Teachers' Day II

Thank you for all your affirmations and love on this special day. I would truly appreciate loads of prayer as I minister to my children in this unique ministry call - Teaching. It takes more than human effort to change a life and to impact one for a lifetime and for eternity. It takes God. :) Caught up with my ex-pupils from Lakeside Pri. Hey sweeties, thanks for initiating the meet up. It was fun catching up with you girls and hearing all your 'LOL' jokes. ;) Here's all the photos we took:
Together with the girls, in my fav fast food outlet---> KFC. ARGH! But I was jus too full for any chicken...We all looked squashed!

So here's a 2nd one. WAH! How can i ever look so gorgeous!? :)


My darling Jiamin (the girl in pink) looked terribly bored cos we take so many of the same pics. Haa... poor thing.

Alright this is getting a little sianz... how come we are still at the same place with almost similar pose? Ha... Cos the girls are taking turns to take pics so that they could be in the picture.

Alright the FINAL ONE! :) I think this pic is so nice. :)

Teachers' Day I

Our Deepest Fear

by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Watched Akeela and the Bee with JIE JIE On Teachers' day. GUess what?! That was the first time we ever catch a movie together. Surprised. Anyway this poem was taken from the movie and I just think that it is truly a teacher's heartbeat to help our pupils discover their potential and our job is to provide platforms for them to take flight and soar; to help them see that they are meant to shine and not settle for any thing lesser than that.

'...We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us...' Who are we really? Nothin but dust but HE chose to work through us. The God of this Universe can simply snap His fingers and get things done for Him in spilt seconds but He chose to be in partnership with us. Partners? With GOD? The Almighty? Mind-blowing! He chose to use us in ministries; to let us be that vessel to shine forth His glory. Such priviledge.

RLs.

Ever wonder what do RLs do when they meet each month? *grins* These pics were taken during the last RL meeting when a few of them were missing. 你们在那里？
Missed Audrey's "dun worry if it happens you'll be the first to know!"
Missed Jenn's "sorry, what did you say again? You mean sow and reap this week or next week? Er can repeat again?"
Missed Cher's Chuckles as she laughed at all the silly jokes that the more mature RLs crack. however, it was still a great time of prayer, looking into the word of God and of course planning for the things ahead with regard to cell ministry. Just as we were all getting serious with the piece of work that P.CX gave us to do; investigating bible scriptures ... Suhui decided to....

Take pictures!!!! This is Xiuqing. Spontaneous! She just smiled and posed.

Our cheeky smile before P.CX comes in and catch us playing. She went away to buy chips for us. So nice right? Well this is pastoral care. I think if I whined hard enough I could have earned a pint of Haagen... ha.

Our dearest Jeraldine. Super studious! I guess she just cannot believe that I can be so distracted!! haaa. She was trying so hard to concentrate on the scripture when I just *pops beside her and posed. She gave in to temptation... ha.

RLs are such fun people right? Anyway here's an appeal if you are reading this. Pray for your leaders. Pray that we will be led by God in every move and decisions that we make so that the ministry is steered in One direction. Pray for empowerment, strength and joy in serving and giving as we have so many other aspects to cope with besides ministry. Pray for wisdom and discernment when we counsel, advise and seek to understand the conditions of our flocks. Pray also for a greater portion of love for Him and our sheep knowing that we have that capacity to love so much more because He first love us. Pray for us. :)

BAO GA LIAO Blogpost.

Last Sat
Met up with P. Cx and shared with her all my woes, sorrows, tears and joys and struggles and pains...those 2 plus hours seemed so insufficient. She left me 2 portions of the scriptures to encourage me and I thought that was apt. Out of 2, this sticked in my head.

Joshua 1:1-7, 9
"....Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."

Last Sunday
Shaoming: "suhui jie, every sunday I see you rush here, rush there, how come no one help you?"
Shaoming, I'm awaiting for you to come share the load with me man! ;)

Lunch with him was great cos he shared so much, I finally got to know more than just his name. Shaoming is one special boy, I thank God for him in the ministry. If you have yet known him, its time to find out about this incredible creation. :)

Monday
Heart to heart sharing with Cher baby. I like that! Cher sweetie, though we could not spend much time with each other cos of our busy schedules but do realised that its the quality of the sharing that counts. By the way, you are an inspiring teacher! Keep that Uppity Up. ;)

Tuesday
Course at NTU One North. Learnt about practicing Reflection. I learnt alot from this course, cos it teaches teachers to move beyond just making mistakes but learn from it. Wanna hear the 4 steps? Another day perhaps. Rather lenghty.

Whats more beautiful was a 'catch up' session with Azlin. Wow, girl we have so much to talk about huh? Thanks for sharing with me your life. You are one brave soul! Once again I am glad that I am seeing that silver lining in your life. Really happy!!! *beams*

Wednesday
watched CLICK with Yiting, Norman and Rach Lim. Some thoughts after that show:

• What am I really busy with?
• Not like Adam Sadler, I dun think I would have a 2nd chance to live my life for I have only one life to live and I sure pray that in this temporal life, I would sow for eternity.
  

Thursday
Production rehearsal. I really like working with Jasmine. She is really zai! I learned so much from her, being calm! She is one calm lady. :) For some of you who have heard of this production, please keep the actors and com in prayers for its been a long prep and we really need to depend on God's strength to move on effectively. Do pray that this production will be one that will shout loud the fame of GOD!

