As a teacher I must acknowledge the importance of discipline.
Do not withhold discipline from a child,
If you punish him with a rod, he will not die.
(Proverbs 23:13)
Discipline is a lot like a net... If you really wish to enforce it, you need to have a flawless net... One tiny hole and it is ruined... The hole will only grow larger with time and before you know it, you will lose even the good ones...
The good and disciplined students need to be praised and appreciated, or they too will slip out of the net.
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But I am in conflict. As a firm believer of grace... It is so deeply ingrained in me that we must forgive and love in order to let the child grow... But now I believe that nothing can be worse than overly pampering a child. Remember that the child is young and his moral values are not well formed yet. If he cannot find the leadership he needs in his parents or teachers, he will look for other sources (bullies and gangsters)... Frightening eh?
Therefore discipline is important... If you really love your child or student, you will discipline him... You got to firmly knock in the values in his head such that he will develop a voice that will hold him back from doing wrong when he tempted... Such a voice in the head cannot come just like that... it needs to be drummed in...
Once the discipline is set, this is when grace comes in... As a leader, you need to be able to distinguish genuine errors from errors that conducted deliberately due to disregard... The latter must be addressed firmly.. The former should be dealt with grace.... If you forgive a genuine offense... you will win the person over.. But you if choose to punish him for something that is not his fault, you will lose him... Therefore, it is not a light matter... Think carefully before executing punishment...
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I have to toughen up and train myself to be a firm and strict teacher... It is not about me... Personally, I don't like the new me.. The one who won't hesitate to pick on your flaws, point at you and stare at you... But this is the person I have to become in order to ensure that my students learn well.. To train them into better people.. To be the leader they need... I need to be a figure of authority that is worthy of respect before they would consider coming to me when they have a problem... If I keep smiling and appearing weak and relaxed all the time, they will definitely hesitate before coming to me... They might even choose bad company over me...
Therefore, NO time to lose... The change must start NOW!!
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Dear heavenly Father,
I pray that you bless me with the wisdom I need
To be a good teacher, fighter, Training partner, daughter and friend.
I know very well that you can work without me.
But I have come to learn also that you empower people
and place them in positions to make a difference.
And I want to make this positive difference.
Therefore dear Lord, I pray for the wisdom and patience
That is required not only to handle the students,
but also the staff and many training partners.
Some of my training mates are as young or even younger
than my students.
It is hard for me to switch roles.
I fear that I might end up hurting them
Or worse hurting the atmosphere at the training area.
Please bless me with the wisdom and favour I need.
I commit everything in your hands dear Lord.
This is not an easy time for me.
I am always tired and I find it hard to be alert and vigilant at all times.
I find it hard to drag myself to training after a hard day's work.
I find it hard to wake up every morning
Knowing I have to spend my day shouting at students.
I find it very difficult to tolerate the attitude problem
Of some of the people around me
My patience is coming to its limit.
And yet, I have been through much worse.
And you have kept me alive.
This is why I am confident.
This is why i am not afraid
Thank you dear Lord!!
In Jesus's name,
Amen
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The king's test
There was once a king with two sons - James and William. Of the two, he had to select one to be the heir of his throne. He decided to give them a test.
He brought the two boys to an empty room and gave them each a copper coin. He said, "Buy something with this copper coin that can fill up the entire room. The person who succeeds will be the heir to the throne."
With the copper coin, James bought a large amount of hay. He layed the hay in the room and tried to spread it out to fill the entire room but failed. After many hours, his father the king came to him. "You have failed my Son. Now let's wait and see how your brother does."
They moved the hay out of the room and invited William in. They were surprised to see that William had only one tiny box in his hand. The king was surprised. He asked, " Son, have you come here unprepared?" William answered with a gentle smile, "No father, I am confident that this tiny thing here will fill the entire room."
William closed the curtains of the room and shut the lights. He took out the box and lite it. It was a candle. The light of the candle filled the entire room and the room was bright. William had succeeded in fulfilling the task. He was selected as the heir of the kingdom.
================================================
Morals of the story:
================================================
He brought the two boys to an empty room and gave them each a copper coin. He said, "Buy something with this copper coin that can fill up the entire room. The person who succeeds will be the heir to the throne."
With the copper coin, James bought a large amount of hay. He layed the hay in the room and tried to spread it out to fill the entire room but failed. After many hours, his father the king came to him. "You have failed my Son. Now let's wait and see how your brother does."
