I asked God to take away my pride,
And God says, ¡°No¡±.
He says that it is not for Him to take away but for me to give up.

I asked God to make my handicapped body whole,
And God says, ¡°No¡±.
He says that the body is temporary and the spirit is whole.

I asked God to grant me patience,
And God says, ¡°No¡±.
He says that patience is the by-product of tribulation, it is not granted but earned.

I asked God to give me happiness,
And God says, ¡°No¡±.
He says that He gives blessings but happiness is up to me.

I asked God to spare me pain,
And God says, ¡°No¡±.
He says that pain draws me away from worldly cares and bring me closer to Him.

I asked God to make my spirit grow,
And God says, ¡°No¡±.
He says that He must prune me to make me fruitful.

I asked God if He loves me,
And God says, ¡°Yes¡±.
He gave His only Son, who died for me and I will be with Him someday because ... I believe.

I asked God to help me love others as He loves me,
And God says, ¡°Glad you said so¡±.

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a feeling of nervousness and excitement as i step into the parade square...

my heart just brightened up to see them once again...

the greetings and smiles we exchanged are heart-warming...

they are the driving force and the very reason why i love this job...

they are the very reason why i try my best to teach...

:D

a load of class admin time today...

settled the class motto, the class t-shirt & jersey, the class rules, the class notice board, the class expectations and targets, the class profiling forms, the class seating arrangement, the class committee... :D

the class was rather restless today... i pity my class chairman and vice-chair when they were soliciting responses from the class, especially for the class motto...

anyway, we decided on "Ordinary Miracles" as the class motto...

I was thinking of modifying it to the one below to bring out the meaning behind:

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Miracles

what do you think? :D

P/S the class rule I set is simple:
BE CONSISTENTLY ACCOUNTABLE

consistency is the KEY to improvement and efficiency

It's the daily exercise that really makes the difference in an effective and stressless way... not any last-min intensive training/cramming...that applies to studies, perfecting a skill, keeping yourself healthy, spiritual growth, anything and everything that you are doing!

accountability is the DRIVING FORCE to being consistent
If there is no one you are accountable to, you will not bother to be consistent.
It may be your parents, your teachers, your friends or in my case, God, whom I must give an account to one day when i die or when He returns again. :D

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what a long break from blogging!

I shall reflect about this year and look forward to next year...

I am thankful that God has used many people, books and events to turn my heart fully back to Him towards the end of this year and i do hope to keep up that desire to seek and glorify Him in whatever i do

I am thankful that I am now clear about my purpose in life and the specific callings that God wants me to focus on - playing an active role as a father to shepherd my children to love God through homeschooling, giving an example for other fathers to follow and equipping myself to give an answer to anyone concerning the faith that I have believed in

I am thankful that my family is always there for me! my wife who is truly my helpmate and companion, who alone can bear with me and my weaknesses, my kids who hug and kiss me so purely and unreservedly! I will nourish and cherish them always!

I am thankful for my brothers and sisters-in-Christ, Bo who helped me so much when i am not around to bring the kids out, those in the marriage support group, those who prayed for me and my family, those who enouraged us to press on!

I am thankful for a few groups of students (from various classes, past and present, form classes, subject classes and tuition) whom I spent quite a great deal of time with, giving them remedials, playing games with them, I helping them out and they helping me out, going for meals with them, talking to them and they talking to me and confiding in me and entrusting me with their secrets and problems. All of you know who you are... I hope to be your close friend and mentor always...

I am thankful that my form class (3/1) has given me so much fun, joy, "heart aches" and respect such that I know for sure I am really a part of them and I am really honoured to be their form teacher! Will always remember Carpe Diem, the encourager and encouragee, the home periods when i shed my tears, the car wash and flea market, the sports day, the national day celebrations, the outing and BBQ @ east coast, the lunch @ school and at KFC, the malay skit, the gathering at my house, the surprise birthday celebrations for me and the chalet @ sentosa! Thus, I am overjoyed to annouce that I will be their form teacher again next year! I will definitely cherish this last year with them in Nan Hua... and the many years to come!

I am thankful for my subject class (3/2) for stretching me to become creative and patient with them in terms of maximising their attention span and giving me the opportunity to see beyond their playful-selves and find that hidden potential in them and hopefully lead them to excel and prove to themselves and others that they CAN! I enjoy the candid atmosphere in the class and that special lesson under the shades behind the canteen!

I am thankful for my subject class (3/3) for been such a nice and easy class to teach. They really made teaching and learning seem so simple and though i will not be teaching them next year, i wish them all the best in their future endeavours!

I am thankful for my subject class (3/4) for been such a warm and friendly group of peolple! Will always remember their screams and jokes! their pod casts and their sheesh! They made me feel at ease and happy in their class! I enjoyed going to their chalet, their combined teachers day celebration and I look forward to more rounds of captain ball with them!

I am thankful for being able to lead SJAB for all these years and for the farewell celebrations that they have planned for me! I really hope that SJAB will continue to grow from strength to strength! I am thankful for the new softball team who has been warm enough to take in a teacher who knows nothing much about softball!

I am thankful for my colleagues and supervisor who taught me so much so much on how to be a true teacher and putting in nice words for me when i get into trouble and for standing in for me for other responsibilities when I need to attend to my family and students!

finally, I am thankful for YOU, the faithfully readers of my blog! without you, I would not have blogged so much this year! :D

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rows of colorful catus @ the singapore garden festival :D


eggs hatching @ singapore science centre - 21 days exactly! :D


a sharp picture of the python @ sentosa, taken by Christian! it's so clear, it gives me the creeps!


304 chalet pic 1 - Christian enjoying the ball game with them :D


304 chalet pic 2 - can you see how big kah swee's mouth is!? ;P


I took this just below the middle of a sunny and cloudy part of the sky :D


Christian's socks :D police!


Ekklesia's socks :D cats!


The moon in the middle of the night out @ sea! :D


dawn breaks @ Port Dickson! :D


sunset @ Port Dickson! :D


my day out with the kids to the zoo! :D

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this holiday period has been very enjoyable so far!

I was able to spend a lot of time with my kids and my wife to strengthen our family bond.

I read the most number of books consecutively in my life (concerning parenting and apologetics) during this holiday period !

I went for so many outings and places around Singapore with my family.

I also thought, read and reflect about teaching and learning... I came up with a new format on how lessons can be conducted... it's quite tedious to prepare for it but i hope to give it a try! It's not something extraordinary but it incorporates what what is important and useful to maximise learning. each 1 hour lesson is broken into 3 sections: DISCOVER 4 YOURSELF!, UNDERSTAND 4 SURE! and APPLY 4 LIFE! To make it challenging, it will be competitive with a reward at the end!

That explains why i have not been updating and not tagging or reading peoples' blogs, why i have not gone online @ MSN for ages...

Life has been ordinary but I am enjoying it thoroughly!

:D

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how did this world or life begin?

did we evolve from apes or is it possible for random matter to somehow fall into order to produce life?

is there really God and can His existence be scientifically proven?

why is there sufferings and death in this world?

If you are curious to find out the answers to these questions and more, click on the following links to view a series of online videos which may just change how you view things in life!

http://www.answersingenesis.org/video/ondemand/answersWithKen.asp
http://www.answersingenesis.org/video/ondemand/default.asp

the Christian faith as based on the Bible is not a blind faith that is based on feelings and abstract teachings or things that cannot be scientifically proven and logically understood. It is willing and able to accept any questionings to prove itself to be the TRUTH and nothing but the TRUTH... it only requires the questioner to be honest and open to what it can show...

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