"It is good to feel tired when you know that your strength has been used by Him who loves you most. For you know that you can do all things through Him who gives you the strength."
This was a very special message from my Tatay :)
True enough, for five days, every teacher's, driver's, cook's and participating worker's strength, voices, energy, mind and patience have been used up and stretched during the DVBS at Lalaan last May 2-6,2011. But all that we had to offer was used by Him who loves us the most, Him who sustains us, Him, our Everything.
A very sweet moment I had with the Lord after Day 2 was when He led me to this verse during my quiet time:
"You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound." Psalms 4:7
I share with you the overflowing joy that I have had.
Joy from teaching, joy from being with the children God dearly loves, joy with my co-teachers and co-workers, joy from the children's laughter amidst the heat and seemingly chaotic room, joy incomparable with God's presence every moment of the DVBS.
There was no over time for decoration-making this time. There exist no sleepless nights for drawing, cutting and pasting. The great challenges lay before us during the half day classes.
I was driven early each morning to plead for God's wisdom, strength, patience and help in teaching the children. One of my greatest fears was to find myself teaching and managing the class by my own strength and knowledge. And so I desired that emptiness, nothingness apart from my Lord.
And now, I share with you the challenges and experiences of a Head Teacher even a co-teacher. They are far from easy but not near the impossible:
Teacher in relation with the class - the students:
- The challenge of teaching the Bible Story guided by the Spirit (not by my own strength and knowledge) and careful not to extend beyond the attention span of 4-6 children.
- The challenge of gathering unruly, tame-turned-wild students especially during Day 2.
- The challenge of getting the children's attention, of battling with one voice against the 40 students' combined voices. (Considering my ever soft-spoken nature, I plan to install a microphone inside my vocal chords :O)
- The challenge of making such angels understand the mechanics of a game and drive them to enjoy it.
- The effort of dancing all you can to encourage them to dance as well.
- The challenge of stretching your patience beyond the widest way it has already been stretched.
- The challenge of going on, of keeping on keeping on amidst the drain of energy and the melting heat of the room!
- The challenge of being sensitive to God's leading to the needs of the children in spite of physical exhaustion.
- The challenge of having to gather even a small group of children and help them with the activity sheet when most could not still read nor write.
- The challenge of teaching in the presence of some parents ( a bit nerve-racking)
- The challenge of being an all-around-teacher; a mother to a crying child, maintenance to a spilled lugaw, sopas, champorado and etc., co-artist in decorating the room, overseer inside the classroom, mediator to quarreling children, and the one that I could never forget - nurse to a wounded child.
During Day 2, the picture of the student with blood in his eyes is still vivid in my memories. You could have seen my about-to-blow-out-into-tears face with the thought that he has been struck by another child with a pencil directly on his eye! I felt like my heart was crushed and all that I had whispered was the Lord's name while caressing the boy in my arms. But I tell you, God was in control! We found out that there was no wound in his eyes - it was from a wound on his chin, and the blood scattered when he was wiping his eyes. Yes, the Lord protects the children from harm! No plot of the devil shall prevail in God's working in the DVBS.
WARNING: Be careful of flying objects and dragging students inside the classroom. Your weapon against them: love, love, and love.
Head Teacher to my co-teachers:
- As an overseer to my co-teachers, it was a challenge for me to divide the tasks among them. I knew I needed to be sensitive to their needs and on what they're able to do. ( It felt a bit awkward when I always had to say po and opo since they were all older than me, except one)
- Giving commands is my weakness - I tend to take responsibility by myself but God told me to have an authority and He enabled me to give each member of the team a responsibility of their own.
- Leader = Follower. God taught me to act on what I can do myself but give my co-teachers tasks to do as well.
Our Two Greatest Challenges:
(1) Most of the students do not know their own names! We had a difficulty arranging their activity sheets and finally writing their names on the certificates.
(2) The search for the Most Behave :D (Whew! Didn't know we could find one!) Well, kidding aside, I realized that it's no fluke at all to choose the awardees. It needed painstaking deliberation before we arrived at a decision and thank God we've done it! :) Two thumbs up!
I am more than grateful for my co-teachers: Teacher Sandy, Teacher Marichu, Teacher Allane, Teacher Candy, Teacher AJ, Teacher Joseph, Teacher Gie - who have been with me some days and most of them the whole time during the DVBS! (Kudos to us! :))
The Lord gave me a glimpse of what my life will be years from now..... 'till the end - teaching.
He so widens my heart for the children, the passion in my heart is burning! I am to live the days of my life serving the purpose for which my Great Teacher and Creator intentionally designed me.
I am a student, learning to be a teacher. And I still have so much to learn and experience! But the thing is, I'm forever His student even if I finally become a teacher by profession. (can't wait O_O)
[His Next Lesson: 10 - 12 years old Assistant Teacher in Jabez] :O
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