Friday
Cher and I went to get fat on ICE-cream. EH! We must go for AWFULLY CHOCOLATE! Anyone tried it? I love the Hei ice cream. You have not? Haaaa must join me someday. I have been thinking abt that for the past few days!!! I LOVE HEI!!!

Leave my kid alone!

Today I had one of those moments where I just wanna dash up to the person and do a face to face confrontation. Leave my kid alone! Of course I practiced the counting method.

1 thousand, 2 thousand...

Once again CECILIA strikes 3! What shall I do with this girl? For the past weeks she has been this guai guai little darling and suddenly her little fork tail appeared. This time, SHE RAN OUT OF MY CLASS and head home when I told her to stay behind as I wanted to talk to her about her misbehaviors. Panicked? Na...I sashayed down the stairs and strolled out of the school gate knowing that she would have to wait for her brother to be dismissed from his P1 class before she would head home with her dad. When she saw me she gasped as though she saw a ghost. Spoke to her dad about all that she did and mentioned that for the next 2 recessed she would have it with me *grins* and so he would have to prepare some biscuits for her.

Yesterday she came with me to my clean *a ding *ding workstation during recess and I spoke to her about her anger management issue. So I gave her an alternative method to replace her impulsive "bash people up immediately" solution.

Soowei: Cecilia, when you are angry, before you want fight back, you can try counting 1 thousand, 2 thousand, 3 thousand .... til 20 thousand and after that you would feel better. ok? See if this helps.

Cecilia, agreed to this method and she looked so cute as we tried it. In fact this girl lost count when she reached 17 thousand. Ha...

Yesterday during English lesson:
Jamilah to Cecilia: Eh, you go office, what did Miss Sim tell you?

Cecilia: .... (could not hear what she explained about for the front part) she told me to count 1 thousand, 2 thousand ... and after that I will feel better.

Today after school along corridor:
Soowei to Cecilia: So did you use the counting method yesterday?
Cecilia: Yes!
Soowei: Oh...So. what made you angry?
Cecilia: Nothing.
Soowei: If nothing made you angry then why were you counting?
Cecilia: so that I will not forget.

Haaa... How not to love this little one right? :)
Are you angry today? Try counting 1 thousand, 2 thousand....

TRY-angle

"The best angle from which to approach any problem is the TRY-angle."

- Author Unknown

I miss u 2.

Had to relief teach my beloved 1.3 yesterday and tell you! I was so looking forward to it cos I missed them so much. I mean I thank God for the contract teacher who came and took over my PE lessons from them so that I get more time to mark and all but I can't help but to miss these little ones. Packed my lap top and was getting all ready to share with them one of my favorite stories, "Susan Laughs". To my disappointment, my little sugar cubes and sweetie pies were all not in class!!?! *pouts* Was about to walk back to office disappointedly cos thought I made a mistake about the relief timing. Just then, the teacher next door told me that they went for health check up and jabs.

There goes my story but its alright cos I still get to see them. :) When I approached the class, the kids just exclaimed, "Miss SIM!" My heart smiled and wah I tell you i feel like hugging each and everyone of them man! Then there goes one line that almost made me tear...

Zhi Lei: Miss Sim, I miss you.

Soowei: I miss you too...

You could be an answered Prayer.

"Dear Lord, I pray that You will send people to share the gospel with my dad
bring in christian clients so that while he is driving the taxi,
he can get to hear of the gospel and testimonies too.
For my mum when she is doing marketing or something,
Lord I pray that you will bring people to her be it christians in the market or even our neighbours,
Lord I pray that they will chit chat about You.
Lord provide my brother with christian colleagues
so that he could hear about you once again and be reminded of Your marvelous love. .."

This is the kind of prayers that I make over the years, on and off I will add a few more items and change a few words here and there. Think God is ever bored with this prayer since its been so many years and I am praying the same? Nah! Its testimony TIME!!!

A couple of years back ...

Dad dropped me off church and he picked up some of our church members. They shared the love of Jesus with him and even invited him to church. Now? I am the frequent 'client' so of course I share. ;)

Last year...

Mum told me that there was this neighbour who invited her to a christmas party at the community centre. She is a christian. By the way, she stayed like opposite block. Wonder how they became friends? I have no idea! But God has. :)

Two days back...
Bro asked me about tithing and I asked him how he learnt about it then he told me that there was this supplier who told him. When asked what they talked about, bro just answered me that its all that I have told him. i.e the GOSPEL.

Thank God for answering my prayers. No prayers are too naggy for God. You think your prayers are too simple and repetitive and no one is listening? Think again.

You could be someone's answered prayer too. SHINE FORTH! *Blink Blink* SHARE FORTH!

Glory to Jesus!

Pardon?!

Context: Soowei having her observation and the class was rather quiet. They had just learned the properties of the various triangles. And it was evaluation time.

Soowei: Amira, could you tell me what is special about equilateral triangle?

Amirah: ...A..a.f...e...f..a....af....

Yup basically this girl was speaking so softly that I presumed only the ants could hear her and so I went...

Soowei: Pardon?

At this current moment, Alden decided to raise his hands. Actually, Alden is rather brilliant, so when he raised his hands I thought he wanted to help Amirah with the answer.

Soowei: Yes Alden?

Alden: Miss Sim, who is pardon?

The Lord Shamars over us.

