Day 9 - What makes God Smile?

What should be the goal of a Christian's life?

Ans: To make God smile.


How to make God smile?

Ans: 1) God smiles when we LOVE him supremely.

God deeply loves us and desires our love in return. He longs for us to know him and spend time with him.

2) God smiles when we TRUST him completely.

• Trust God even when things don't seem to make sense.
• Have faith that he knows what is best for our lives.

An excellent role-model: Noah

(Click on Noah's Ark to find out some useful life lessons you can learn from it.)

3) God smiles when we OBEY him wholeheartedly.

• The Bible tells us that Noah obeyed completely (no instruction was overlooked), and he obeyed exactly (in the way and time God wanted it done!). That is wholeheartedness.
• Do whatever God asks without reservation or hesitation.
• Delayed obedience is really disobedience. God doesn't owe us an explanation or reason for everything he asks us to do. Understanding can wait, but obedience can't.
• Partial obedience is also disobedience.
• Wholehearted obedience is done joyfully, with enthusiasm.
• Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments." (John 14:15)
  

4) God smiles when we PRAISE and THANK him continually.

People feel better when they receive heartfelt praise and appreciation from someone else. God loves it, too. He smiles when we express our adoration and gratitude to him.

Because God supplies us with everything, from our daily food, family and friends, talents and to our lives, we should be grateful to God. It's not that God is a petty guy and will not bless us if we don't give thanks to him. On the contrary, God will still continue to shower his blessings generously on all human beings. But in the process of praising and thanking God, we recognise that whatever we have comes from God and indirectly, it helps us to develop humility.

5) God smiles when we USE our ABILITIES.

• We don't bring glory or pleasure to God by hiding our abilities or by trying to be someone else.
• Anytime we reject any part of ourselves, we are rejecting God's wisdom and sovereignty in creating us.

To sum up, like a parent, God does not expect us to be perfect or sinless. What matters is the attitude of our HEARTS. Is pleasing God our deepest desire? If so, there is nothing that God won't do for the person totally absorbed with this goal.

- taken from Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life.

I feel that God has given me the grace to have a deep trust in him that he has laid out the best plan for my life and that he is determined is carry out this plan. I would say this is one thing I'm proud of myself with regards to my relationship with God.

But one thing I really need to work hard on is to obey God, who is present in all authority figures and my mother, wholeheartedly. When my mother asks me to run some errands, I would often delay in helping her and sometimes even forgetting all about it. When I'm told to carry out certain tasks, my first reaction would be to ask, "Why?" I used to think that it is only reasonable that I do things for you after I've understood or appreciated its rationale. If I don't agree with your explanation, then there is no motivation for me to do those tasks.

While this thinking may sound logical, at certain critical, especially possibly life-threatening moments, you just don't have the time to seek for the explanation. You must obey your leader immediately, without hesitation, unless you are prepared to suffer terrible consequences.

Testimony for Recruitment of Catechists

On 19 Oct 2008 (World Mission Sunday), I had to give two testimonies during Chinese mass at 8.30am and during English mass at 4.20pm for the recruitment of catechists at Sts Peter and Paul Church. This was my first time giving a testimony.

"耶稣长得帅吗？谁是耶稣的曾曾曾祖父？”这些有趣的问题都是我的一年级要理班的学生问的。

各位兄弟姐妹，早上好！我是凤婷，在这间教堂教要理已经有一年多的时间了。今天，我想和大家分享自从我决定当要理班老师后，天主所赐给我的三种赏报。

第一点、每当学生充满好奇心地问一大堆关于信仰的问题时，或者兴致勃勃地参于课堂上的活动与游戏时，我就会很高兴，而且觉得所付出的努力和时间去备课是值得的。

第二点、从孩子们的身上，我也可以学到东西，仿佛是天主在我教要理的过程中帮助我培养谦逊的美德。比如说，在我今年教的班里头，有一位很虔诚的小孩，名叫Amos. 他一踏进小教堂，坐下来，就会自己喃喃自语。原来他是在念天主经！这位小孩的举动提醒了我应该更敬畏上主以及事事多祈祷。

第三点、教要理也能使我在灵修上成长。记得有一次，我很生气某人对我说过的话，一直耿耿于怀。刚巧，那个星期，我正要准备教宽恕。当我在练习讲述宽恕之道的比喻时，我顿时重新领悟了这个道理，放下心中的不悦，决定效仿耶稣宽恕这个人。突然间，我感到天主真的时时刻刻与我同在，而且好像在通过我准备的教材来指点我该怎样做。这岂不是一种最美妙的赏报吗？

总的来说，正如圣保禄宗徒在斐理伯书信(4:19)说：“我的天主必要以自己的财富，在基督耶稣内，丰富满足你们的一切需要。”所以，别犹豫了，快加入我们的队伍吧，为天主向下一代传布福音。谢谢！

“Is Jesus handsome? Who is Jesus’ great great great grand-father?” These are
just some of the questions my P1 kids asked in the catechist class.

