This morning, I woke up feeling physically tired.. and my house seemed quieter than usual, as if it was a Saturday. Then I remembered that it's Teachers' Day, that's why my nieces and nephew are not over at my place in the morning cos they are my usual alarm clocks on a normal weekday.
I'm reminded of Teachers' Day and really it a special day where we remember our teachers... and everyone of us have had a teacher that has impacted our lives at one point or another. As I reflect on my years of study, I realised that there were many teachers who had taught me lessons in life, values.. in primary school, in secondary school, in college.. then i asked myself, who is a 'teacher'?? my answer, someone/something who (that) teaches me something, imparts certain knowledge/wisdom to me.
then it struck me that any person on the street can be a teacher to me..
i learnt not only academically.. but ppl on the street can teach me lessons about life.
My Sunday school teachers back when FCBC was in SLF days taught me to pray and bible stories. When I was in the children's choir, I was taught confidence and worshipping God. When FCBC moved to Touch Centre when I was in upper primary, my leader put me in Barnabas club which is for the older kids that the pastors felt were potential leaders.. and there I remember seeing a video of how children were standing on chairs, praying for adults and the adults were slain and touched by the Holy Spirit.
In Secondary school, I was taught the importance of community during cell group when we met after school for cell meetings and prayer walked the school.
College was like secondary school and it also helped me in maturing as a believer as I had better knowledge of God's word.. In NUS, it was another change before the church went into G12 and really the importance of bringing God's presence into the campus.. where the cells would meet in the evenings and I remember staying back in NUS waiting for my peers to finish their lectures before we met.. we would also gather as a community to study during the exam period and had meals together and chat with each other during breaks. Not forgetting how we would do exam blessings in different ways to juz bless our pre believing peers with no strings attached.
When serving in Gkidz, i remember the meals that I had with pastor yew lin after TCT first service where she would juz share her life with me.. and i just felt so blessed by her sharing even though time was short..
What am I saying? My point is, I'm blessed because there are so many teachers in my life.. even right now, up until today, I'm still learning.. I learn from my clients, the importance of family ties.. the importance of having a job, a roof over your head, food on the table for the family..
I learn from the cluster cell, what humility is, cos to apologise when we felt that we made a mistake, takes true humility. I learn from the cluster cell, what it means to show love and encouragement to each other.
It is easy to love people that we find loveable.. but if we CHOSE to love someone unloveable or we find difficult to love, isn't that TRUE LOVE? Our patience is tested when we meet someone who talks slowly, does things slowly.. but when we demonstrate patience to the person, we learn what it means to be PATIENT and to SHOW GRACE.
We can experience joy when the people around us are happy... but when we meet challenges in life, when the going gets tough, and yet like apostle paul, chose to trust God and give thanks.. isn't that learning that the JOY OF THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH?
As I walked to work, I even think of animals that teach me a thing or two abt life... A dolphin teaches me what it means to be sensitive to other humans. A penguin teaches what it means to have a partner for life. A tortoise teaches me slow and steady wins the race. A sheep teaches me meekness and gentleness. A serpent teaches me how to be shrewd.
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