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the hills--
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip--
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD watches over you--
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all harm--
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Its time to look beyond the hills, as Pastor Benny Ho proposed in one of his Sermon titles when he preached on this particular scripture. I was just meditating on this scripture and remembered what I heard in his sermon CD while I was in Perth. Wish to be back there where I could wake up in the morning, make breakfast, open the windows and do my no-rush-never-seemed-ending QT while looking at the River. WHOAH! Ok Suhui STOP dreaming.

Anyway back to the Psalm. The Hebrew word "Shamar" means 'keep', 'watches over', 'guards'. This Psalm is very assuring and is one of the 14 Psalms (from 121 - 134) where the Israelites would sing as they journey towards Jerusalem i.e A Song of Ascents. As they journeyed they might have their worries, fears and concerns and am sure they faced mighty mountains be it figuratively or literally. Many a times we face mountains in our lives too and we quiver in fear and journey with complaining or at times we even choose alternative routes cos we think God must have made a mistake in His leading. Is that the point? Nope. If the Lord places a mountain in our lives, the key lesson is not to focus on the Mountain, it should be on the MAKER.

Its really time to look beyond the hills and to marvel at who God is and what He is capable of doing. A timely reminder as I flipped through my sermon notes, "when fear comes knocking at your door, let faith answer it!" I am glad that the Lord Shamars over me, fusses over my every moves and watches my every single step. Truly, Who am I? Nothing but dust. Such grace.

So what is it?!!

Walnuts ---> Much as I might seemed like a ding dong at times but I won't possibly bring a nut cracker to school wld I? So nah...

Shrivelled Kisses ---> This is how disgusting la?! Erm.. NOPE!

Shrivelled Bun ----> Nearly died when I heard it, But Erm.. good try!

Dearest ALL who tried guessing,
Good attempts but wrong guesses. :) These are actually dried FIGS. :)Really delicious and is such a great snack la. If you have yet tried it, get me to bring some for you. Can purchase them from medical halls too. Good source of fibre and wanna get a sugar high? FIGS will do the job! YEah! :)

Is Spelling Important?

A Forwarded Mail.

"fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too Cna yuo raed tihs?
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are,
the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.

The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the
wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

Fireworks.

Just a glimpse of what we saw for 10 whole minutes. WAH! Overwhelmed! Its like having fireworks raining down on ur face. Beautiful. You really have to be there to share the "wah-ness". See you next year. And yes! After tonight Suhui has made a new resolution of wanting to marry a prince. Then I can get married on Benjamin Sheare's Bridge with FIREWORKS!

Fireworks.

Tonight was just beautiful. Cos I hung out with a bunch of beautiful people. Norman, thanks for working this out and bringing us to my FAV. SPOT. AHhhhh!!! I was like wow! when i stood on Benjamin Sheare's bridge tonight. Din know that I could get up there. All along I would wish for the car to stop by and pause for a while longer each time I past by this spot. Personally, i think that view is just captivating!!

This is THE spot! I really wonder why I liked it but i just like it!!! So nice. Wish this pic could have turned out nicer. Oh well...


With a group of beautiful people...


How can we end of the night without food right? Secret Recipe. Marble Cheesecake and Brownie cheesecake highly recommended! YUmmy Slurpy Nicey Oooo!


Rach and Norman. I wonder what pose that was. But Norman... you still look Prei-tee! Ha.


Justin and his puffer fish pose.


Of course a more decent pic. Rach and Moi! Yes Rach. Very pretty! :)

Jesus - My Superman!

I'm holding on to you.

Just a week after the retreat, the Lord showed me a vision which somehow comforted me then and prepares me for now. During worship, I saw myself sinking and crying out, "Jesus rescue me!". I often pray this when I'm faced with situations that I can't solve and feel that things are simply beyond my every human means to make it any better. This prayer was made more often in these couple of years.

When I saw the vision, I was comforted but yet ladened. It seemed to tell me that the worse is yet to come. As I made that prayer in my vision, Jesus did not rescue me. Neither did He pull me out of the 'pit' as I would desperately wanted Him to. Instead, I saw the hand of God and heard, "I'm holding on to you." That very statement meant alot to me cos it comforted me to know that GOd is with me even at times when I can't even see or feel His mighty hands.

I believe everyone has their crosses to bear. Jesus had His and mine is this. No one can carry it on my behalf cos its mine and it would be one which I should consider it pure joy as I face it. Cos its this that would allow me to be more mature and complete as I walk it through with the Lord. If I have a choice I'd rather not carry it, however, over the years, I have learnt to welcome it cos such process is also part of God's plan. If God works for the good of those who loves HIm then what I really need to do is simply to trust and hope in Him for that good which I would need to see with eyes of faith. Frankly, thats how I grew in my worship to God as I no longer worship Him for the gifts but worship Him as the giver; worship Him for who He is, simply God.

Home Sweet Home.

Wonder how is my second home like? A place where I spent nearly 12 hours in...*Tadah*

This is my workstation. Why did i take pictures today? Cos I was marking a pile of compo and yup its definitely unfinished but you know u just need a break after puking much blood....

