March Hols

May end up with quarterly updates on this blog, given the busy schedule of a teacher.

The March hols was fantastic. This was our schedule:

Mon - Finally managed to send Jed to school. Spoke to his relief teacher (a young petite girl who is at most in her early twenties) and she said he interacts with other kids at the playground, can count and knows most of his alphabets. She also said he is generally a good boy. Good to hear that. Thank God. Did not stay in his school for long as I went to my own school to do some work.

At around six, we went to Changi Village as Lyndon had devotion with his BB boys there. We walked for awhile and Jed enjoyed looking at the boats and spotting aeroplanes at close range. Jed and I then went to my parents' place for delicious popiah. He had a good time entertaining us with song and dance there.

Tue - Went to Science Centre with some colleagues. Thinking of setting up a Maths gallery in school. Jed was quite happy at the gift shop, Maths and sound exhibits. He was quite amused by a sound show that we watched. The adults and Eden enjoyed our lunch at Sakura, which was well worth our $12 + GST. Only Jed was disinterested in the food, perhaps due to his recent illness.

Sadly, our plans for the evening had to be changed. I had intended to bring Jed to a concert in school, but he was still not well and neither was Lyndon. So, we ended up at the doctor's clinic. We discovered that Lyndon was running a fever and that Jed probably had an infection in his lungs. It was amazing that Jed was still so active despite the illness. I'm glad he got better.

Wed - Jed was better this morning and we brought him to a free holiday camp at the Little Gym. It lasted an hour and a half. Besides the usual gym routine, there was snack time and a pasting activity. I think Jed had a good time despite saying that he did not like gym class anymore that same morning. We then proceeded to Ion for lunch with Kevin, who recommended a nice popcorn outlet. I bought a small tub of green apple flavoured popcorn and loved it. Amos thought the popcorn was mouldy though.

In the evening, we went kite-flying with colleagues. It was part of David's farewell. He is so popular that so many farewell events were organised by different groups of people. We wish him well and that he will continue to touch lives. The kite-flying was fun and Lyndon, Jed and I managed to get the kite flying a few times. We ended off the session with dinner at the Riverboat and the food and company were gorgeous. :) Jed and Lyndon went home earlier since Lyndon had cell group.

Thu - Kids Kampong was our stop on Thursday. We had fun fishing. We caught six fishes and the operators decided to give us a few more free fishes as our catch seemed rather small and unattractive. Jed also had fun feeding the different animals. We proceeded to have a sumptuous lunch at Ikea, which was just around the corner.

Fri - Jed had swim class while I had to work. I thought I could finish in half a day, but ended up leaving school at around six. When I reached home, Jed was so pleased that his toy train was found (it had gone missing in my school and mysteriously surfaced on my desk today). He exclaimed, "Yay! Jed's train is found. It got lost in Mama's school and somebody found it!" Besides that, I totally enjoyed myself playing and watching the story of Moses on TV with him. At the point when the Israelites were released from Egypt, Jed was so happy that he marched around the table several times.

Praise God for the good break and time spent with Jed. We will be going to visit a fire station tomorrow. Looking forward to that. :)

I did manage to accomplish quite a lot of work whilst Jed napped and slept this week. I cannot believe that only one school term has passed. I seem to have aged so much. The work is enjoyable and challenging, but exhausting. I seem to always think that I can do better. I pray for strength, joy, favour, wisdom and patience, both at work and at home.

I also continue to pray that Jed will grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men. May we have wisdom to raise him up to be a God-fearing man. Amen.

New Year

Jed started school on Monday (4 Jan) and he probably has not adapted fully. On the first two days, he wailed for Papa. On the third day, he cried intermittently and yesterday, when Grandma picked him up, he sobbed miserably. I am quite sad that I am unable to send him to school and pick him up after school. Hearing about how upset he is makes me feel even sadder. Thankfully, Lyndon brings him swimming every Friday, so he only attends school for four days a week.

Dear Lord, please help Jeddy cope with school. May he find favour with his teachers and peers and may he be open to learning new things. Help him to respect authority and to obey You.