Hi, everybody! I'm Veronica from the Catechist Ministry. I'm here to share with you
three ways in which God has rewarded me after I decided to serve the Lord as a catechist.

Firstly, whenever I hear my pupils ask interesting questions about their faith in class and get very excited participating in the quizzes, games and activities during my lessons, I would feel delighted and that's enough to brighten up my day. All the time and effort spent in preparing for the lessons would be worthwhile.

Secondly, I get to learn a lot from the kids I'm teaching and in the process, God is also helping me to acquire humility. For instance, I have a very devoted kid in my class this year. His name is Amos. The minute he enters the chapel, he will straight away mutter “The Lord's Prayer” on his own initiative. He doesn't have to wait till communal prayer time, and that behaviour strikes me that I need to be more prayerful and show a greater respect for God.

Finally, but not the least, I realize I'm growing spiritually as well. I remember there was once I had great difficulties forgiving someone and coincidentally, that weekend, I was planning to teach about forgiveness. As I was practising narrating the parable of forgiveness, it suddenly dawned on me that God was using my teaching material to tell me what to do and to further convince me to forgive that person. God had manifested his love and presence for me at that time through my lesson preparation. So, isn't that a marvelous reward?

Hence, to sum up, like what St Paul said to the Philippians (4: 19): In return, my God will fulfill all your needs in Christ Jesus, as lavishly as only God can. And in the first letter to the Corinthians (9: 18): It is the privilege of preaching the Good News without charging for it, without claiming my rights in my work for the gospel. So, are you ready to take up this privilege to help spread the Good News to the young generation?

I doubt whether my testimonies have convinced anyone to be a catechist but there is one thing for sure, and that is, through the Biblical quotes in my testimonies, someone felt touched or comforted by God as one auntie came up to me and asked which chapter of the letter to the Philippians I had mentioned. I'm glad that my testimonies have effectively served as instruments of God's Words. Praise the Lord!

I also need to thank Lord Jesus for giving me the inspiration to write out these two speeches. Glory to you Lord!

For One More Day- Forgive Yourself

When you’re rotten about yourself, you become rotten to everyone else, even those you love.

I had no one to talk me out of my despair, and that was a mistake. You need to keep people close. You need to give them access to your heart.
(extracted from For One More Day)

My greatest take from this novel is the importance of being able to forgive yourself.

Charley Benetto adores his father since young, only to see him leaving his mother when Charley is on the verge of adolescence. With regards to baseball, Charley is as passionate as his father.

Years later, after Charley is married, on his mother’s seventy-ninth birthday, his father calls him to invite him to play in an Old Timers game. Though Charley is a bit hesitant to accept the offer, he cannot bear to reject his Dad; so he fakes an excuse, lies to his mother, wife and daughter and flies off. As he is reminiscing (remembering / recollecting past experiences) the glory of his days as a young energetic baseball player while swinging his bat, his mother collapsed at his hometown due to a massive heart attack. Charley thus misses the only opportunity to bid farewell to his mother. As he drives home through the night, he is tormented more by guilt than by shock and grief. Since then, his life has been destroyed by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits rock bottom after discovering that he won’t be invited to his only daughter’s wedding, and this is the most crucial thing that drives him to commit suicide.



Clearly, as Charley cannot let go of the immense guilt deeply engraved in his heart due to his irrevocable decision, he submits himself to alcohol and his relationships with his loved ones inevitably deteriorates. He does not confide to his loved ones anymore and becomes “ornery (grumpy) and distant”. He imagines himself suffering all alone. He shuts everybody out from his own world until he meets his dead mother...

It is a well-known fact that hurting people hurt others. The longer you
avoid forgiving yourself, the longer you allow yourself to harbor the feelings that you deserve to suffer for what you did, the more explosive you will become and, therefore, the more apt you are to hurt others. (extracted from http://www.allaboutgod.com/forgiving-yourself.htm)

Personally, I had been through this experience before. (Refer to last year’s August entry 4/4- Bane of my Teaching Career) The feeling was terrible once I realized that I had vented my frustration on another group of innocent pupils. I resolved this problem by confessing my sin to God and asking God to teach me how to be a firmer and more righteous teacher. After that, the healing gradually took place and I have never since repeated that mistake again.