Here we go...
Haa.. super neat right? I also cannot stand it! Hiak hiak hiak. But just let me intro to everyone this killer word for both teachers, parents and children - WORKSHEETS. There are so much more that my camera can't even capture and of course more in my cupboard. *Wink*

Look at my little MiSSY bag. Thats my pencil case, i bring it to classes and charm my little kids. Haa... since the teacher so cute, i mean the bag should also be right? Matching matching... :)

Whats in the green bag? Its my bag of little surprises? From choxs to biscuits and very soon cards of encouragement ... each month the most well behaved group get to put their hands into this bag to pick out something. I have this class score chart and points will be given for good behavior. No points deducted but just points given to those who are good. So far, this is still working well. Thank God. :) To be frank, the thrill is not the prizes rather its the idea . Cos the items always change. Brilliant eh? Hiak hiak!

Everything seemed purrfect and absolutely beautiful until you look at the left side of my workstation:

Wonder how can anyone have so much 'junk'? Wah! I was very tempted to clear it up after 1 week of being in school...LOL but its not mine, so can't tough. It belongs to the previous teacher who sat at my workstation. Here's more...

Actually, as i took some time to analyse the mess, i see that it is still rather systematic but erm... ya still mess lah. Gosh! However have learnt to live with it. :)

Let me then intro to u my 'snack- at- all- time' that keep me company for marking compos. Do you know what it is? haaa.. if you get it right, you can have a lucky dip in my Greenie. *wink*

Confession.

Yesterday was one of my most stressful days. Not the amount of work, its just thoughts and things that I cannot reconcile within myself and with God as yet. With a ring from carebear friend I dropped everything and yes I meant EVERYTHING and simply dashed out of school for a date with the sweetest friend on earth. Thanks for understanding me so well. :)

Guess where we hanged out after din din? Haagen!!!!???!!!! Ooooooo lala! Not one scoop, but 3!!! of course two of my favs are there.

The true confession comes. I had KFC prior to dinner and dessert. Wah...decadent!

Chia Ee.

Everybody, let me present to you .... *drum roll*Ke chiang* Chia Ee!!! Yay!!!
FIREWORKS.CATCALLS.APPLAUSE. Look at how soundly this beau was sleeping in my arms. :) Cos he was so tired from entertaining all the aunties and uncles who came to visit him last Sun.

Jenn and Seow Wei:
Congrats on being a Mummy and Daddy! And just wanna say that u have one of the most incredible gifts on earth. :) The single word that I would describe him as I took my first glance at him is - beautiful. In every aspect, he is. From that silky hair of his to the cute little toes. GOSH!

Remember Cecilia?

Some days back, or I would say weeks back I posted about this little naughty one who outrightly challenged in class. Ring a bell?!! *rrrringggg* Alright shall stop being so literal haa. Anyway, I have been working on this girl cos I mean since she is in my "love a little more" bucket, she would need my special attention isn't it? Hiak hiak hiak. Have tried a few ways with her la, sat her down, got her to tell me about her family, got her to reflect blah blah blah.. all these helped I guess but was not impactful enough. Why so? Cos just last Monday she took a book and wack a girl's head. Hmm... yes did I share also that she has this thing with violence? Yuppity! She looks small small, cute cute but really lah, ONE chiili padi. URGH.

Anyway back to the wacking a girl's head with a book. So I told the class that we will all ignore her for a week because she does not know how to treasure her friends and so, she will have no friends. For 4 days, she worked alone in my class and yup, my whole class was on my side except for a few 'kind' souls. By day 2, i could already feel the pinch in my heart as i disciplined her cos she really looked regretful and i was wondering if I was too harsh. But I had to do it cos I love her. That moment, it just reminded me of the verse which says, 'God disciplines those whom He loves.' Then I started thinking that its hard being a parent man. It takes so much wisdom to break a child's will and not the spirit. *Phwoooooo*.

Anyway, the 4 long days passed and I had waited for the 5th day to come so that I can bring about a closure to this issue. It was racial harmony day and I was supposed to share a story on 'respecting' others with my class. At that moment, the discussion went like this:

Soowei: So children, what do you think is the greatest weapon which you can use towards an enemy?

Child 1:Bomb!

Child 2:Sword!

Child 3:Punch him...!

Soowei: To tell you the truth, all that you mentioned are good weapons but they are not great!! The greatest weapon is love.

Children looked puzzled and I wondered if I was being too chim but I always felt that its never too soon or early to teach children about values and characters even though at times it could be difficult to grasp. I used Cecilia as an example and mentioned that, she could have reacted in love when she was aggitated by the girl whom she hit. She could have responded with a smile, or simply walk away and then approach the authorities. It seemed like GREEK to the children cos to them, 'fight on" and "retaliate" are words that would come to their mind since thats how the world propagates.

The closing to Cecilia:
'Miss Sim hates the way you used violence each time you are angry but Miss Sim loves Cecilia. I don't like and neither do I approve of your actions but i love you and the class loves you too. Once again Cecilia is our friend and we are going to love her, treasure her and respect her ok?"
That girl was so near to tears. Actually, me too. Haaa cos i could finally talk to her again and be nice and warm with her.

Its been a week, Cecilia has been behaving well. So proud of her *yeah* Today I went up to her and affirmed her. She just grinned and said, "good bye Miss Sim." :)

Every Tribes, Nations and Tongues.

My girls.

My boys.

My thoughts during the day:

"'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.'
And every created thing which is in heaven
and on the sea and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them I heard saying,'to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.'"

Rev 5:12 & 13.

Going to miss you...

