"The Button"

As I was folding up my laundry 2 weeks ago, I discovered that a button was missing from one of my blouses. I really felt really sad coz this particular blouse was a favourite. I just resigned myself to not being able to wear that blouse ever again.

A week after losing the button, I saw my friend and her child arguing about something outside my house. Apparently, my friend's child has a nasty habit of picking up small things from the road. This annoys my friend very much as her child has another nasty habit of putting her hands into her mouth. So when I saw them outside my house, they were arguing over something "green and small". I was just laughing it off coz I am used to this scene. But when I looked at the object of their debate, I felt my heart stop and beat faster than ever coz there in the middle of the street was my missing button! What are the odds of me finding the button? One in a million!!!!

The small green button has become so special for me. Whenever I see it, I am reminded that God is concerned not just of the major things in my life but also of the seemingly unimportant things. I just feel like God is hugging me and telling me that I am truly loved by Him.

Children: Our Greatest Resource and Our Future

(students in my school)

The students in my school have just been extra sweet this past few weeks. It just touches my heart when I hear them call my name while walking in the corridor or when they give me an extra-tight hug for nothing. As a teacher, I realize that I have an important role to play in helping my students become all that God wants them to be. Robert Coles, a professor at Harvard Medical school urges us to regard children as fellow human beings yet to be constricted and constrained the way that some of us have been as we have made the various compromises that are called growing up.

Children are just like us in every way. Every time I get the chance to observe them, I see that I am just like them, just bigger. As Prof Coles puts it, they are "human beings struggling to figure out what this world means." The job that God has entrusted me is such a tremendous privilege. I get to teach the future leaders of the world. But it's also a great responsibility as I have to be careful with the things that I impart to them. I need to be an example.

I couldn't imagine myself doing something else. I never dreamed of becoming a teacher. But here I am, working as a teacher. Teaching is much more than just a profession. It is a lifelong calling that enriches me and draws me closer to the One who created me. I know that I cannot give what I don't have so I have to consciously make the decision to grow more intimate with God. So what comes out of me is just an overflow of God's love for me.

My desire is to be the best teacher that I could ever be. I want to impact the lives of many children who will one day be the leaders of this world. Oh what an exciting thought it is, to know that I may be shaping the hearts and minds of future presidents, scientists, business magnates or even future superstars. ;-)