Teacher's Day: A writing from your Student

Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important. (Bill Gates)

 I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good teacher. (Temple Grandin)

 Dear teacher,

Can you sit down for awhile and read my blog for a moment? Sip your coffee, stretch your muscles and breathe your tension away. How many students have disappointed you? You teach them ABC but they spelled it backward C-B-A. You say that the subject is important but some fall asleep half-way and the other half never take notes on what you said. You try your best to be on time, but they pray their best that you would cancel class or maybe- hopes you didn’t come to class at all.

Have you talk about this with your fellow teachers? Did you hear they complained that your class is the worst, the noisiest and the rudest? There was a fight in class, you checked – it was your students. Another at canteen during recess, it was yours too. Yet another case where 3 students met the headmaster to receive the wage of the day – 3 swings of iron rulers landed on their right hand. You don’t need to take a peek, by the sound of their scream; you knew that they are your students too.

After the entire incident happened in your class, I never once see your hope for them faded away.  It was like the more they failed you the more eager you teach them. Maybe you should take heed of what your mother told you before you get into this risky profession, ‘Child, if they send you to rural area… please don’t go.’ Can I call you a fool? The school paid you a little bit higher than the store keeper. You deserve much more than living in a wooden house, small room and inconstant water supply. I wonder, why you want to be a teacher anyway?

(Pause)

I don’t know why you become a teacher? But I know this; you see the best in us when we only see the worst we are. You see what we can become in the future instead of what others thought we must be in the present. You give us hope, affirmation and attention in class when we hunger for it in our own home. In your schedule, you work 5 days a week, 8 hours per day but the truth is you didn’t charge any of your extra labor marking student’s paper at night and free tuition you gives during weekend. Before long we give up on ourselves, you never once give up on us. We called you ‘teacher’ and then we forget the rest. But you called us by name- full name and with little addition on the front before you spell it, ‘My....’.

No word can express your contributions to us. My Oxford Dictionary cannot compressed your value in one word. Even now you need to get back to work don't you?… how can we ‘thank you’ you enough for what you had done? Today we remember your sacrifice. Today we cherish you hard work. Today we celebrate your impact in our life. Teacher, none like you. May God bless you mightily wherever you are. Thank you. 

Love,

Your student

(P.s: Actually, headmaster missed his 3^rd swings.)

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. (John Steinbeck)

Week 44: Silence and Solitude - Know your God and Yourself

How can you expect God to speak in the gentle and inward voice which melts the soul, when you are making so much noise with your rapid reflections? Be silent and God will speak again. (Francois Fenelon)

The great misfortune – to be incapable of solitude. (Jean De La Bruyere)

 I have a friend once said, ‘I cannot be silence more than 30 minutes except when I’m sleeping.’ She’s right. She’ll become a dead fish if nobody talks to her. For some people to be silence is a stairway to hell. It makes them feel so helpless. In silence they cannot manage or control others. Sometime, they interpreted silence as loneliness. My brother has a habit to on the TV and not watching it. When I asked him about it, he said, “It’s so silent here.” We turned the music or radio even we don’t really listen to it. Some utter the word ‘boring’ (or post it in FB) simply because he/she don’t know what to do in time of silence and solitude.  

Silence…

Have you try to be silence? It’s hard sometime, right? But do you know that without silence and stillness, we cannot become a deep person. Naturally, I talk too much and most of the time I speak the unnecessary words in the wrong time at the wrong place. My lips show a shallow person I am and it sounds hollow. Richard Foster writes, ‘A person who is under the Discipline of silence is a person who can say what needs to be said when it needs to be said.’ Proverb 25:11 added, ‘A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.’ In a short form,

Discipline of Silence = Absence of speech (silence of mouth) + act of listening (silence of heart).

“When you pray”, asked Rather, “what do you say to God?”

“I don’t say anything,” she replied. “I listen.”

Rather tried another tack. “Well, okay… when God speaks to you, then, what does He say?”

