They are family

A quick update.......

Just came home from a 16-hour work day(with a total of 40mins for my breakfast, lunch and dinner), with every inch of my body and brain totally drained out. With another 16-hour day tomorrow as one of my colleagues is on MC.

Why work so hard? I dont have to.

Yes, i dont have to. In the midst of the crazy deadlines - Individualised Education Plans (IEPs),Outcome Management (OMs), assessments, lesson plans, Site visits, On-job support, Softskills Workshops,Work Experience Program, Softskills Training, Parents - Teachers Conference....... I dont have to.

" You are not earning a CEO pay! "

"Yah, I don't have to."

Indeed, I dont have to. Every physical inch of me seems to be screaming...... I dont have to. I dont have to work so hard. I dont have to deal with heartaches.

Disheartened. Discouraged. I dont have to.

Family-work balance.

I love my family very much. I love my boyfriend very much. I love my friends and my siblings in Christ very much. And yes, i love my students very much.

I dont have to. Why go that extra mile for the students?Why cheer them on when they give up on themselves? Why pull them along when they stop moving forward? Why encourage them when they despair? Why love and get hurt? Why get shouted at and keep silent?

Yes, i do get very very discouraged and disheartened many a times. I dont have to put up with ungratefulness, verbal abuse, physical torment, bad attitudes and even to humble myself just to build relationships. I dont have to.

Then it dawned on me today, Yes, i dont have to. But I want to. Family - work balance? Yes, i want to because my students are family.

Lord, help me, teach me Lord to love them as you loved me. Guide me Lord, as i move along these weeks, help me to do EVERYTHING for your glory. Grant me joy Lord as i move along my way. Lord,bestow me wisdom and patience.

I dreamed a dream

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high,
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
When dreams were made and used,
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung,
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hopes apart
As they turn your dreams to shame.

And still I dream he'll come to me
And we will live our lives together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather...

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seems
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

I've got peace like a river

It's strange how songs reached into our hearts at the most unexpected moments. I was actually humming and skipping out of the school hall when the live band started playing this song for the assembly talk.(too bad I had a meeting and cant stay for the talk ;P) I've learned this song in my primary school days but hearing it in different seasons of my life bought different meanings to the song. Today, it simply reminded me to be joyful, yes, i am learning to be joyful even in my super packed and crazy days ;o)

Create in me a clean heart, O God

Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Dear Lord, as i start the new school term tomorrow, help me to see and experience You in each and every one of the students.Remove my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh.Thank You Jesus.



Create in me a clean heart Oh God
and renew a right spirit within me (2x)

Cast me not away from thy presence, o Lord
And take not thy holy spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

Today I ran two frightful marathons.

"Teacher, only 3mins 55 seconds"

Today, I ran. I ran for lives.

First, a student with muscular dystrophy (from my class) had a miscommunication and was seen climbing up the stairs. My first thought was to get to him as falling off the stairs may mean life and death.I left the rest of the class in the classroom and ran for him.

Second, another student slipped out of the class in the middle of the lesson and ran. Again, i left my class and sprinted after him.Never had I ran so fast down the four storeys, around the corriders - only to arrive just in a split second to get him before he walked into the 'forbidden' fire access stairways which is a complete blindspot from the school. (It is a fire access stairways with doors that claim to block out fires) I would have lost him had he entered the stairways. I thought I had lost myself then when I raised my voice to scold him.

3mins 55seconds. That was the amount of time i took down the stairways,up the stairways, along the corridors,plus a scolding.

Both marathons in less than an hour.


Lord, thank you for giving a healthy body and a healthy pair of legs. Thank you for your timely intervention. The consequences could have been disastrous. Thank you Father for watching over us today.Help me Lord, grant me wisdom. PLease Lord, continue to watch over us.In Jesus' most precious name, Amen.

He hears and answers our prayers

"Dear Lord, give us a taxi," I uttered simply.
"Huh, like that also can? Here wouldn't have taxis loh."

We were drenched in the heavy rain, on a small side road.

Shortly, "Uncle, Kitchener Road,"

In this very simple providence of a taxi, He revealed His glory. He hears us, and He answers our cries.

Dear girl, coincidence you may say, but I pray that in this little episode, you will come to understand and experience that He hears us when we turn to Him. He hears and answers our prayers.

Just for today, I once again wish ......

I have since grown up to know that fairies, brownies, elves and gnomes dont exist. However, today, i wish i could believe in them again. I wish to have the simple innocence and faith again. I wish to believe that even as i am writing this, pixies are dancing around the bonfire, that Noel, the Know-All Gnome is still tending the garden. Today, just for today, i wish to be in fairyland - to have that child-like belief and trust that the tooth fairy does exist - to have that eagerness and anticipation that on a chilly night like today, i can spot one of them on the window still. I wish that as i fall asleep tonight, my soft toys will protect me. I dont often use this word, 'wish' anymore. But just for today, i once again wish.....



i recalled my tutor's words many many years ago - 'However, you must also remember that you are living in a real world. You have to work hard, in fact very hard to be successful.'