A Blessed Day
I had my mentor assessment today. Everything went well and smooth!! Praise God. And oh ya, Karen and Mingzhen had theirs today too! Glad tt God reallie answers prayers; watching over and bringing them through their assessments. =)
I wanna thank all DMNs for praying for me. Frankly speaking, i dont feel nervous n scared this time as compared to my supervisor assessment (which was 3 weeks ago). I think e main reason is because my mentor is a very approachable, warm and understanding lady. Hence i didnt feel anxious or awkward when she was observing me. The post evaluation that was conducted after my assessment was a very assuring and positive one. Mistakes were committed during my lesson but im glad she understands, and had been very encouraging and smiley throughout. She really treats us like her friend. And i like e way she respects our feedback and opinions. =)
*Phew*. My assessments r finally over. And my attachment is gonna come to an end very soon.. in just 7 more sessions. I'm going to miss them. everyone.
I received an email from my long lost friend whom i knew in True Way Presbyterian Church when i was in sec 1. Actually i was the one who emailed her first to thank her. She was the first person who exposed me to Christianity. Frankly speaking, i did feel uncomfortable at first as i was not ready to change religion at all. However she didnt give up on me. She nv fail to call me up or send me greeting card to encourage me. =) really hope to meet up with her one day.
This was what she mentioned in the last para of her email.
Light may be very dim; but if there is only a spark in a dark room it will be seen.
Life may be very feeble; but if the pulse beats a little, it will be felt.
After thinking the whole night, asking God and Francis about what decision i sld make, i finally came to a decision. I've decided to serve the children at the Home. What i want to do is not to start a cell but rather to love, care and share my life stories with them. To be frank, I doubt my own commitment. But i believe tt as i take the first step to serve the children, God will help me with teh rest. I'll trust Him. =)
Serving the Lord
Today was a joyful day. =)
Met Juan in the morning at Jurong East MRT and headed to AMK for lunch. A very happy trip with her.. we shared about a lot of stuffs. hehee. so happy. After our lunch, we went to meet the rest (feli and the nyp primers) at AMK station. When everyone had arrived, we tok a bus down to the Children's Home.
I was pretty excited about today's visitatin to the Home as i had nv been to one before. Thinking about serving God's VIPS made me anticipate this visit even more. After the briefing, the children finally arrived. To be frank, i wasn't quite ready to start a conversation with any one of them. I squatted down but no words came out of my mouth. I dont know why but i just dont know what to say except to smile. Looking at their facial expressions, i feared to be rejected by them. Actually the response we got from them was not good at all, so we decided to have our snacks first. Indeed, food did wonders. As they were munching on their snacks, we sat and talked to them. I paired up with a seven year old girl. We had games such as Blow wind blow, passing of parcel, poison ball and captain's ball. The kids enjoyed the ball games the most. I was reallie impressed by their motor skills. They could play the games well and had a high amount of stamina. I think i am old le. hahas. Anyway, the games reallie bonded us even closer and i could see tt many of them became more willing to befriend with us. =)
Halfway through the game, one child threw some temper tantrums. I tried to be nice and accomodated. But i realised that this isnt going to work. Hence i became firm. I think she was shocked by my sudden change of tone and became quite upset over it. I reasoned out with her and talked to her about it. Well, things didnt turn out well in the end. But i was pretty amazed by what she said to me, "Teacher says God gives us a brain to think. We must use it to think and cannot be naughty." woah. This is cool. This led me to a passage in the bible. "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 This is so true. I really hope the child will remember what her teacher taught her.
Upon departure, i felt a sense of sadness. I wondered how would the children feel. I bet they will feel even more sad. Lots of volunteers had came into the home to help and interact with them before us. I wonder who will reallie rmb them and which child will rmb us? Will the chn feel that we came to play with them bcos we have to or bcos we want to?
Today's trip to the Children's Home made realised and thought 'bout a lot of things. I've learnt that the simplest thing in life is enough to bring a smile on a child's face. =)
It's 0907 now. A pretty weird time to blog cos most ppl are now in the childcare centres serving their attachment. Haha.. i can afford to blog now cos im working the 11am-7pm shift. mentor wants me to have a chance to meet up with the parents during picking-up times. :)
Anyway, i conducted my art lesson yesterday. Messy. Disastrous. Horrible. There were too much cryings and wailings in my class!! There were several new children and they are struggling very hard with separation anxiety. Imagine, a class with 4 children crying non-stop and 16 other chn running round n round the class like playground. Wow.. challenging task for me. Anyway, the entire lesson evaluation which im goin to write will defnitely be a negative one. Thank God i didnt conduct this lesson during my supervisor assessment. If i do, i'll definitely get a poor grade.