“He doesn’t say anything. He listens.”

Rather looked bewildered. For an instant, he didn’t know what to say.

“And if you don’t understand that,” Mother Teresa added, “I can’t explain it to you.”*

Solitude…

Silence has a wife, it called solitude. They must come together. Seeking out of solitary places should be our regular practice. The reason for solitude is not in order to be away from people but in order to hear the divine Whisper better. I love being with people, but not all the time. I love be in the crowd, but not all the time.

In solitude I can ‘recharge my battery’ with God’s inexhaustible supply. In solitude, God can make clear our perspective of who we are and what He’s called us to do. Throughout the gospels, even in such a busy day of ministry, Jesus always went to a solitary place all by Himself. Charles R. Swindoll raised a very good question for us when he writes,

“If Jesus Himself refused to rush on, if Jesus took time to be alone, if Jesus pulled His men away for times of solitude way back then, why do we think it’s any less important for us to do the same today?”

Silence and solitude…

In our modern day of living, sometime it’s hard for us to be silence for a period of time and to be alone in solitude. We have no time to listen to God and always busy 24-7. We feel awkward when nobody is around, thus, we are fear being alone. Please don’t be, take time in silence and solitude. Make it your priority. Let the Holy Spirit bring peace to you in that quiet aloneness. Know the God that you worship. Know who you are.

Some steps that you may want to practice:

·        Take advantage of the ‘little solitudes’ that fill our day

Example, wake up early morning while everyone is still sleeping, while taking shower, walk to office, staring at the night sky etc.

·        Find or develop a ‘quiet place’ designed for silence and solitude.

In your own room, toilet, library, church area, garden etc.

·        Try to live one entire day without words at all or take a retreat once a year with no other purpose in mind but solitude.

Devoted the time for silence prayer, open the Word of God and sit in quietness before Him.

·        Keep a journal Just write anything comes to mind.

‘The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.’ (Mark 6:30-32)

References:

1.     *So, you want to be like Christ?: Eight essentials to get you there. By Charles R. Swindoll.

2.     Celebration of Discipline: The path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster.

3.     A treasure of Christian Wisdom by Tony Castle

Three Feet from Gold

Earl Nightingale said, "A young man once asked a great and famous older man,

‘How can I make for myself in the world and become successful?’

The great and famous man replied,

‘You have only to decide upon what it is you want and then stay with it, never deviating from your course no matter how long it takes, or how rough the road, until you have accomplished it.’”

 How many opportunities that you had missed the moment you said ‘I quit!’? “One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.” People do not fail, they just quit too easily. People are not dumb, they just quit too easily. It’s not that people never pray, it just that they quit too easily. 

An uncle of R.U. Darby was caught by the ‘gold fever’ and he went to work with pick and shovel all days long. After weeks of hard labor, he was rewarded by the discovery of the shining ore. He quickly get together the money for the needed machinery and, lo, the uncle and Darby went back to work the mine. Surely, they own one of the richest mines in Colorado.

Napoleon Hill writes,

“Down went the drills! Up went the hopes of Darby and Uncle! Then something happened! The vein of gold ore disappeared! They had come to the end of the rainbow, and the pot of gold was no longer there! They drilled on, desperately trying to pick up the vein again – all to no avail.

Finally, they decided to QUIT.

They sold the machinery to a junk man for a few hundred dollars, and took the train back home. Some ‘junk’ men are dumb, but not this one! He called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little calculating. The engineer advised that the project had failed because the owners were not familiar with the ‘fault lines.’ His calculations showed that the vein would be found just three feet from where the Darbys had stopped drilling! That is exactly where it was found!” 

