Sunday, January 20, 2013

Frame Letter


To my future students,

I missed writing to all of you. Though I did it only once through blog and a couple of times for a project in one of my major subjects, it remains my desire to keep you in touch with what is happening to me as a student at present and as your English teacher in the future.
I hope you too are thrilled with the surprises that every new year has in store for us. This 2013, I know you may have a lot of plans, a lot of expectations for a great year ahead. It isn't wrong to make it a goal to have your new year's resolutions and promises fulfilled as early as the 20th page or first 3 weeks of our 2013 journey. Of course, success is what we aim for. However, my dear students, that is not always the case. As early as the start of the new year, success could be seemingly out of our reach.
I called my first week in school "a real tough week" wherein everyday never ran out of to-do's. But that's not the only thing that made it tough, because tougher than my raging school works was my raging heart. The battle within my heart was against a painful part of my past. These are moments when something you have out-rightly disowned and left behind starts shouting at you and demanding your attention. You may even wonder why you are disturbed and affected by its screams when you think that you have long forgotten it. And in reality my students, it could not end there. You too can crawl back, drawn to this past and give it the attention it demands. It is when you start moving backwards instead of moving forward.
To speak to you in a manner clearer to your understanding, moving backwards could mean cheating again when you promised you'll never do it again, hurting people when you asked forgiveness and told them you'll not hurt them again. Simply put, it is doing AGAIN the wrong things you've done in your past. And that is the very thing that happened to me my dear students. My year began with this struggle and I nearly lost the battle.
My battle with that was not yet over when another army of trial attacked me. My dear students, in my desire to be able to be a better, more knowledgeable and expert teacher for all of you, I aspired the Global Undergraduate Exchange Program. This is something you can read in my past entries. The result of whether or not I passed the interview was released this week. And the outcome was both good news and bad news. The good news is, I'll be teaching you sooner since I'll not graduate late, but the bad news is, I felt sad for myself and for our department. Every year, the English department has a representative accepted for the Global Ugrad. This time, they do not have one.
My dear students, could you feel the weight your English teacher felt for being so distant from success as early as January? I fret that you too might experience this and would not know what to do and how to respond to it. I would like to share within this letter I have for you, a letter God gave me (during one of my devotions, I asked Him to speak to me as I scribble whatever he led me to write in my journal). I already posted this but then, parts of this specific message can be altered to suit the painful, incomprehensible moments in your life that makes you think success and hope is too far.

                         "What happened to you is not something I planned to make you see how little you are--- a moment I planned to make you feel discouraged, worthless and a mess. I was in control even if you weren't. For every single thing that happened in the process--- be it fun, stressful, inspiring, saddening, I am Lord of it. Something beyond your understanding is what I'm doing in your life. And all you should hold on now is that very situation that cannot be understood by your mind, that could not be accepted and faced by your heart--- is something I willed--- the BEST I have for you regardless of how painful or unpleasant it is at the moment."

          If you experience failure or even feel like a failure as early as the first month or any week, day, hour and second of this year, remember, He is LORD of every single event. He is Lord of pleasant and unpleasant situations and He has a purpose for everything that happens in your life. Put in mind and trust that He truly has “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11) And this does not depend on the situation--- whether it looks good or bad to you. All good and bad: He turns them for your good.

                                                                     Hoping the letter within the letter helped you,
                                                                               Your Future English Teacher

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