The Moon Never Complains

In January, a book captured my attention as I was killing time inside a bookstore. I bought the book. It's Max Lucado's It's Not About Me.

I cannot forget how Chapter One used the moon to illustrate the message of the book.

Max Lucado writes,

The moon models our role.

Image source: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0709/saguaroMoon_seip.jpg

What does the moon do? She generates no light. Apart from the sun, the moon is nothing more than a pitch-black, pockmarked rock. But properly positioned, the moon beams. The moon reflects the greater light.

And she's happy to do so! You never hear the moon complaining. The moon is at peace in her place. And because she is, soft light touches a dark earth. (Lucado, It's Not About Me, page 18)

We are like the moon. We generate no light. Apart from the Source of everything, we are nothing. When we allow the Source, God, to position us, we shine. We reflect His light.

I pray that like the moon, I'll be happy with that role. No complaining. :)

Praying with Moses

April 8, 2013
11:45pm

Have you ever experienced receiving the same encouraging words from different people just when you needed to be encouraged?

This morning I opened my devotional and reflected on drawing near to God. Perfect. This is what I really need, I told myself. The main Bible verse was James 4:8. But what struck me most was the last sentence. Pray with Moses, "Show me Your glory." This led me to reading Exodus 33. God gave Moses a task, a big task. So big the task was that he told God, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." Moses longed for God's presence. I ended my quiet time praying with Moses, "show me Your glory."

While eating breakfast, I was browsing the internet. I saw a post, got interested, and clicked the link. I was redirected to a website, an online devotional. The post for today is about passion. I read these words: Then Moses said to him, "If Your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here." The devotional talked about Moses' passion for God's presence. He cannot do the task assigned of him without God going with him.

Given bigger responsibilities, I am praying with Moses. Show me Your glory, Lord. If your presence does not go with me, do not send me up from here (to there).

T-Party :)

It's my first day of class with the Kinder Seniors this 2013. I was planning to prepare surprises for them but decided to let them do some reflection instead. We had a tea, I mean, T-Party. I got this idea from one of the animal stories from the School of Tomorrow curriculum. It's a story about keeping an attitude of gratitude. The animals in the story had a T-Party. Thanksgiving Party. They simply shared their thanksgiving items over tea. I just regret that we weren't able to have tea a while ago. Milk tea sana. I'm sure they'd enjoy the activity more.

I really learn a lot from kids. They never fail to make me realize important things. What made our activity interesting was how quickly each child was able to think of his/her thanksgiving item. I asked them to complete the statement "Thank You God for..." I was expecting common answers from young children like "Thank You God for toys, gifts, etc." I was surprised when I heard their answers. I wrote each answer on the board. My pupils are thanking God for providing their needs more than thanking Him for giving their wants. I was rebuked. I often forget to express my gratitude towards God for providing my needs, probably because I got used to His nature of being gracious that He provides all of our needs. Indeed, I should learn to give thanks for every thing, at all times.

It's true that teachers learn as much as students learn inside the classroom. :) Thank You, Lord. :)

Carton Box Pencil Holders

I was amazed when I saw my Kindergarten pupils' creations: recycled pencil/crayon holders.

Resourceful Ideas from 5-year-old Children

Biscuit carton box turned into a pencil holder

You may let it stand on your desk, or hang it.

Materials used:

Hello Panda carton box

Packing tape

How resourceful! My pupil's pencil holder :)

But wait, there's more...

Enjoying Spelling

I'm enjoying this Spelling thing in class. Yes, the teacher is the one enjoying the class activity! ;) The Spelling exercise itself is very simple. But I was surprised with the turn of events in the two Kindergarten class that I am handling.

Yesterday, I gave away the prizes that I promised those who got a perfect score in Spelling last week. They received the reward pencils I bought the other day. I got different reactions from my pupils upon 'awarding' the prizes. One pupil got disappointed, saying that the prize was boring. One said that she did not like the prize. There was also this pupil who cried when I gave the pencils to her classmates who got perfect scores.

I'm enjoying this Spelling thing because it seems to have affected my pupils, in positive ways I just hope. The pupil who cried, whenever she sees me, keeps on asking if I still have many pencils to give away. Many of my pupils are asking when we will be having the Spelling Quiz. One of the pupils who received a prize kept the pencil with her since yesterday. I asked her a while ago why she was holding it all the time. She answered, quoting her exact words, "I can't let it go." How cute! :)

My pupil copied the words for the week to study them!

I hope I am really achieving my goal in giving rewards to my pupils, which is to motivate them to desire and enjoy learning. I was so delighted a while ago when I observed that the children showed more interest in reading and spelling words than before. One of my pupils even copied the words for the week that I wrote on the board. He seems to be really determined to perfect the Spelling Activity on Friday! This is what I want to see. I hope children would develop a love for learning. I pray that they would enjoy learning and have the initiative to help themselves learn. After all, I think that's the goal of education. To train people to desire learning and apply all that they are learning wisely.

I hope that as my pupils enjoy our Spelling activities, they would also learn to enjoy learning.