(Taken from THINK AND GROW RICH. Copyright ©by Napoleon Hill, 1937)

Your problem is not that unsolvable, you just quit too easily. Your God-given dream is not that unreachable, you just quit too easily. Your failure is not fatal, you just quit too easily. Never give up on what you know you really should do. If you lack of Never-give-up examples around you (but how I wish you would look at Him first): remember God. God never stops working in you, and that should motivate you to always be looking for what He will do next to help you grow. God won’t give up on you! Don’t you give up on God!

THINK BIG. Don’t give up!

START SMALL. Drills a little deeper, the ‘gold’ might be just ‘three feet from the ground’.

GO DEEP Remember that only God can brings permanent success. Why don’t we seek the Source of ‘gold’ first rather than the ‘gold’ itself?

P.s: I’m almost giving up writing this article and three times I try to delete it. If this ar blesses you, praise God.

God, what take You so long?

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Psalm 62:5)

How we hate to wait! Okay, maybe it’s not you - how I hate to wait! Have you been at KL Central? To be specific, have you experienced waiting for KTM train to come? Slow. Hot. Packed with people. What a great combination for successful volcano of impatient. Never been there? Oh try this: sudden delayed red light while you’re on the road, long queue at the counter, your boyfriend turnout late for your special date, slow internet connection… and yes, including, especially - waiting for God to answer your prayer.

What took Him so long, right? It can be frustrating when it seems that God does not act quickly, swiftly and fast. It can difficult to grasp what is stopping Him for so long, even though you have prayed and prayed and prayed, and it seems obvious to you that you are praying for the right thing. Your eyes dried like Klang River. Your fist crammed as you lift it up to heaven. Your weight losses while you fasting about it. Knock… knock… Nope… still there’s no answer.

Dear readers who are still waiting for Him to answer your prayer,

Remember this well: God’s timing is usually different from yours. Our perspective is limited while He can see the whole picture. We only know our present need, but God knows our deepest need. We can’t see what’s up ahead, He can and His timing is always best.

“Men always ought to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1)

 Oswald Chambers writes, “Jesus taught His disciples the prayer of patience. If you are right with God and God delays the answer to your prayer, don’t misjudge Him. Don’t think of Him as an unkind friend, or an unnatural Father, or an unjust Judge, but keep at it. Your prayer will certainly be answered, for ‘everyone who asks receives’. Pray and do not cave in. Your Heavenly Father will explain it all one day. He cannot just yet because He is developing your character.

‘Forget the character,’ you says, ‘I want Him to grant my request.’

And He says, ‘What I am doing far exceeds what you can see or know. Trust Me.’”

THINK BIG.START SMALL.GO DEEP.

‘God is rarely early, but He’s never late.’ (Unknown)

 ....

The Past is Past

How you view your past effects how you live in the present and in the future. Some of our past experiences contained victories and lovely moments - we treasure them. But some of our past filled with regret over actions that were wrong or hurtful. It hunts you like a werewolf during the full red moon. It haunts you like a serial killer who thirst for revenge. It hurt you so deep that you could only smile less than 5 seconds.

The past can be helpful especially if you remember your happy moments and celebrations with your love ones. But (I hate the word ‘but’) it also contains your failures, tragedies, and acts of deepest shame. Should I give you examples? I don’t need to do it right? You and I know well what we had done or experienced, what happen in the past. If it possible, most of us would like to lock away some parts of our past or tear it into pieces or burn it in the furnace.

“I’ve done some bad (oh yes, very bad) things in the past. Can I start all over again? Can God help me to overcome them?” is a dialog that you had been asking all this while.

Take heart. Yes you can start all over again. Yes, God can help you to overcome them. No matter what you’re done or what’s been done to you, God is always ready to forgive you, heal you, cleanse you of sin and guilt, and give you a new start – fully forgiven.* This is the promise of the God in the Bible, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” (Isaiah 1:18) God offer His forgiveness if you are willing and obedient to His call. He can if you’ll let Him. For now He’ll help you to overcome, soon He’ll remove ALL your regret, guilt and shame totally!