Had PE with my beloved 1.3 and they are how cute LAH! I simply love to have them around every Mon and Fri. On tues i received a piece of news that a new teacher is coming in to take them for PE. *dang! dang! dang! dang!*:(

Though I should be really happy cos then I would have 1.5 hours more to rest, mark and blah blah blah...but nah! I would rather hang around these angels and be blessed by their 'toothless' smiles (most of them have lost their front teeth by this age) and their warm companion. They never fail to make me smile. Come to think of it, its really difficult to chide them cos they looked so innocently adorable.

Just Mon, during PE lesson while I was giving instructions for the relay game, K.T walked to my right and held my hand for attention (and yes, i wonder whats wrong with this class but they like to hold me hand. So cute right? haa). I turned around and I laughed cos he was having a nose bleed. It was not the condition that I was laughing at rather it was his looks. Cos he just stood there and gave me a grin when i asked him what had happened.

When he smiled, you can even see traces of blood in between his teeth lor. Aiyo! He licked them or maybe drank them? haa. LOL. GOSH. Anyway, I brought him to aside and pressed his bridge for him to stop the flow. Seeing that he was much better, I went back to the rest of the class before my Ethanel wheel-carts to the principal's office and of course before Kaizer bash more people up.

While the kids were playing i went back to K.T. I was SHOCKED when I saw him. He had patches of blood all over his face. *faints* Frankly, he looked seriously injured. Haa Took some time cleaning him up. Kids are just kids... so going to miss them. *pouts*

Irritated but...

woke up feeling irritated this morning but received these in an email and they really broke a smile on my face...I would count them as a 'God-sent joke'. These are the very evidences to why teacher so often say, "wah really puke blood man!" Haa


more...

and more...

and more...

I'm so wonderfully made.

I kicked start today with a whine, "I dun wanna get out of bed". Of course only dad gets to hear that. Haaa i think he must have got a shock. But was really tired and feeling superbly 'energy-less'. Dragged myself out of my comfy bed and got ready for school. :(

What really woke me up was after I went to relief a primary 1 class during one of my free periods. I was walking along the corridor and thinking what I should teach and *Ding* - talk about a 1 minute lesson plan. Ha. I decided to perform. LOL. Nah! Bad idea so I decided to teach them songs. I linked up the songs with their Big Book Story, "Grumpy Elephant".

Out of the 3 songs I taught, I was battling in my heart if I should teach them the song, "I'm so wonderfully made." Which I did eventually. Taught them the actions and the children simply loved it. The lyrics goes like this:

I'm so wonderfully made

I'm so wonderfully made
You're so wonderfully made
God has made us in a special way
we're so wonderfully made.

I ended off telling the children that each of them is special and I love them. One boy stood up, "Miss Sim I love you because you are special too." Wah! Heart melts. Now u know why I love little tots? They are just so cute right?

On a more serious note, indeed we are all special and unique cos God has made us that way. Its just blessed to be reminded once again that God loves us so much that though He sheds His love abroad to everyone but He takes note of each and everyone of us.Out of the millions in the world, He knows me; the bible says even the number of hairs on my head. Boy! I know myself pretty well but not to that extent. I pay attention to myself definitely but not in such details. WOW! Indeed, the very passage that hits my mind is Psalms 139, it tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We may not be perfect but we are perfectly loved by GOD. :)

The Unstoppable Alarm Clock

This was what happened, the alarm clock rang. I woke up to press it down. Weirdly, it continued to ring and brilliant soowei of course took out the batteries to make sure she 'ends' its life cos ringing alarm clocks can be really irritating. And this should stop the Alarm clock Right? WRONG!! IT went on ringing and soowei was so mad that she decided to take a screwdriver and dismantle the entire clock. *Raise brows* Thinking to herself that she has made an ingenious move but how wrong!?! It still went on ringing.

And I finally woke up, walked towards my alarm clock which had been ringing for the past dunno how many minutes and pressed it down. What a dream!

A hill in Singapore.

On Monday, I taught on the vocabulary 'mountain' and so was just telling my children today that there are no mountains in Singapore. However, we do have a hill.

Soowei: "So does anyone knows if Singapore has a hill?"

All children smiled and agreed with glee.

Soowei: "So can someone tell me whats the name of that hill?"

A bunch of them shouted: "Redhill!!!!"

YES! At that current moment Soowei nearly fainted at the level of general knowledge my kids have. But its really hilarious LAH! Haa... Redhill? A Hill? To an extent yes but...So when I burst out laughing and disagreed with the kids a few of them went, "不对meh? 红山mah! 不是山meh?" I continued laughing and the kids laughed too. What a teaching moment! :)

By the way, if you do not have any idea how Redhill has its name? Click on the link.

Here are some nice comic graphics for the teaching of this story without the storyline. It would be lovely for the kids to come up with their own story. *wink.

Just queer...

Context: I just stepped into class, greeted them and everyone was sitting in their seats waiting for me to give out their worksheets. While doing so, a boy who was holding a toy in his hands came to me...

J.C: "Miss Sim, I have thought about it for some time and I think I should... er.."

I looked really concern at this moment cos this boy sounded really serious.

J.C: "I am sorry, but I have seriously thought about it and I think I was wrong and could you confiscate this (referring to the toy in his hands)."

Soowei: "Why were you wrong?"

J.C: "Cos I played during science class just now and the teacher did not catch me. Can you please confiscate my toy?"

Soowei at this solemn moment, looked intensely into the eyes of this innocent boy and can't help but to BURST OUT laughing!! He was rather queer and as I thought more about the incident I felt that he wanted more than just having me confiscating his toys, he wanted attention - my attention. What did I do? I just smiled and asked him to go back to his seats. Went to find out a little more about this boy and yup! He is added to my "Love You a Little more" bucket with Cecilia.