My mentor assessment wil be on 26th July, wed. Same date as Karen's supervisor assessment. hahas. I need to work doubly hard on this one as it's equally as impt as the previous assessment. 40% somemore.
Looking at my personal planner, i smile. Cos i only have one exam module this semester and it falls on 18th Aug. After that, i'll be free!! I will be having my 2 full months holiday, all e way till 15th Oct. hahahas.. Shall jia you for now.
Peiling and Steph's assessment today! Jia you, girls~
It's Qinpei's graduation day today!!! haha.. Initially i wanted to go and support her but in e end could not. Cos she will only be out at 11.30am and i need to rush to sch for lesson at 12 noon. So in e end i didnt go. :( But im very happy tt Florence managed to buy white rose (tt are a little greenish) for Qinpei! It's her fav type of flower! hahas. Reallie thank God tt she found e flowers.. cos it's like so rare lor.. hahas.
Anyway, i went to see the doctor again this morning. My sore throat had subsided and i had finished all my tablets. But another new illness has come. Cough. Thick phlegm. Aarggh. i hate this. Attachment on wed, thu n fri. I dont wanna miss any of it again.
God is faithful - A Miraculous day with Him
When I was still a toddler, I was taken care by a babysitter as my mom was unable to take care of so many chn by herself. I love the babysitter and her whole family. They dote and care for me tenderly and gently. Most of e childhood memories tt i can recall now comes from them. I'll never forget how James kor kor allowed me to play with his teeth model (he is a dentist now) and how nice the lemon tea that Judy jie jie made for me when i was still a child. And also, i'll not forget the various shopping trips tt uncle brought me to and the unconditional love n patience tt my babysitter gave me.But after the age of 6 years old, i didnt get to keep in touch with them due to some reasons. I was waiting for a day to meet up with them but i didnt have e courage to do or even think abt it.
Last year (in dec), I picked up my courage and decided to pray to God regarding tis matter. I pray tt God will let me meet up with them again. I didnt have much faith n courage to believe in God due to some reasons. But i heard God telling me this, "With me around, it's never too late."
6 months later (which is today), i saw my babysitter's husband. I dont know his name, but i always address him as "uncle". I saw him while waiting for Florence to go to expo. I was so shocked to see him! He didnt change much, just tt he had aged a lot. he didnt recognise me. I approached him and told him tt I am hanhan. His frown gradually changed into a smile. We chatted for a while and exchanged our numbers with each other. Remembering tt he is a christian, i decided to ask him the name of his church. I even told him tt i am now a child of God and i can see he's very shocked n pleased to hear tt! I even told him tt we can now go church together liao. hahas.
I thought abt this whole incident on e way to expo. It is reallie a miracle. Never would i expect that i can see one of them again cos they have shifted. A few months ago, i even thought that maybe e words i heard ("Withe me around, it's never too late") was not from God. Maybe i wont get to see them again. But it's not at all. God really mean every word He says. I think tt this testimony of mine may be a very good encouragement to those who are losing hope in the Lord. To those who are, i hope u'll know tt God is faithful. Not only does He gives promises, He kept them too. Continue to hope in Him and He will never let His children down.
God, i thank you for everything. Thank you for answering this prayer of mine tt seems to be an impossible. Thanks for keeping ur promise. I am grateful. :)
I want milk :(
-I am Macho Guy-
-We love to read-
-Do we look alike?-
Anyway, i've started my 40-day fast. I am fasting from buying things. haha.. juan is fasting from this too! haha.. it's reallie challenging man. The urge to shop and buy things is really irresistible. The feelin is worse than fasting frm meat. But tis is good.. can help me save $$. hahas
I can't wait to go back to sch on mon!
Woke up at 6.45 am. SHIT. My throat is in pain. My nose is blocked. The pain is as if my throat is gonna burst at any time. Checked my hp. Received a msg from Agatha tt she cant go to childcare cos she is still ill. Well, me too. Quickly sent an sms to Mandy to help us inform e teachers that we're ill hence couldnt go down for attachment today. Thanks Mandy! Ya, anyway i quickly got out of bed, washed up and ate my breakfast so tt i could take my medicine. I'm feeling worse than yesterday. Though my body ache has gone, my flu, sore throat and cough is becoming worse. Aarggh.. hate tis feeling. But thank God i fell sick only after my assessment. :)I'm awake and feeling so bored now. Nobody is at home. Lao pa and lao ma are in ryan's hse tking care of him, jia jia and xuan xuan. And my 4th sis is at Hong King enjoying herself now. How i wish i can join her too. hahas.Anyway, i changed a new blogskin. I m really too bored tt im finding things to do now. Though i am down with flu, i m thankful tt I still have strength. Neither am i feeling dizzy nor lethargic. Just pain in my throat and uneasiness in my nose. No choice but to miss my attachment today.. i really dont want to pass the germs to my little ones. They're still so young.Prayer meeting and tuition tml.. hope God will give me strength and heal me soon... :)Happy birthday, wan ting!
