bloggable things

i've taken longer than usual to update - usually i blog about once a week - reason being, i'm plain lazy. Haha. There have been some bloggable stuff - like church camp, but i just didn't feel like blogging. So i didn't. i thoroughly enjoyed the camp and it was a really refreshing time.

i stayed over at Diana's last Friday after our excursion to town where Diana and her cousin, Hazel hunted for earring parts and swarovski crystals. i went along for the experience and managed to amuse myself without too much effort ;) i even bought crystals which Diana so obligingly used to make a pair of dangling earrings for me. i joined them for an early Mother's Day dinner, and it was fun just to be part of a family for a short while.

On Wed nite, i did my first teaching for KLTI on Mark 6-10. Paulina had approached me about 2 months ago about trying out teaching, so i decided to give it a go. During camp, when we broke into groups of 4 to pray and prophecy over each other, lei wah said i have the gift of teaching, and connie chee saw a picture of me standing in front of a group of people, teaching. i took it as a confirmation of what i was about to embark on, and it encouraged me to take a step of faith to do the teaching.

i started preparing for the teaching about a week before i was scheduled to be on. since i had not done anything quite like this before, i did have fears that it wud be a flop and concerns about how the students wud receive the teaching. i asked god to take those expectations and fears away, and help me to focus on Him, and really trusting Him because all that matters is that He is pleased.

paulina suggested i meet up with her to run through things but one thing after another came up, so we got together for dinner on wed before class and prayed together. i did not rehearse what i was going to say, i just felt strange to be practising in front of invisible people :D

i wrote some notes, went through the reading guide and tried to collect my thoughts. when paulina asked me what was the one thing that spoke to me, i told her i dunno coz i'm trying to remember everything! hehe. the moment of truth came, and amazingly, i didn't feel very nervous. perhaps all the experience teaching english in college really helps. i think i surprised even myself :)

i just shared from my heart, trying my best to give the students some background and continuity to what they are reading, and the significance of certain events and etc. there were so many things that i felt was deposited in me but i was afraid i wud not be able to articulate them, but the holy spirit really led me through it. i taught for about 35 mins and funnily enough, did not refer to my notes at all. it was a surprisingly satisfying experience, and i'm eager to do it again.

i'm really happy that the students looked like they got something from it, and the feedback was mostly good. for me, this is a beginning in a journey of learning to share God's word with others, and now i can say that when i took up the 'challenge' i can see how faithful god is to lead and to give wisdom, and i look forward to seeing Him work even more in the future.

i do know that it takes a lot more than just being able to teach to make a good teacher. i need to have a heart for my students, to be genuinely interested in their lives, especially in their walk with Him and just being there to encourage, share, and even correct when needed because its not just about being able to share, but wanting God to work fully in each student's life.

i'm really grateful to have paulina and pat who are so willing to guide and impart, and prod me on. thank you, for your faithful commitment to teach klti.