I always look forward to the summer. Not only does it provide relief from work (no school!!!), but it is also the time of year that I spend the most time reflecting and meditating on God. I love being able to just sit at a coffee shop in the morning, have my coffee and breakfast,  read the Bible and other Christian blogs, and think about life. It’s sad though, too, because I feel like I should be able to spend quality time with God year-round, and not just the few months that I have off. Still, I treasure the limited time that I have on hand, and try to make the best use of it.

I recently read on Been Thinking About an article titled Knowing the Will of God. Ah, yes, one of those Christian topics that we are always fascinated about; at least I know I am. I love reading about this topic because I am always trying to find out if I am doing His will. However, one particular part that caught my attention on this article was this paragraph:

“…according to the Bible, ‘the will of God’ that we should be concerned about is not about being in the right place, but having the right attitude. From the Apostle Paul’s words to first century slaves and masters (Ephesians 6:5-9), we concluded that when the Bible urges us to do ‘the will of God’ it is something we can do wherever we are if, from our hearts, it is our desire is to serve ‘our Lord Christ.’” (bold type added by me)

So wherever I am and wherever you are, we can all be in God’s will if we take on the right attitude. As I continue to reflect and meditate on God this summer, my prayer is that I not focus on the nitty-gritty details of life and trying to figure out what I should do. Instead, trying to place my focus on figuring out what I should BE.

1 Thessalonians 5:12-18

“Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Can’t believe that it’s already 2009! It’s been another half a year since I’ve blogged again…. =P Again, the procrastinator in me has been taking over for quite a while!

I’ve been trying to catch up to my 2-year Bible reading plan… and I think I’m quite a bit behind! I believe my 2 years are up this coming October, but at the same time I don’t want it to become like a “chore” to read my Bible. I’ve been differentiating my Bible reading and my quiet time with God, so that I don’t become legalistic again. I try to treat my Bible reading plan as a discipline, and a step to growing intellectually in His Word, whereas I still try to build up my relationship with Christ at the same time. Sometimes I use the Bible reading plan as a tool to that, and sometimes I don’t. So far it has worked well for me. As a result, I won’t (or try not to!) associate simply reading the Bible with getting to know God personally. And just because I missed a day doesn’t mean that I can’t still lean on God and be close to Him that day either.

Another lesson I’ve been learning lately is stewardship of the gifts God has given me. I recently read some articles on Gospel.com regarding stewardship. I think that with the new year and with everything that has been going on with the economy, financial stewardship has probably been in the forefront of most people’s minds. However, as I read the articles, what spoke out most to me was the stewardship of my time and God-given-gifts. I’ve been putting my gifts on the back-burner for a long time, and it’s still sitting there. I’ve also been praying about ministry for the longest time, and have been listening for the Lord’s prompting. He has been putting something on my heart for a while, but with the busyness of the holidays and my trip back to Hong Kong, it was kind of put on hold. But now that I’m back and things are back to normal, I believe that it’s time for me to step up to what God has been telling me. So with a new year, I believe it’s a good start!

As I look forward to the rest of 2009, I pray that God will further His plans in me, and that I can keep up with Him! It’s going to be a great year!!!! =)

It has been a difficult 2 weeks back at school. It has been physically and emotionally draining, and I am so glad for the long weekend. I am already looking forward to the next holiday…

During the first week back to school, I experienced a conversation that was very upsetting to me. It felt like a slap in the face, and I didn’t even do anything! I know that the person who said it did not mean it the way that she did. She probably doesn’t even have a clue that what she said was hurting. But I was totally taken aback, and didn’t know how to respond. After the conversation, I was so upset that I wanted to tell someone, but had no one to go to. I was unable to find the ladies who are like my “mentors” and was playing phone tag with my mom for a whole week.

But the second I couldn’t get ahold of these ladies and my mom, the Holy Spirit gently reprimanded me; reminding me that who I really needed to talk to was God Himself. That through Him, I can receive a peace that transcends all understanding. And I did! It was amazing.

And I praise God that He has given me a peace that none can give. The situation has still not been resolved, and I have no idea when it will be taken care of, if at all. But I’m okay with that. I know that He is in control. And that even if things don’t go the way I want it to, I can be at peace with it.

Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I finally went in to see my advisor at SCU to see how I should go about my master’s program. I went in at 11am today, and was very pleased to find out that I was able to waive 3 of my core classes! Hehehe! As a result, I don’t have to take summer classes, and will officially start in the Fall!!! WOOHOO!!!!! Praise God! =)

I also decided to help out with teaching VBS this summer. I had only signed up for sanctuary decoration this year, since I didn’t know what my summer was going to look like. However, the lady who was in charge of VBS came up to me and talked with me the other day at our VBS orientation day. They were in need of lead teachers, and asked me to pray about it. I had been helping out for 2 years now, but it was always as the role of an assistant, and also in the Early Childhood classes. This year it would be in the Elementary classes. Even though I teach at an elementary school, I needed to remind myself that this was God’s ministry, and not a job. So I’ve been praying hard to the past 5 days, and God finally answered me this morning, right before I went to see my advisor.

And God is super faithful. When I wasn’t sure how things were going to turn out but I still put my trust in Him, He opened doors for me. I sometimes wonder if I hadn’t done that, would things have turned out the same way? But anyhow, I’m happy that it did, and now I need to focus on preparing for VBS. Pray for me! =)

Praise the Lord!!! =D

They’ve been there for a long, long time…. Network, phone, and TV cables stretching across the expanse between the living room and the two bedrooms. I knew it was going to happen one day, I just didn’t know when it was coming……

The careless me has been tripping over those cables many a times, though each time I was able to avoid falling and hitting something. A few days ago, at my in-laws’ place, they were talking about stretching some cables along their living room, too, and I said that it was dangerous and that someday someone might trip on them. Arthur readily said that it hasn’t happened at home yet, and that maybe I should just be more careful of how I walk. It’s not like I don’t pick up my feet. It’s just that sometimes those cables stick up into the air and my feet catch them….

So anyway, this evening, with an empty coke can, a large bowl and plate (thank goodness they were plastic and empty!), and two forks in my hands, I was planning on taking everything from the bedroom to the kitchen when I tripped (yet again). But this time, I actually fell. Everything went flying, and I landed on my knees. *ouch* I started laughing and tearing up at the same time, and was on my knees for quite a while. Arthur comes running out to see if I’m ok, and there I am, on my knees, half laughing, half crying…. not knowing how I felt or what I wanted to do…

After calming myself down, Arthur asks me why I was laughing… I don’t know… Maybe just the fact that it finally happened and that I felt stupid…. And I don’t know why I was crying either… Whether it was because my knees hurt, or maybe I was laughing too hard that I started tearing…. =P I also realized that I had slightly scraped my knee on the carpet…

But of course, the cables are there to stay…. Maybe someday I’ll learn to walk without tripping over them. Or maybe the wires can learn to stay low near the floor…. Maybe I need an area rug to cover it up so that I won’t trip over them….

So stupid of me….. =P *sigh*

I believe there are 14 more days of school before summer vacation! Woohoo!!! =) But in the meantime, there are tons and tons of things I need to finish up before school’s out.

Now that the CUSD and CEA have a new contract (thank goodness!), work-to-rule has ended and I am back to crazy hours again. I’ve got papers galore to grade and to give back before the kids leave for middle school! Hahaha. I’m just hoping I can get all of it done!

Also, Santa Clara accepted me into their masters program for the summer – which means I won’t really have much of a summer break! Oh well. But I’m excited and ready to go back to school, even though it’ll be part-time and I’ll most likely be on overwhelmed! So my MA will be in Interdisciplinary Education – Teaching and Learning with Technology. And yes, it’s a super long name! But it’s something that I want to learn about, and I am soooo excited to get started!!!

I guess there hasn’t been much going on lately. I was so busy with all my CEA stuff that a lot of things got pushed aside. Hopefully my life will get back together now.

Summer, here I come!!!!! Yay!!!!!!

It’s been in the back of my mind for the past few years already, whether or not to go back to school for a grad degree. So finally I’m thinking that I might give it a shot. There are so many options I could take, that it took me quite a while to figure out what I want to do. And even now, after I’ve decided, I sometimes have doubts as to whether it’s the right decision or not.

However, that wasn’t even the hard part. Now, it’s time to mull over my statement of purpose. *sigh* I dug out the statement of purpose that I wrote for San Jose State for my Teaching Credential Program. Honestly, I think it’s pathetic now. Then again, it was written like 6 years ago. This new statement of purpose has been on my mind for the past few days now, and I’ve only come up with like one paragraph. And I don’t even know if I like it or not. I need to just sit down and write something, then let it sit for a while before I come back to edit and revise it.