Today…

Come let us look to the future. As important as your past is, it’s not as important as the way you see your future. (John C. Maxwell) It is more valuable to look where you’re going than to see where you’ve been. After all, there’s nothing we can do about the past. John L. Mason said, ‘Those who predominantly talk the past are going backward. Those who talk about the present are just maintaining. But those who talk about the future are growing.’

The past is past, but you can do something about your future. God offers much more than forgiveness, He offers Himself to you. He wants to have a relationship with you. He knows what best for you. He doesn’t look at your past to decide your future. He holds your future. Will you trust Him?

THINK BIG Past is Past. 

START SMALL Surrender your hurtful past to Jesus. 

GO DEEP Build relationship with Him who holds your future. 

...

Week 43: Happiness is a Choice.

Action may not always be happiness, but there is no happiness without action. (Benjamin Disrael)

Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can be felt only if you don’t set any conditions. (Arthur Rubinstein)

Everyone wants to be happy. My mother’s favorite chant is this, ‘Don’t worry be happy’. Any books centered on happiness sales like hot cake (Malaysian term equivalent to ‘sales like durian’) and quickly jump to the top of the New York Times Best-Seller list. One day I even received a call from someone in the middle of the night desperately requested, “Richard, make me happy!” With all the news happening around us today, no wonder we all craving for happiness.

Before we go further, Darren Hardy, publisher of SUCCESS magazine lists out 3 major traps that we may fall into, unknowingly making ourselves unhappy.

1.      Postponing happiness – he called it the ‘When I (fill the blank), I will be happy’ syndrome. Now is the only time you have to be happy. If you can’t be happy now, you most certainly will not be happy later.

2.      Spending your life trying to make other people happy – many times we are living a life we didn’t choose.

3.      Comparing yourself to other people – ‘This is a dangerous business’, he said ‘because there will always be reference points that will cause you to be unhappy.’

So the question is, how to be happy? Well, after much readings and listening, I conclude that there’s no ‘happiness-pill’ that you can swallow to be happy all the time. But there are some simple everyday actions that can help you to get closer to happiness now.

1.      Sing in the morning – It is said that music activates parts of the brain that produce happiness. (And sing during shower too. My housemates said that they don’t need to turn on their mp3 when I sing.)

2.      Laugh out loud – E.g. watch funny videos or movies. Recently I watched Jim Carrey’s movie Liar Liar and I laugh out loud in my room. 

3.      Commit conscious acts of kindness – Do it!

4.       Exercise – Most well known tranquilizers for relieving anxiety and stress.

5.      Go to sleep – It work much better than any number of aroma therapy baths or massages.

6.      Do one thing at a time – Instead of checking your e-mail as you work on projects, turn off your e-mail function until you finish the report you’re writing.

7.      Practice mindfulness – Be in the moment, focus on here and now.

8.      Just say no – Learn to say ‘No’ sometime, by eliminates activities that aren’t necessary.

9.      Tune out the news – Take time away without reading the newspaper, watching news, or scanning the headlines online. Instead take time for a walk, meditating on the Word of God or write in your journal.

10.  Visit a quiet place – Find a quiet place in your office or house where you can ‘get away’ from today’s frantic world. Visit it often.

11.  Spend time alone – Take yourself out for lunch or to a movie, or simply spend an afternoon reading. Awesome!

12.  Count your blessings every day.

13.  Keep working – Gallup survey indicates people age 60 to 69 who work full or part time are healthier and happier than those who are not in the workforce.

14.  Network with happy people – Research shows that people with happy friends are 15% more likely to be happy themselves.

15.  Making small positive actions every day – The smallest things made the biggest difference. Remember my philosophy? Think Big, Start Small, Go Deep.

16.  Laugh at yourself - “Happy is the person who can laugh at himself. He will never cease to be amused". (Habib Bourguiba)

17.  Believe in the things we do.

18.  Focus on positive experiences.

19.  Be what you are – You cannot be happy being someone else.

20.  Live in gratitude.

21.  Practice simplicity.

22.  … and many more.