Teaching is a life-giving career. If we persistently dwell on our sins and cannot forgive ourselves, then we are robbing ourselves of the opportunity to learn from our mistakes and to move on with life and with God. How can we then overcome our obstacles when we are stuck in our misery? How can we then encourage our students to stretch their limits when we already believe that it is impossible for us to impact others?

Forgive yourself. Let go of whatever you are holding against yourself. You can let the healing begin...

Writing Testimonials

Yesterday, I finally completed the mammoth task of drafting all the testimonials for my form class. A huge load was instantaneously off my shoulder as I printed out all the drafts and passed them to Mr. Osman to vet. After the first vet, I still have to print out the amended testimonials for Mrs. Aziz to vet. After the second round of amendments, then it would be the Principal's turn to vet. So you see, it's such a tedious and laborious task and all of us have to be very careful about it as once the School Graduation Certificate (SGC) is printed, then correction of each error will cost the school $50.

We will give you a chance to check your testimonial, so by then, please scrutinise (to examine it in detail carefully or critically) it! But anyway, rest assured that I did not rush through this process of drafting. I spent on average an hour recollecting each student's achievements and strengths in his / her character and writing them down. Thankfully, I have no other urgent tasks to be completed at hand, unlike other teachers who have buried themselves in marking their Sec 1-3 exam papers. Thus, I was in the clearest and most relaxed state of mind while writing your testimonials. :>

The most challenging part of writing testimonials is to omit all negative remarks, even for the most challenging students. However, fortunately for me, as I have taught you guys for at least a few years, I have been able to pick up some commendable qualities for each one of you. Hence, look forward to your testimonial!

Few interesting statistics:
1) Shortest testimonial: Hardi
2) Longest testimonial: Maisurah (Had spent three hours drafting it!)
3) Most unique testimonial: Louie

This statement is from the bottom of my heart. I'm truly honoured to be the first teacher writing your secondary school testimonial.

You can do anything! You ROCK!

I can do anything I set my mind to.
I can make dreams happen by the things
that I do.

I dug out this motivational poster from my classroom drawer. The academic year for my dear 4N pupils is going to end in less than a week’s time. Very soon, they are going to face one of the greatest challenges in their lives, and perhaps the most daunting (intimidating / scary / frightening) one for them so far: the GCE ‘N’ Level examinations.

As I chatted with some of my pupils during my English lessons (which now are slacking time for them), some of them admitted to me that they only started doing serious revision from this week onwards, just a week before the start of their national examinations! I am appalled (extremely shocked)! But soon, I realized one possible reason for their half-heartedness in their preparation for the ‘N’ level examinations. It was their fear of ending up in Institute of Technological Education (ITE) despite having studied till secondary five.

No doubt, this is something that can possibly happen, but YOU CERRTAINLY HAVE CONTROL over your academic performance. YOU CAN DECIDE whether this ‘tragedy’ will happen to you or not.

Don’t set limits to your own capability! Once you have the fear that you can’t make it, your body will subconsciously produce the inertia (a feeling of not wanting to move or do anything) to influence you not to take so much action or put in too much effort to achieve your goals. Without much hard work put in, how can your goals be achieved? This is a self-fulfilling prophecy (a statement made about something they believe will happen). On top of that, the fear or the so-called limit will distract you and obstruct you from achieving success. This is a vicious cycle that just further reinforces the apparent notion that you are a born failure, but it's just an ILLUSION! You have to get yourself out of this trap!

Sound too philosophical or psychological? Well, I recently had a similar experience and let me share it with you. I usually take a long time to finish my meals, especially if it is my favourite vegetable rice. One day, my timetable was so packed. I knew I did not have the luxury to spend one hour for lunch but at the same time, after eating my breakfast in the canteen, I could not resist the tantalizing look of the fresh green leafy vegetables that was just cooked. I stood at the vegetable rice stall, gazing at it for a few seconds. I calculated the time that I could spare for lunch that day, only a mere twenty-five minutes during the upper secondary recess period. However, the temptation was so great that I decided to pack my lunch back to the staffroom, casting away all my concerns of the time constraint.

After teaching for two hours, I returned to the staffroom and quickly sat down to treat myself the packed vegetable rice. Usually, I love to multi-task by checking my e-mails and eating at the same time. But at that time, I did nothing except to concentrate eating my lunch. Of course, I managed to complete consuming my satisfying meal within half an hour. Another reason why I found that meal very fulfilling is because I broke my shortest eating record time, which would at least be forty-five minutes. If I had been afraid that I could not finish my meal in time, I would then have to starve till dismissal time, which was exactly what my colleague had to endure. She looked at me with envy and exclaimed, “Wow! You really manage to finish eating that delectable (delicious / very attractive) vegetable rice that you bought just now!” I smiled back at her with glee.