Surprise and Shock.

Did anyone tell you that in the teaching profession, its full of surprises and shocks? :)

Yesterday, I had a 'surprise' and today I had a 'shock'. Out of which, both left me realising that teaching is so much more than books and knowledge. Its about people. Wow... talk about being fishers of men. Teaching is such a ministry!!!

Let me introduce to you my little 'surprise' yesterday. Was taking my primary one class for PE and while giving instructions for the game, this girl ran towards me and hugged me really tightly. She said, "Miss Sim I want to bring you home." I grinned, returned a hug and was left speechless for a moment. Have I told you that children's hugs are really therepeutic? I lurveeeeeee it!! It reminded me of my tumble tots times when at the end of each session all the little tots would run towards me and give me hugs and kisses. *aw...* They are such darlings. So is this primary one class that I am teaching. I mean despite the naughty and mischievous Ethanael who loves to do wheel-carts while I am giving instructions, this class is 100% angelic. I just have a soft spots for little ones. *wink*

And yes! How can I forget my 'shock' for today? A p4 girl, bespectacled, fair-skinned and looked totally non-threatening CHALLENGED me today. She rebelled and refused to listen to instructions and I would termed her as 'potent and destructive'. After talking to her for the first round, it left me drained. Have yet to find out the root of the problem and am still praying for a solution. May the Lord grant me that patience and wisdom to handle her with care. Honestly, I want to do all that I can to build her up and not tear her down. Its a challenge! Pray along with me.

野地的花.

Sang this for mummy just now before she went to bed. And we prayed...then when i asked her how I could pray for her, she then asked me to pray for her cough and so I taught her how to pray in mandarin (haaa EA training helps *grins*) and then I recalled her arthritis and I told her to pray about it.

Mum replied, '不用了，那个好了。' I was totally shocked. I mean I prayed for her some time back but seriously I din have the faith to believe that God really did heal mummy of the pain. !!! Anyone wanna hear me YELL? HALEHLUJAH! JESUS HEALS!

This was the song i sang for her
Wanna hear it? Soowei can sing it live haaa but at a cost of course ;) A pint of Haagen would do just fine... ha.

野地的花

野地的花, 穿这美丽的衣裳
天空地鸟儿,从来不为生活忙
慈爱地天父,天天都看顾
他更爱世上人,为他们准备永生的路

一切需要,天父都已经知道
若心中烦恼,让他为你除掉
慈爱地天父,天天都看顾
他是全能得主, 兴靠他得人真是有福.

"Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not worth much more than they?
...Observe how the lilies of the field grow;
they do not toil nor do they spin,..."

Matthew 6:26,28

Am sure many can identify ...

Today's Menu:

7:15am - 7:50am Duty
7:70am - 1pm Curriculum (teaching)
1:15pm - 1:30pm Lunch
1:30pm - 1:50pm Waiting for a meeting to start (which in the end din happen)
1:50pm - 2:30pm Lias with a teacher regard Excel Fest next wk.
2:30pm - 4:15pm EL Dept Meeting
4:15pm - 5:30pm Do up the minutes for the EL mtg
5:30pm - 6:00pm Mark one pile of Maths books, reply emails. School closes
6:00pm Pray and talk to God while strolling home...

Doesn't this sounds delicious?

All these doesn't even count the nitty gritty of running up and down to office just to collect notes, put register and of course getting things printed etc...

IF there is one thing that you wanna pray for me, it would be more strength and efficiency so that I can do more. :) Hmm.. that makes 2.
Thank God for the Joy that He has been placing in my heart.

老师妈妈说。。。

"老师,妈妈说我们没有钱交学费 ... ”

My sweeties, cuties and lovelies of 2006

People always ask me, "eh what you do on Sunday? I mean... how can church take such a long time?" Here is a glimpse of the angels I hang out with on Sundays... aren't they such cutie-little-things? *Aw...

This was taken during our february gathering when they were really angelic...Haa... still fresh from children's church.



Now they look slightly different.... just 6 months and they have grown *poof* wonder what they ate? Haaa could just be the nourishment of the word of GOD. *Wink.

Here's Gabrielle.


From Left: Suhui, Meiyi, Cassandra and Stella
Talk about Stella, 13 years old, standing in front of a big R-age crowd and shared a her testimony about how the Holy Spirit used her to pray for people during the last mission trip. Wow! And How apt. as this girl challenge us from 1 Tim 4:12. Truly 'let no man despise thy youth...'



And here we have, From left: Janice, Grace, Suhui and Hannah.

Grace: A great Maple friend but whats so encouraging about her life? She brought Jesus to Maple and brought Maple to CHURCH. Since January this girl has been bringing so many of her Maple friends for service and Praise the Lord that one of them accepted Christ today!!!

Wonder where are the boys? Haa here are my two handsomes - Shaoming and Joel Tang... its so enjoyable just talking to them. Try it if you have yet known them. As you can see that they are struggling to take picture with me? Ha. YUP! I FORCE them... but i like.. hiak hiak

Well.. after much persuasion and 'begging' haa a second picture come into existence.Ha.

Love ya guys!

Adventure Camp.

This is Shaoying. We were so bored!!?! Thank God for her companion.
Hey girl, sorry for being hyper at times. Can't help it!! yeee HAH.