I know I’ll get it done before the deadline… I just hope that it get something I LIKE done before the deadline…

Note: I am merely venting out my frustrations with this post. I’ve been so strained with the whole negotiations between our district and the association that it’s draining me. Being involved with the association also makes it more tiresome, because not only am I dealing with issues at my school, but also all the other issues at other schools within the district. Therefore, please excuse my bitterness and disgruntlement.

I am so sick and tired of all those ignorant *sorry* people out there who think that teachers have it easy because we only work 7-hour days and have vacation all the time. I don’t blame those who just don’t know any better, but I do blame those who come and complain to us when they don’t even know what we do.

With all the negotiations going on between our association and the school district, there has been much talk about how teachers are complainers, and that what we are asking for is unreasonable. They obviously don’t understand all the time and effort we put into our work.

If you ever knew a teacher well enough, you’d know that we don’t only work the 7-hour day. We are PAID a 7-hour day, but probably work an extra 3-4 hours every day UNPAID. When do you think we have the time to correct papers, plan lessons, do report cards, hold meetings, etc?!?!?! If you are naive enough to believe that we can do all that during the day AND teach the kids while we do that, you must have been from a different planet.

And yes, we have summer and winter and spring recess and holidays off… blah blah blah… But if you don’t teach, you probably didn’t know that we aren’t paid a penny for those. Most people have 10 paid holiday dates a year, e.g. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, and so on. We don’t get paid for those. Most people have 2 weeks of paid vacation a year. We have vacation, just not paid. We are said to be “salaried” when in fact, we are paid daily. If we need to miss a day for any reason, that comes out of our paycheck.

My husband, brother, and even best friend can attest to the fact that I work more hours than what I’m supposed to. I spend SOOOOOOOOOO much time on my school work, my husband tells others that I don’t have a life. I have so much to do ALL the time.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to teach, and I’m not complaining about going the extra mile for my kids. I’d do anything within my ability to ensure that my kids get the best education they can get. I’m not usually one to complain for I try to see things on the positive side for the most part. However, this whole negotiations thing is taking a toll on me. Our contract has been expired since June, the district won’t negotiate, and I’m tired of all the politics involved in this. I just want to get back to what I love to do, and that is to teach. I’m just complaining about the disrespect that people have been showing towards teachers due to their ignorance. *sigh* I just want it to be over……

Happy 2008! Can’t believe another year went by that quickly. And I can’t believe that I’ve gotten to a point where I’m not up for new year’s celebration anymore. Arthur and I just stayed at home. I didn’t even realize that it was already 12 until Arthur said, “Happy new year!” No partying, no watching countdown on TV (Arthur had Law and Order marathon on TNT), nothing. Well, I did dig into to the fridge to find the white zin that we had opened like centuries ago, found my purple crystal toasting flutes from Crate and Barrel, and had a mini celebration by finishing off the remaining wine in the bottle. That’s it. *sigh* So now he’s back to world of warcraft, and I’m here, blogging for no apparent reason.

New year’s resolutions are overrated, and yet I make them every year. And like most, I don’t end up keeping them. I don’t even remember what my resolutions for 2007 were. I’m sure they’re written in my journal somewhere. So again, I’ll have some for this year. Mostly likely what I had resolved to do in 2007 but didn’t get around to. Maybe my #1 resolution should be discipline, so that I can accomplish the rest of the list. Hehehehe… Or not to procrastinate… Hahahahaha. Don’t know how far I’d get with that though.

Well, no matter what, here’s to 2008! Make the most out of the year, enjoy life, and don’t forget to count your blessings along the way! =D Cheers!

Today Arthur and I drove all the way up a mountain (can’t give away the location). It’s amazing how it’s still in San Jose, yet still took us close to an hour to get there! It was a windy road, but the scenery was great. We wouldn’t have made the trip all the way up there if it weren’t for my new-found hobby – letterboxing. It’s basically like a treasure hunt. I look for clues that are provided online, and I go out in search for a “letterbox”. Inside the letterbox will be a rubber stamp, which I stamp into my little book. I then stamp my personal stamp into their log book.

So far, Arthur and I have found 2 letter boxes. It’s been awesome and tons of fun. Hopefully we’ll have time to go out to find more. There’s only like a couple that are relatively near to where we live, but there’s plenty in the south bay. We’re planning to go to Oregon during the Christmas break, and maybe we’ll find some there too! =D