Well, hope this simple story can illustrate what I meant by not setting limits to your own capability. As long as you are not doing anything morally wrong or illegal, then go ahead! FOCUS, cast away all your worries and JUST DO IT! You will enjoy a BREAKTHROUGH in your life.

Remember, YOU ROCK!

Prayer for a Student

(This prayer is dedicated to all students who believe in Jesus or hope to ask for Jesus' help in your studies though you are not a Christian or a Catholic.)

O Infant Jesus, eternal Wisdom made flesh, who shed your blessings so generously on all, and most especially on school-children and students who trust in You, please look kindly on me as I implore (beg / appeal)You to guide and assist me in my studies.

You, O God made Man, Lord of all learning, source of all understanding and memory, come and help me in my weakness. Enlighten my mind, give me an ability to acquire knowledge and truth and the capacity to remember all I learn. Be my light, strength and comfort in moments of special difficulty.

By the grace of Your divine Heart, may I do all my school tasks to the best of my ability and gain the utmost profit from them, so that I may get good marks and, most important of all, be moved up next year.

To merit such favours, for my part, I promise to perform faithfully all my duties as a Christian and to love You more and more. O Sweet Infant Jesus, keep me always under Your protecting mantle (a loose, sleeveless cloak or cape) and be my guide, not only on the path of learning, but above all on the path to eternal salvation. So be it!

Making a comeback!

Finally, finally, I completed all my preliminary exam papers marking, prepared the examiner's report and model essays and distributed to my 4N pupils today, on their first day of the GCE 'N' level examination. It is such a relief, like a huge burden removed! Although there would be always some pupils who detested being held back and forced to listen to my feedback briefing, I did not care. I told myself not to be bothered by such unwelcoming gestures and remarks. All I know is I have done my best to prepare you guys and I am clear to my conscience.

After the invigilation and sorting out of my abandoned exam papers and notes, I decided to slack for a while to reward myself after working soo extremely hard for the past weeks or even months.

First, I checked my blog and saw Boon Hao tagging me. He has started his own blog, and through his blog, I saw many other 4N boys' blogs, like Chuan Yong, Xiang Yi, and the well-reputed Soon Yang's blog (Mr Labi's livejournal). I thought these boys were not interested in blogging initially. What prompts them to suddenly start their own blog at this stressful period? I pondered. To improve their English? Very unlikely, maybe it's true for Soon Yang. Or are they getting emo too so they need to blog to pour out their emotions? To relieve their stress? Perhaps.

My virtual journey in cyberspace then commenced. Visiting one blog after another and tagging one blog after another, including old ones and new ones, and soon, around two hours passed. I then start to type this apparently meaningless entry. Funny, the whole experience is just like catching up with some long lost friends when actually, I get to see them EVERY DAY! Really ironical!

Improve your English through Online Reading

My dear pupils,
I bet some of you are getting more and more anxious about the upcoming 'N' level English exam, right? Fret not. Besides practising papers after papers, here's the fun way to improve your English expression, enrich your vocabulary and as well as gain more knowledge about current trends and affairs.

Here's introducing you TWO valuable websites.
1) STOMP- http://www.stomp.com.sg/stink/ (with a highly interactive and vibrant interface)
The sections that I like best are:
a) Talkback- a forum with a myriad of topics and perspectives.
b) Star Blog- Seven star bloggers penning their thoughts on controversial and sometimes personal topics. (a very good source of Standard English as compared to students' blogs)
c) Media Club- Access to a variety of less serious newspaper articles as opposed to those in Straits Times.

2) Channelnewsasia Blogs- http://www.channelnewsasia.com/blogs/
The only difference between Channelnewsasia Blogs and Star Blog on STOMP is that the latter contains entries on a designated topic every week whereas the other one contain more personal entries.

Don't just read blindly and quickly if you want to improve your language expression. Take down any useful words or phrases and copy the entire sentence accompanying it. Collect these useful vocabulary expressions and try to remember them.

Copy the entire text onto a blank Word document. Hide certain words and then test yourself to see whether you know the answers to the blanks. In other words, test yourself cloze passage.

Effects of Second-Hand Smoke

QUIT SMOKING FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SIBLINGS, FRIENDS OR EVEN YOUR GIRLFRIENDS! DON'T SUBJECT THEM TO THE RISK OF AN EARLIER DEATH!

Quit Smoking!

Believe it or not! The following statements are just smoking myths. I hope this video clip can convince you to quit smoking, once and for all.

Myth 1: Smokers need will power to quit.
Myth 2: Smokers choose to smoke.
Myth 3: Nicotine and gum patches work.
Myth 4: Giving up is hard.