Can u see soowei hanging from a tree? Yes! I was really bored. Ha.

But actually, this thingy is kind of fun. Ha. Thank God for cheap thrills....;)

Soar on Wings Like Eagles.

Besides dogs, *grins* adapting to changes would be the next big thing that stresses me out. As I embark on this new phase in life, I am just so filled with both fear and excitement but I do know that the Lord is with me. :) That assures me lots. Imagine going to school alone? New colleagues? New environment? New students? New authorities? New rules? New protocals? Its just alot of uncertainties and uneasiness. As I was pondering about all those, as usual, the Lord once again comforted me with the eagles. :)

I believe Pat and some of my other NIE friends would be able to vouch that each time I was stressed out, burdened or simply tired, God would show me eagles soaring the sky. Its beautiful, tell you. Seen it at Sentosa , a couple of times from NIE library (Hey Pat, remember?) The most recent was just a few days back at Labrador Park.

I was supposed to be at the Adventure Campsite but Shaoying and I lost our way as we thought it was at labrador park itself... *Pouts* But its alright, if i din lose my way, I won't be able to see the eagles. Not 1, not 2 but 4!!!! As I saw the eagles spreading out their wings and soaring effortlessly in the sky with such freedom and ease, my heart was lifted up. You might ask whats so special about seeing eagles soaring? To me, its of great significance cos it would usually remind me of Isaiah (a book in the bible) Chapter 40. This portion of the scripture tells us of the incomparable greatness of our Lord. It mentioned that those who waits upon HIM; who understands His greatness and awesomeness will soar on wings like eagles.

How can we run and not feel faint? How can we walk and not grow tired? There are many points in my life when I felt tired and burdened. Its often then i realised that i need to once again relook at God creation, recall His greatness, realise His power and finally be reassured by His faithfulness and who He claims to be - God.

S.I.S.O

My Carebear Friend. ONLY edition. Dun envy me for having one.

This is my carebear friend, for all who have yet seen her or know her... *TaDAH* Carebear stares! Took this picture at our friend's wedding and just realised that we have so FEW pictures. Really pathetic... eh maybe someday we should just go out and take pictures. Haaa... Anyway here she is! This cute little darling of mine is not just sweet looking but also sweet natured, sweet minded and sweet everything. Hmm.. should i call you "sugar friend" from now on? Haaa...BTW, Vincent, count yourself very blessed to have found a gem. :)

Besides God and Jie, She is one who stood by me regardless of how irritating I can get. *Wink* Actually, how irritating can i be right?hmmmm...One who understands my every frown and fear and supported and encouraged me when I failed. Thanks Carebear friend. :) I really thank God for a friend like you cos you are so dear to me, I will never forget how God brought u into my life. Yes with all those blunders and I was totally embarrassed but I guess trading all that for your friendship is so worth it. Love ya.

Father's Love Letter.

Celebrated Father's day? Nothing beats reading about the heartbeat of the Father. His passion for you...

*click on the title to read about the Fathers' Love.

Dorcas Back!

So glad to see this girl back in Singapore but yes soon... *poof* and she is going away again. But it was great hearing her talking about "kim CHI". Hmm... dor, so delicious right? *wink* Anyway, the trip can be quite dangerous so let's remember her in prayers as she journeys to Russia. :) See you in 2 months time.

Move from Independence of to dependent on GOD.

This morning I felt was so laden cos I felt so helpless. Not knowing what to do next, how to strategize, it was a 'bottle-neck' feeling. But the Lord spoke to me so much as Enzheng and I prayed. Hey it was great praying with you for the ministry. :) When all else fails? Look to the Lord in prayer. Though we should, instead, look to the Lord in prayer first before all else fails.

Well... just remembered this quote from one of my favorite poems, "At Wits End's Corner". One of the lines went, "...At wits end's corner, my burden bearer stand..." This brings so much comfort knowing that we can do so little but God can "do immeasurably great things". We can feel so burdened but GOd says that "His yoke is light", we can be lost but He said He is "the way", we are so incompetent but we know that "we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength". Thank God for His faithfulness and His greatness!!

Justin's preaching further emphasised on what God has already spoken to me prior to the service, i.e "depend on Him." Justin mentioned it so well, move back from being independence of GOd to dependent on GOd. Reminded once again that "Unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labour in vain..."

'Food-ing' the whole day again!

The day before was great. The supposed English breakfast with Cher turned out to be lunch. But it was rather English too cos the dishes she cooked were the ones the learnt in UK from na na. :)

Cher, its really sweet of you to prepare such a sumptous meal for me though a little "giam" but the effort you put in to cook them has sweetened everything. Erm.. so when is the next time? *grins* Wished we had more time to really talk about things and issues. Will do so soon right? :) Thanks once again for the meal it was lovely.

It was a day when i struggled with whether i should do work or meet up with jie. But yes of course! Jie gets the priority. Love you jie. Outing with her was great, we ended up catching up over a cup of coffee and a NUTELLA cupcake from TOAST at taka. Highly recommended. Economical and super yummy + its not crowded. Nice place for a good chill out time. Sharing with Jie is precious cos she is no longer staying with me. Still misses you daily...

If you think my 'food-ing' day ended there, you are very wrong. Soowei went on with Jie to meet our fav Aunty Cindy whom we have not meet for the longest time. We ended up at SAKAI for dinner. Its one of the nicest Thai food i have ever eaten. So yummy k. I will give it like 10 stars.*Slurps* I will be back for that olive rice. Its superb!