They moved the hay out of the room and invited William in. They were surprised to see that William had only one tiny box in his hand. The king was surprised. He asked, " Son, have you come here unprepared?" William answered with a gentle smile, "No father, I am confident that this tiny thing here will fill the entire room."
William closed the curtains of the room and shut the lights. He took out the box and lite it. It was a candle. The light of the candle filled the entire room and the room was bright. William had succeeded in fulfilling the task. He was selected as the heir of the kingdom.
================================================
Morals of the story:
- Sometimes you got to think out of the box to come up with a solution.
- All you need is a tiny light to light up the darkness. NEVER EVER underestimate the impact you can make. Always give yourself a chance. Give God a chance to work through you. You will surprise yourself.
- Wisdom can only seen when a person is put to test
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Monday, September 21, 2009
Your way Vs God's way
There are two ways to solving a problem:
1) God's way (The way it should be.. the way that God intended it to be)
2) Man's way (The way that man has devised over years of experience to make life more bearable for himself)
The world is not an easy place to live in. Well, perhaps it can be quite easy for a baby, but you must admit that life gets tougher and tougher each day. As you grow older, you get more and more exposed to the harshness of this world. You start to learn that people are not really the kindest of all beings... That most of the times, doing the right thing takes extra energy while doing the wrong thing comes so easily... It is as if you were born to do the wrong thing...
That is the brutal truth of this world.... Anything apart from that, is just a padded and cushioned version of the truth to make life simpler for our vulnerable young ones... Unfortunately,the natural order of this harsh reality is also very true for children in school... And to cope with bitching and discrimination, children can either learn to deal with it with their own wisdom and power (man's way) or to deal with it God's way....
=================================================
Example 1:
A child is being bullied in class... His entire class discriminates him and makes fun of him every single day of the week... He feels left out and lonely... He starts to realize that the quickest way of being accepted is to be mean to others and act cocky... To bitch about others behind their backs and discriminate the weak ones... He has two options now:
Option 1 (Man's way)
He starts picking fights in class and spewing vulgarities... He challenges the teachers and bullies the newcomers. The students in class starts becoming afraid of him and decides to stop bullying him... He thinks that his classmates respect him and believes that he has done the right thing...
Some students even being to admire his 'courage' in speaking up to the teachers... and they decide to befriend him and join him in behaving badly in class... Together, they form the gang in class and any student who refuse to conform to their bad behavior will be bullied and discriminated by them...
Option 2 (God's way)
The child knows that bitching about people and bullying the weak is a very bad thing to do... As we should all treat others the way we wish to be treated... He, of all people know the pains of being ill treated and how lonely it can be... He decided that no matter how harsh the circumstances get... he will stand firm on God's word and not conform to the patterns of this world just to fit in... Though he knows that it is the fastest way to fit in, he will not hurt others just to fit in...
When the new student comes, instead of discriminating him, he chose to befriend him... Slowly but surely, the class starts to realize that you don't have to be mean to be accepted... Eventually the class is touched by his efforts... and by God's supernatural grace.. this culture of bullying is removed...
Of course the child persistence on keeping to God's way has caused him much more suffering as compared to the scenario 1 where he chose to do it 'man's way'.... but in the long run, it solved the problem... not by transferring the suffering to someone else, but by genuinely solving the problem of class bullying...
==================================================
God's way is definitely not the fastest way... It is also not the most pain free and easy way... In fact, it takes loads of determination and courage to execute God's plan and purpose in your life... Sometimes it gets so hard that you begin to doubt that the way is even effective... But fret not, God does not leave you with a difficult situation and not provide the solution... He will bless you with everything you need to overcome it... Your only job is to hang on and not give up...
Because you do not conform to the patterns of the world, people will find you strange... And your persistence on doing good will cause them to feel uncomfortable because they feel inevitably small and immoral beside you... You will probably end up being ostracized... And when people realize you are patient and kind, they will take advantage of you and criticize you openly, knowing that you will not retaliate...
But persist because you have a weapon the world does not have. You have God's grace! All this pain and suffering you are going through now is really not what normal humans can bear... It leads them to depression which eventually leads to all kinds of cancers and illnesses... But not for you, because this hardship will not overcome you... By God's grace, instead of becoming weak, you will be stronger, wiser and more Christ like...
