God Painted that Beautiful Smile on My Face Through...

http://thelivingtruthfellowship.org/jtltf/ministry-news/211-you-are-now-free-to-move-about-your-face-and-smile

The other day I found myself wearing that beautiful smile on my face while I walked away from my second to the last class in the afternoon.  Yes, it was my students and the fulfilment at having served them even in that 15 to 20 minute discussion in class before they plunge into their activity writing.

I was a full time guidance counsellor for 10 years in the university (high school department) and taught part time in the graduate school particularly the subject career guidance.  It was just last July 2013 that I joined the department of education for teaching.  I found myself adjusting with the school environment.  But more than anything I adjusted more being out from the house and away from my dear daughter from lunch time to 7pm.

I feel that I sacrificed a lot being away from my daughter but I feel the merit of that everytime I feel that fulfilment when I engage in the classroom.  I have never felt more fulfilled in my professional life than what I have now.  And that one class encounter where I was all sweat in that very hot classroom of Grade 7 students in a public school where I am currently working.  And where there was lots of laughter and giggles from my students while we teased one 12 year old boy and I commented “you are cute… very cute and…and smart” brought that beautiful smile on my face.

Fulfilment does not really come from the grandest of position, salary or popularity but from the simplest of life’s encounters such as that one “little boy” that moved my heart and painted that beautiful smile on my face.

PS....i told my husband one night “ do you notice that i don’t really complain much lately? It is because...I feel that I am doing the right thing...for others”...SERVING GOD’S INNOCENT ONES

"Happiness is a Choice"

The following was an article that I submitted as one of the requirement in my post graduate studies....an article that we were asked reflect upon..written by Francis Kong, one of my favorite writers.

http://happinessaddicted.blogspot.com/2011/05/stumbling-on-happiness.html

When I read the article entitled “BEING HAPPY” it linked me to a learning that I started to embrace and espouse a long time ago – that HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE.  It has not escaped my attention hearing people everyday complaining about a lot of things.  From low salary, intense and erratic weather, too many work loads, too many bills to pay, misunderstanding with members of family and a lot more up to big concerns of the country and the world.

The author shared that happiness is a by-product of living a godly life.  I cannot disagree in such statement for a godly life for me is the ultimate purpose for which  we are placed in this world for.  It means we have that ultimate calling for us to fulfil.  Submitting to it would mean joy and happiness.  Yet we are caught with so many distractions in a day.  A lot of times we are derailed from our purpose and path.  That is why we see a lot of people who label their life as UNHAPPY  - discontented and unsatisfied. 

Yet still I contain with what I am embracing right now.  HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE.  I might not be able to change or alter my situation but have a choice as to how I would interpret, perceive or look at a situation.  Even my feelings can change.  I have a control to it and  how I would manage it.  I cannot escape from its natural spurts yet I have a say as to how much of it would creep unto me.  I cannot be a victim to my own situation. 

I can declare happiness even the most painful situation and I have a God that gives me the strength and the grace not to be consumed by life’s usual concerns.

"At The End of the Day"

The following was an article that i wrote as one of the requirements in my post graduate studies based from the article written by Francis Kong....

I find the article very heartwarming.  “At the End of the Day”…what is it that really matters?  A  student asked me “why are you here in this school ma’am?  Why are you teaching?”  A colleague has told me “with your qualifications you could climb up the ladder of leadership”.  Hmmm.  First, I answered the student “I just want to teach”.

 And the other colleague “ with the complicated process, I guess found out what really matters for me at this time…that is to go home to a family – my beautiful husband with his embrace and my beautiful girl that innocently responds with her intense desire through her eyes to be embraced everytime I get home”.

In my current work, I am assigned to teach and do counselling at from mid day to 8pm.  And when the clock strikes 8:00pm, I would rush at the school gate to time out so that I could get fast ride home.  At the jeepney I would excitedly “daydream” of my family, pray for their safety, and scan so many beautiful views in my mind.  Sometimes they would lead me to tears. 

Truly since I got married, I felt a sense of distaste with competition.  I have encountered a big re-routing such that I found more contentment with my family life than the glamour of competitions and promotions so desired and ran after by many.  I shared with one of my professors that I once had a chat with that I have found more meaning with what I am doing than the life I once had related to career and profession.

I found myself silently treading my path and balancing my life right now.  There is more life that is  commitment with family, spending and “waste” a lot of time with them.  I rarely even go out with friends.  I realized how my life has found its true anchor in love through my family.  But, I could not totally reject the older one because it has become my point of learning.  It has become the basis of comparison and a springboard to finding a much better meaning to where I am right now. 

I can never trade what I currently have with any wealth in the world.  And as I found God to be my ultimate and true rest at the end of the day,  it is my husband and little girl that has become my venue of extending my “rested and in love heart”.