Victoria speaks: "Be thankful. Laugh. Sing. Praise God."

Victoria, a fresh psychology grad from NUS, is a full-time teacher in a secondary school. She enjoys cooking and that makes many of us in Campus very happy indeed!

Hi brothers and sisters!

Finally found some time to sit down and type a slightly longer email. This week has been pretty interesting for me. I am now a Form Teacher (sorry to those who had heard me repeat) and I am now calling parents every day and writing different reports for students. It's interesting how previously I always looked for the form teachers to complain abt their students but now teachers are looking for me regularly to update me abt my students. I am also now in charge of a CCA - ELDDS. Strange to think abt it... I had never been in ELDDS even though I am such an animated person. lol. I think I have enough drama in my life (*wink at the sisters*).

Okay before I ramble further... I just wish to share some thoughts about what I have been reading this week. Ever since school started, I told myself that I wanted to face this semester with a new attitude. I wanted to really glorify God in my teaching and not be so caught up in negativity when students fail to respond in my class. It's tough to teach when I feel like I am a zookeeper constantly. So! In order to have a change from negative thinking, I read this book called "Mind Change" by Thomas A. Jones that Vanessa gave me. Every page has a short quote and bible verses to meditate on.

Today I read this: "Be thankful. Laugh. Sing. Praise God." When I read this, I was reminded of Teck Ming's Sunday sermon when he said, "When we win, we praise God. When we lose, we praise God." This quote was illustrated powerfully in the movie " Facing the Giants". (I am going to find a way to show this movie to all my classes... to motivate them to be personally responsible.)

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18: "Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live." (Message)

Wow... to thank God no matter what happens... To just say thanks to a bad situation is tough enough... but to be grateful to God for a bad situation is ... ____________ (Please fill in the blank yourself). I have to be thankful to God for my students? To be thankful to God for the last-min responsibilities entrusted to me? I have to be thankful to God for unsupportive parents? I have to be thankful to God for all the extra extra workload given to me?

When all these questions flooded my mind, I caught myself going "Eh... no la... how to be thankful?" The only positive thing I could think of was that I was more prepared to be a teacher. Yet... I miss out a most important detail. In all these new situations, have I been thinking how much I want to glorify God? how much I can show others that as a Christian, God has given me the strength and joy to sustain myself in the most difficult times? Have I impacted others with my joy or with my cynicism?

Then as I was praying... I remembered one of my long term goals: To be a disciple who is known not for her fashion sense but known to be dressed in strength and dignity and how I can laugh at the days to come. (Proverbs 31:25) I have printed out these verses and pasted them on my table... (Yeah... no more 'idols' on my table la... :P). As I prayed, I also remember how David is currently fighting with so much vigour in his battle with cancer. I remembered reading how Thomas Jones fought his multiple sclerosis. I remember how Paul kept his spirit up despite of him being imprisoned. They all shine so brightly because of their constant gratitude towards God.

Thus, I am also going to strive to be a teacher and colleague who glorifies God in everything I do. Let's all do that together k?