You are God's child and he will help you through this with his super abounding grace and favour... When you align yourself with the plans God has for you in your life... you can't help but succeed... So persist in doing good and not listen to the counsel of the ungodly.. They might be doing it with good intention but exercise discernment... Choose the right advise to listen to... Of course some of the advise is good... but be sure to cast out the bad advise and not be tempted to follow them...
I am firmly aware of my identity in Christ... I am God's child... And God's child does not do something wrong and hurt others just to succeed... I know that my ways and silly persistence may seem annoying and strange to the people around me... But eventually one day when I succeed, I can boldly say that God's way is indeed the most effective way... My life would be a pure testimony... As opposed to.. yes, I did do it God's way 90% of the time but I also bitched and back stabbed 10% of the time....
That 10% taints everything...
With that said, I do make a multitude of mistakes... Whether as a teacher, fighter, friend or daughter... I do make many mistakes... But none of them were intentional... and none of them were done with the intention of hurting anyone... I am only human... And worse still, I am a young and inexperienced human... That's all I can do... I make mistakes... but I trust that God can use my weakness and mistakes and turn it around for good eventually...
That's what God's grace is all about... Living life fully aware of God's good opinion of you... and trusting that God's power is perfected in your weakness...
Lastly.. Quote of the day - You got to be tough minded, but soft-hearted
1) God's way (The way it should be.. the way that God intended it to be)
2) Man's way (The way that man has devised over years of experience to make life more bearable for himself)
The world is not an easy place to live in. Well, perhaps it can be quite easy for a baby, but you must admit that life gets tougher and tougher each day. As you grow older, you get more and more exposed to the harshness of this world. You start to learn that people are not really the kindest of all beings... That most of the times, doing the right thing takes extra energy while doing the wrong thing comes so easily... It is as if you were born to do the wrong thing...
That is the brutal truth of this world.... Anything apart from that, is just a padded and cushioned version of the truth to make life simpler for our vulnerable young ones... Unfortunately,the natural order of this harsh reality is also very true for children in school... And to cope with bitching and discrimination, children can either learn to deal with it with their own wisdom and power (man's way) or to deal with it God's way....
=================================================
Example 1:
A child is being bullied in class... His entire class discriminates him and makes fun of him every single day of the week... He feels left out and lonely... He starts to realize that the quickest way of being accepted is to be mean to others and act cocky... To bitch about others behind their backs and discriminate the weak ones... He has two options now:
Option 1 (Man's way)
He starts picking fights in class and spewing vulgarities... He challenges the teachers and bullies the newcomers. The students in class starts becoming afraid of him and decides to stop bullying him... He thinks that his classmates respect him and believes that he has done the right thing...
Some students even being to admire his 'courage' in speaking up to the teachers... and they decide to befriend him and join him in behaving badly in class... Together, they form the gang in class and any student who refuse to conform to their bad behavior will be bullied and discriminated by them...
Option 2 (God's way)
The child knows that bitching about people and bullying the weak is a very bad thing to do... As we should all treat others the way we wish to be treated... He, of all people know the pains of being ill treated and how lonely it can be... He decided that no matter how harsh the circumstances get... he will stand firm on God's word and not conform to the patterns of this world just to fit in... Though he knows that it is the fastest way to fit in, he will not hurt others just to fit in...
When the new student comes, instead of discriminating him, he chose to befriend him... Slowly but surely, the class starts to realize that you don't have to be mean to be accepted... Eventually the class is touched by his efforts... and by God's supernatural grace.. this culture of bullying is removed...
Of course the child persistence on keeping to God's way has caused him much more suffering as compared to the scenario 1 where he chose to do it 'man's way'.... but in the long run, it solved the problem... not by transferring the suffering to someone else, but by genuinely solving the problem of class bullying...
==================================================
God's way is definitely not the fastest way... It is also not the most pain free and easy way... In fact, it takes loads of determination and courage to execute God's plan and purpose in your life... Sometimes it gets so hard that you begin to doubt that the way is even effective... But fret not, God does not leave you with a difficult situation and not provide the solution... He will bless you with everything you need to overcome it... Your only job is to hang on and not give up...
Because you do not conform to the patterns of the world, people will find you strange... And your persistence on doing good will cause them to feel uncomfortable because they feel inevitably small and immoral beside you... You will probably end up being ostracized... And when people realize you are patient and kind, they will take advantage of you and criticize you openly, knowing that you will not retaliate...