I had my FP assessment today!! Woohoo it went well and smooth!! All glory to God who helped me out with throughout e whole lesson. :)
I would like to thank all my frens who had been encouraging me through sms-es, face to face or even a call. I thank God for:
All DMNs for praying so hard for me.
Juan for her simple yet assuring msg.
Qinpei for her consistent encouraging sms-es and help.
My 4 sisters who nv fail to believe in me.
All the staff in my centre who have been so supportive and approachable.
Tcher C. for being praying for me throughout my lesson.
Steph, Karen, Peiling, Janice, Wanting, Kaiwen who send me well wishes for my assessment! Agatha for helping me so much.
Francis who has been so supportive and caring during this period of time, and praying for me whenever setbacks arise.
I'm really thankful for all e ppl ard me who have been giving me endless encouragement, help, listening ear and assurance. Well, to certain ppl, an assessment may not be a big deal. But to me, it matters. And having such wonderful ppl in my life has been such a great encouragement. :)
Having this assessment get over and done with, im feeling much more better and positive abt my life as the stress level has decreased tremendously. i think im able to interact more w the chn now.. the previous weeks of intense preparation and busy-ness had robbed me quite a lot of time to be spent with em. :( But fear not, cos i still have 5 weeks more to do so. hehe.
For those whose assessment has not arrived, here's a piece of advice for u. ( jus wanna share my personal feelings n opinions). never to fear or be anxious abt anything. Cos anxiety will only make u more paranoid n u may even end up forgetting e tasks tt u need to accomplish. Also, love the chn and have fun with em. Just like what Mrs Lee ( one of e lecturers in our Fp tutorial) said, treat ur chn with sincerity and they in turn will treat u e same too. :)
God, You truly answer my prayers.
Today's date is 4th July 2006. Tml will be 5th July 2006. This is a very crucial date for me. How i wish time will jus stop now. This is because my fp assessment starts tml!! Aargghh.
Self and social awareness lesson for main activity. Language and literacy for foll0w-up. 2 learning corners; math and dramatic. I am given 1 hour. God, pls let it pass by quickly
Before i left, my mentor wished me all e best n told me to slp early. i doubt i can. nightmares maybe. hahas. i think all these negative thoughts arise as i m too far from God. Hai. Shall reflect tonight.
God, bless me and enlarge my territory. Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so tt i will be free from pain. 1 chronicles 4:10
Whenever i am afraid, I will trust in God.
FP is a killer. I still canot accept the fact tt my supervisor will be assessing me next wed. *groans* pls tell me tt it's a dream. i cant face it. I had hardly known the chn for long and my supervisor is already determined to assess me next week, 9am somemore. Well, my kids usually have their breakfast at 9am! And what's more, some of thm only arrives after 9am! How to implement lesson with only the pathetic 3-4 chn? Aarggh. i cant imagine.
I was really tensed up and stressed last on Wed and Thu. I was supposed to carry out lesson on Thu and i actually forgot to buy fruits (my need material for my lesson) the day before. Hence i woke up at 6.30 to rush to my sis' house to get camera, then rushed to the nearest NTUC to buy fruits. I looked like an aunty on tt day man. Anyway, as im taking e youngest chn, hence they are bound to be cryings and wailings every moment in class. It is so serious tt for 2 previous nights before i slept, i could 'hear' their cries. sounds scary? Well, i wasnt scared at all. Cos im too tired to be. hahas.
But thank God tt He has given me supportive, approachable and super friendly and helpful mentor and teachers. They really go all the way to support the three of us. Cant imagine how i m gonna survive w/o them. I guess i was really tensed up for the past few dats tt one of the teachers actually asked, "Germaine, you wanna tk a break? You look very stressed up and tired. take a rest if you need to. Dont worry so much. Pray hard." I was really touched by her words! It's so sweet and nv will i imagine how kind and compassionate a teacher will treat an attachment student like tis :) I am blessed.
Anyway, i had distributed my newsletters. woohoo, finally a job accomplished. Sent my lesson plan to Sheila 2 days ago too! Good. Now waiting for her reply.. very worried tt she will reject my lesson. The previous days of atatchment had been very tiring. I stayed till 7pm yest, cos i was decorating my board. But i hadnt finished yet!! Half way done only.. gonna go back on mon again to complete it. Gonna reach at 7am so tt the chn will not perform any magic tricks on my board. i cant take e blow if they do.
Just like what Agatha said; after this two weeks, we will be free. Yes, i hope so too, and i pray hard it will.
*i love the twins in my class. hehe