To be true, I don’t know what is the meaning of happiness actually means. But I know this for sure; happiness is a choice. Money doesn’t buy happiness. Waiting something to happen doesn’t create happiness. It is not derived from the outside; it is only derived from within. In my final analysis, only God alone can provide us long-term happiness. All the above are temporary ways to create temporary happiness.

The Bible doesn’t say about happiness particularly. Instead, God offers us much better things to pursuit – joy. Joy is like a strong current that runs beneath the stormy surface of your feelings.* It offers peace of mind. It gives confidence. It’s not hormone and does not shake by emotions because it’s a gift from God. I love what Keith Harrell writes, ‘The root of your happiness is your joy. Don’t let anybody steal your joy.’ Real joy is more than happiness.

THINK BIG.START SMALL.GO DEEP.

 ............................

References:

1.      1 to 4 is from Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. (Added comment mine)

2.      5 to 12 is from //www.rd.com/health/ , Reader’s Digest website. (Some added comment mine)

3.      SUCCESS magazine; What achievers read. January 2011

4.      *Divine Moments: Everyday Inspiration from God’s Word. 

...

Mother's Day: Letter from a Son to His Mother

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. (Sophia Loren, Women and Beauty) 

 Instant availability without continuous presence is probably the best role a mother can play. (Lotte Bailyn, The Woman in America)

 Dear mother,

Mother, since your love is so special and so real, I want to take a moment to tell you how I feel. You’re the best sister in the family. In the past, you had to let go of your future to take care of your schooling brothers and sisters. You’re the best daughter on the list of Malaysia Book of Records. You obeyed your parents and fear them a little less than you fear God. (Though some people may not agree but isn’t my opinion is most valuable to you?)

            You’re the best wife any man could ever want. Like the woman in the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs (31:13-27NCV), you’re indeed a wife that is ‘far more precious than jewels. ‘Likes to work with her hands are the best description of your philosophy in getting things done. By your living example; I have no problem washing my own clothes and wash dishes after every meal. You ‘get up while it is still dark (early morning) and prepare food’ for your family. When I was a kid, you would disturb my peaceful sleep and woke me up with your motherhood attitude. (Yes, even with your pink apron around your neck and kitchen ‘tool’ on your right-hand side – you rule mom!) 

Pic:http://www.baconlakerealty.com/

Though you didn’t literally ‘burns [her lamp] late into the night’ but you had shown your superhuman ability to wake up early and sleep late at night.

Though you didn’t literally ‘makes thread with her hands and weaves her own cloth’ but you were good with those old school sewing machine. 

Though you didn’t literally ‘makes linen clothes and sell them and provide belts to the merchants’ if there were such culture ever exist in our nation, I know you will do it!

Most of the time you ‘speak wise words’ and since you're not very good with verbal communication, amazingly your deeds ‘teaches others to be kind’. And lastly but not least, if I can interview angels to testified about you, they probably will say, She ‘watches over her family and never wastes her time.’

You’re the best mother in the universe. What today’s children called ‘abuse’, back then you called it discipline. What today’s generation called it ‘spoiled’, back then you called it love. What today’s parent called it ‘troublesome’, you gladly called it responsibility. Not only do you feed us with rice and breast milk, but you also feed us with love, obedience, faith, and integrity. The best things a mother can teach a child are ABC and prayer – you did it both. [Ps: If you had prayed for handsome children when he grows up, your prayers had been answered.]

I thank God for you to be my mother. Jesus never makes a mistake; the right mother for a troublemaker like me (and brother too). Err… if some of my writing has some errors, not accurate, or overly praise, forgive me. Above all, this remains true: there is no other mother that could give love so true, and there is not a son who could love you as I do.

 Happy Mother’s Day!

(And to all mothers around the world, this letter is for you.)

There is no such thing as a non-working mother. (Hester Mundis, Powermom)