Jed's mummy isn't doing all that well. There is currently a ton of work waiting for me to do. I probably should be trying to do that work now instead of griping, but I am so drained after a week. I want to excel in the job. In the past week, however, I have felt helpless and incompetent. I know it is still too early, but I feel I am not getting the rapport with my charges. Being a sensitive person, I have already been hurt by a youngster's comment.

Even worse, I was impatient with Jeddy while feeding him, knowing full well that his behaviour at dinner was due to fatigue.

Dear Lord, please help me in all my responsibilities. I want to glorify You in all I do and many times, I have failed. Please grant me strength, love and patience as I fulfill all my roles.

Moments with Jed

Moment #1

(I was preparing Jed's lunch.)

Jed: Mama, are you cooking something special for Jed?

Me: Yes! I'm making yummy pasta for Jeddy.

Jed: Thank you Mama.

(Jed was eating the pasta.)

Jed: Mama, what is Jed eating?

Mama: Pasta and salmon. (Neglects to mention broccoli, mushroom, tomato and garlic)

Jed: Mama, what else?

Moment #2

It was our third night in Malaysia. Jed slept in between my aunt and me on the first two nights. This night, my aunt decided to sleep on the sofa and I slept on her side, leaving my original side empty. In the middle of the night, we heard a voice saying, "Mama, where are you?" The three ladies in the room sat up immediately and found Jed missing! Later, we found him looking rather distressed outside the toilet. He had actually climbed off the bed to look for me as he could not find me where he thought I would be!

Moment #3

This also took place in Malaysia. Jed was crying for a small matter. I told everyone in the room to leave him alone as I did not want to give attention to a tantrum. Alice, my aunt and I continued with our tasks, being aware that Jed's cries alternated between loud and soft and that he was sneaking glances in my direction to see how I was reacting. Finally, he couldn't bear our behaviour, so he walked to me and announced, "Mama, Jed is crying!" I explained to him that I would have attended to him if he had properly made his request known. Hopefully, this would deter him from crying to get anyone's attention.

Moment #4

Jed and I went to his school to get his uniform and to settle administrative matters. I had prepared him earlier by saying that we were going to his school to see his principal. After I had done the necessary and was about to leave the school, Jed asked, "Mama, are we going to Jed's school?" He did not realise that we were already at his school as we had previously referred to his school as a playground. (There is an outdoor playground there which we bring him to frequently.)

Children are so enjoyable! :)

Jed's Birthday

Praise God for the fantastic weather on Jed's birthday. We carried out the BBQ at Labrador as planned and I think all the children enjoyed themselves. We really thank the Lord for His favour. It was raining all week and the forecasted weather on 7 Nov was a 60% certainty of a storm.

Jed was quite happy singing his own birthday song. He also did a dance jig when everyone else sang the birthday song. I'm glad he seemed happy. :) I also had a fun time decorating his cakes. :)

Jesus Loves Me

Jeddy has been spouting out lyrics of songs and to date, he knows:

1) Twinkle, Twinkle

2) I'm a Little Teapot

3) ABC

4) Deep and Wide

5) Happy birthday

and so on.

He also knows parts of other songs such as "He's Able".

Yesterday, he sang the whole of "Jesus Loves Me". Although it was a somewhat tuneless rendition, my heart melted upon hearing him sing it as it tells me he is assimilating the things we teach about God. I'm sure our Father is even more pleased to hear the innocent voices sing love songs to Him.

Blessed

Praise God! In particular, I would like to thank God that:

1) We (Lester and I) got into the finals of a songwriting competition! I found out about the competition a few days before the deadline. A nice tune popped into my head during Jed's swimming lesson. I asked God for the lyrics and poof! The song was ready in a short time. Lester agreed to sing and record the song for me although he was rushing to meet some friends. Praise God! May the lyrics encourage those in need, although without the mention of God, the song seems incomplete.

2) I scored 100/100 on my nonparametric test (The range was 40 to 100). Thank God.

