioned him to consider his moves carefully. I think sometimes we are like this with life. Going through life haphazardly without a purpose (esp God’s), without consultation (His), and we get "checked". 

Those checks are good. They let us reset our vision, rearrange our priorities. Our dreams and desires become materials for reliance on God. Oftentimes they are materials for sacrifice so God can teach us a deeper lesson. Trials check man’s tendency to self-rely, to think full of himself. Though trials are painful, creating the fire which burns, this fire also gives light. Trials strengthen our faith which grows deeper roots. 

So as I watched the boys make their miscalculated moves, just as God watches us make silly moves when we disobey Him knowingly or unknowingly, I began to understand God’s widsom as a parent a little bit more. My finite faculty will never be able to fully comprehend the goodness of His plans especially when it feels like walking on volcanic rocks. But I can trust Him that His plan is always a good one. Feelings can never be the best faculty we use to make our decisions and judgements. For when times are bad, and we feel so, we feel blame God for it, or worse, we may develop an inaccurate and distorted view of God. If Jesus had based his decision on his feelings, he would have abandoned the cross, but he trusted His Father’s plan. 

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Had an amazing day filled with activities. Wedding; went with J to fish shop to look at Nemos and cleaner shrimps and "prata" and eyes-bulging fishes; spent about 2.5 hr reading at SKS exploring different sections, came home with 2 good buys; walked the dogs; had Assam Penang Laksa and Sago Gula Melaka@ Penang Kitchen; accompanied a friend shopping (just why do PRL polo cost $119??? and Frank Muller watches $16k???? and Hugo Boss jeans $549???????), movie (X Men: THe Final Stand) and bike ride (Awesome!). What I liked about today is how unhurried the pace was (except for the bike ride of course!). 

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Thank you friends who have walked the last term with me. Without you where would I be? My faithful company, I can never thank you enough… I just wanna thank God for His amazing grace that’s pulled me through this term. He has begun a deep work and He has completed the deep work, so that I will boast not of my own might, but His power at work. I am who I am because God is who He says He is. Thank you Abba Father for being my Emmanuel, my comforter, my deliverer, my peace, my sufficiency, my healer, and my inexplicable joy. In You I find full satisfaction. To You be the glory!

Yours

Sarah

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What a mad rush! Mrs Sankar told Juliana to give me a hug in jest! And she actually did! hahaha! She said we all need it! What a mad rush this term. Just managed to complete the tasks I set out to do today. But had a really nice quiet lunch with a friend at O’ Briens before rushing back into the heat of things! It was a much-needed respite from the noise and date lines. As much as I am stressed out by work, and exhausted (Dr Boey actually told me to consider my options citing that the stress from teaching is not worth it in the long run), my work sustains me. The adrenaline rush does WHEN I am well-rested. The kids add to the joy of the week although sometimes they make my blood boil with their recalcitrant ways. God has infinitely more empathy than I do. Thank God for that! Looking forward to my dinner with friends tonight! Going back home now.