Day ended with a call from an angel.

To my Angel: Thanks for calling at the right time and allowing me to know that God remembers me. :)Thanks for sharing that load.

Sentosa 130606

This was how soowei got her burns. :) Yuppity from playing Frisbee and Twister under the sun. Smart right? Sun block on hands and legs and all but not the back. *Sigh.
But anyway it was still fun cos we did nothing but play. Haa.. Thanks girl for making this outing such a fun one. I really enjoyed seeing Celina playing frisbee man. She was how pro la?! Should have captured that on a video.

Anyway nothing beats the picture that was drawn below right? I so think I am gifted. Lol. Erm of course with Pat's and Cherine's gentle touch too, I think this is so cute. Maybe when i am poor i will bring this out to sell. Haa am sure it can fetch a bit..

Regeneration 06 - Thank God for these Girls.

Back Row From Left: Valerie, Jiaxin and Eunice
Front Row From Left: Shin Yee

Yes the Polaroid picture!!! The one which we took like 5 times cos there are 5 of us. And yup guess what? The 'suhui smile' appears the same in each of the 5. How pro right? *wink*

Anyway I had so much fun just eating cakes (erm yes 5 cakes!!!) praying, gospel sharing, talking with these girls. They are just so crazy la, talk about talking non-stop haa...

Its was really encouraging seeing them shared the gospel with all their might despite their language difficulty and their fear of rejections. It was such a pleasant sight seeing them do all they could to simply deliver the gospel to the people. I was blessed as I saw them grow more and more in love with GOD as the days go by during the retreat. Praying that this growth will not cease. :)
Hey girls, thanks for being there in the retreat and being that blessing to me in big and small ways.

Regeneration 06 - Uncle James + Aunty Sow Ching

This is Uncle James + Aunty Sow Ching. Got to travel with them to and fro from the retreat and it was such a pleasant encounter. We barely knew each other but i felt so loved when I was with them. I guess its just so overflowing cos they love God.

I love the way they laugh, talk about their ministries, grandchildren and definitely their hugs that consist of 100% genuine love and simply irrrr...resistable. :) Its such a blessing just getting to know them. Thank God for creating 2 such lovely treasures...

Regeneration 06 - Spiritual Disciplines.

B. Fasting, Prayer and Evangelism

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news...

Pastor Ronald asked: "Would you have the initiative to share the gospel with someone even if there were no street E program being placed in the program?"

My heart went: "No, Evangelism did not cross my mind at all during retreat". :(

I was ashamed as I responded to that question. Truthfully, Evangelism is not my heartbeat as yet. Not strong enough a passion. Til now, it has only been an obligation. But I want to move beyond that. I want it to be a passion, my heartbeat cos that is the very heartbeat of GOD - that all shall come to know Him and that none should perish. I want to be conscious of it and to be very mindful that at every finger snaps someone dies without knowing Jesus. I want to feel the heart ache of God each time I meet someone who is disinterested to know Him. I want to have that compassion that would move and compel me beyond the obligatory emotion to share the gospel when I meet a pre-believer. I want it to be my second nature, one of my spiritual habits and my constant prayer item. I realised I am not doing enough and I needed to do more.


Lord, help me, Lord.

Regeneration 06 - Spiritual Disciplines.

A. Silence

This was the day when I had to look after Valarie. She was running a temp of 39 degrees and was so weak after taking the medication that totally *KOngz her out. My heart ached as I saw her even having difficulties when attempting to clean herself. But thank God she is once again healthy and able to jump and praise the Lord. :) As I was constantly worried about how she was, inevitably, I found it difficult trying to be silent. The issue wasn't the physical 'silence' - i.e Just shut up and stop talking. Rather, the challenge was getting my heart to "be still", "be quiet" before the Lord and to hear His voice.

So, i decided to leave her alone for a while and went back to my room to get some rest. While sleeping, the Lord encountered me. While my mind was totally as rest and not being worried about Val, He showed me a vision, a vision of the ministry. I was very conscious as I woke up tearing and felt that heavy burden upon my heart. I prayed to the Lord and questioned if what I saw was truly the condition of the ministry. It was tough for me to reconcile the fact that yes, r-age is not as 'healthy' as I thought it to be.

The service followed on was beyond my imagination. Cos it seemed like the Lord was performing a 'surgery' in our hearts. He was taking out the rotten and the contaminated to return to us a strengthened and healthy body. I am not contented with what has happened in the retreat. I believe the Lord is going to do so much more in our lives as we allow Him to.
I am excited about what the Lord is doing and is going to do in R-age.
Truly, Let's live up to our name, R-age, Lets Redeem a Generation for Eternity. :)

Thank you ...

Today I heard one of the sweetest statements made. Its not about how beautiful I am, *clears throat* which I often get affirmed as i look at myself in the mirror each morning. Hiak hiak. Definitely not about my intelligence though i have loads of that too.. *blush *blush.

Alright back to that statement which REALLY made my day. It goes like this:
"... thank you for sharing the gospel with me..."

Tell you. When i heard that, my heart went, "thank God you received Christ! For the hour is really near."

Glory to God that one more soul is added to the kingdom of God. Hallelujah! Eeee ... HAh!

"The gospel is eternal but we haven't eternity to preach it."

Reinhard Bonnke