3) I can watch Jeddy grow. Spending time with him brings joy. I believe God also delights in spending time with us. I pray for wisdom, love and godliness as God uses Lyndon and me to raise Jed.

Approval Addiction

I took out an old book "Approval Addiction" by Joyce Meyer to read. It reminded me of the need to seek approval from Jesus rather than from people.

I am generally rather concerned about whether I say or do the right things and how people would view me. I used to ask Lyndon if I had said anything wrong during our meetings with people. Now, when I feel this question coming to my mind, I would speak to Jesus instead and thank Him for loving me for who I am. I also ask Him for wisdom to say the right things in all circumstances.

I have to take deliberate steps to focus on Jesus and the needs of the people around me, rather than to focus on myself. I also need to be conscious of my thoughts and to meditate on things of excellence.

Being constantly aware of Jesus is liberating. Spending time with Him also brings about peace and joy that surpass all understanding.

Update on Test Result

Just a short update on my previous post:

Praise God! I got 93/100 on the sampling test.

Memory Verses

Jeddy has memorised parts of 2 Bible verses. I think knowing the Word is more important than knowing ABC's or 123's as the Word will equip him fully for life.

Me: I am the ...

Jeddy (with enthusiasm): way, (the) truth and the life!

Me: John Chapter 14 verse

Jeddy: 6

Me: I will be ..

Jeddy: glad

Me: and

Jeddy: rejoice (sometimes says "jump" as he was taught to jump at this part)

Me: in You! Psalm Chapter 9 Verse 2

Jeddy: Chapter 9 verse 2

Wisdom from God

Have been reading Proverbs recently and am amazed at how the Lord had prepared advice for every situation. The words of wisdom are so practical.

The following passage also encouraged me a few days ago:

I Corinthians Chapter 1

26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— ³¹ that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

(New King James Version)

Jesus became the wisdom from God for us! We can have wisdom in any circumstance we are in - in our studies, at our workplace, in our relationships etc. Today, as I sat for a test in school, I asked for Jesus' wisdom. At first, when I looked at the paper, I did not even know what the questions were asking for. I kept trusting God for wisdom and managed to finish the paper way before time. While I started out praying fervently, I ended by thanking God. The experience felt so divine. Will update when I receive my results. Whatever my grade, I know that God had provided.

I also heard a testimony about how a teacher had a dream that her whole class would score A* in Maths in the PSLE. The dream was indeed realised and the teacher knew the feat was not due to her effort. She gloried in the Lord as she recognised how the Lord had given her the dream and provided the results.

Am continuing to trust God for wisdom with Jeddy. He has been very good-natured and obedient and I've had lots of joy being with him. I pray against the Terrible Twos and may the Lord teach Lyndon and me how to be wise parents.

New Module!

In an earlier post, I wrote about how 2 modules were taken out of this semester's schedule and how I was at a fix as I had to take a difficult module meant to be one of the qualifying exams for PhD students.

I was willing to give it a go but after the first two lessons, I was still clueless about everything that was taught. Making it worse was the fact that we had to submit tutorials every week. I spent hours just trying to research on the basics and it was really too time consuming.

Finally, I wrote to the programme coordinator to explain my predicament and to request for a new module. At first, the reply was that nothing could be done. I just had to work hard for a "bad grade". So I continued to mug and asked the Lord for wisdom to understand the materials. Praise God that He gives abundantly and the coordinator wrote again. This time, he said he had spoken to the head and his colleagues and they decided to offer a new module. This was after the "Add module" period was closed. Hallelujah! I was so happy that even Jed could feel my euphoria and he also smiled from ear to ear. The new module was what I had intended to take had it not been removed from the schedule.

Isn't God good?

I still need prayers as the workload is rather heavy. Each module comprises weekly tutorials and readings and I barely know anyone in the Nonparametric module since all my friends decided to read the new module.

Toilet Learning / Training

We've not been actively toilet training Jed, but have been helping him be aware of the need to go to the toilet. He managed to stay dry from 9am to 7+pm without diapers on Tue! :) Praise God. However, I've still been helping him a lot with reminders etc. so the next step will be to help him be more independent.