But persist because you have a weapon the world does not have. You have God's grace! All this pain and suffering you are going through now is really not what normal humans can bear... It leads them to depression which eventually leads to all kinds of cancers and illnesses... But not for you, because this hardship will not overcome you... By God's grace, instead of becoming weak, you will be stronger, wiser and more Christ like...
You are God's child and he will help you through this with his super abounding grace and favour... When you align yourself with the plans God has for you in your life... you can't help but succeed... So persist in doing good and not listen to the counsel of the ungodly.. They might be doing it with good intention but exercise discernment... Choose the right advise to listen to... Of course some of the advise is good... but be sure to cast out the bad advise and not be tempted to follow them...
I am firmly aware of my identity in Christ... I am God's child... And God's child does not do something wrong and hurt others just to succeed... I know that my ways and silly persistence may seem annoying and strange to the people around me... But eventually one day when I succeed, I can boldly say that God's way is indeed the most effective way... My life would be a pure testimony... As opposed to.. yes, I did do it God's way 90% of the time but I also bitched and back stabbed 10% of the time....
That 10% taints everything...
With that said, I do make a multitude of mistakes... Whether as a teacher, fighter, friend or daughter... I do make many mistakes... But none of them were intentional... and none of them were done with the intention of hurting anyone... I am only human... And worse still, I am a young and inexperienced human... That's all I can do... I make mistakes... but I trust that God can use my weakness and mistakes and turn it around for good eventually...
That's what God's grace is all about... Living life fully aware of God's good opinion of you... and trusting that God's power is perfected in your weakness...
Lastly.. Quote of the day - You got to be tough minded, but soft-hearted
Monday, September 14, 2009
His glory appears
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEdPiuAR66I
Fantastic song (Hillsong love-hope-faith)
You gave me hope
You made me whole
At the cross.
You took my place
You showed me grace
At the cross
where you died for me.
And his glory appears
like the light from the sun
Age to age
He shines!
Oh, look to the skys
Hear the angels cry
Singing holy is the Lord.
You gave me hope
You made me whole
At the cross.
You took my place
You showed me grace
At the cross
where you died for me.
And his glory appears
Like the light from the sun
Age to age,
He shines!!
Oh look to the sky
Hear the angels cry
Singing holy is the Lord
Fantastic song (Hillsong love-hope-faith)
You gave me hope
You made me whole
At the cross.
You took my place
You showed me grace
At the cross
where you died for me.
And his glory appears
like the light from the sun
Age to age
He shines!
Oh, look to the skys
Hear the angels cry
Singing holy is the Lord.
You gave me hope
You made me whole
At the cross.
You took my place
You showed me grace
At the cross
where you died for me.
And his glory appears
Like the light from the sun
Age to age,
He shines!!
Oh look to the sky
Hear the angels cry
Singing holy is the Lord
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Apology
I must apologize for neglecting this blog. I have been so busy of late that it is nearly impossible to squeeze in sufficient sleep time. Let alone garner the patience I need to switch on my dinosaur laptop. Well, the good news is that I have finally liberated myself from slow speed computing and gotten myself a new net book. Small be fast. Will try to blog more from now on.
But it is true. Time is a crucial factor. Now that I am busy with work, training and tuition, I really am unable to blog as diligently as before. Many great blog ideas now hover at the gates of birth and only the best will make it through to the blog... And even then, I seriously doubt that I will be able to write much. I will probably end up summarizing my ideas into concise blog entries. But well, I must have faith that I am nothing but a vessel of God. If he has a purpose for me to write good blog entries, I will certainly produce the treasures. No doubt about that.
Before I forget, I am enormously touched that my blog (of 4 blog entries) actually has a follower!! Thanks dear!! You give reason to blog!!
Will try my best to 'grace' this page more often... Love ya!!
But it is true. Time is a crucial factor. Now that I am busy with work, training and tuition, I really am unable to blog as diligently as before. Many great blog ideas now hover at the gates of birth and only the best will make it through to the blog... And even then, I seriously doubt that I will be able to write much. I will probably end up summarizing my ideas into concise blog entries. But well, I must have faith that I am nothing but a vessel of God. If he has a purpose for me to write good blog entries, I will certainly produce the treasures. No doubt about that.
Before I forget, I am enormously touched that my blog (of 4 blog entries) actually has a follower!! Thanks dear!! You give reason to blog!!
Will try my best to 'grace' this page more often... Love ya!!
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