More Valuable Than Sparrows

The dark clouds covered the sky and the wind was blowing dried leaves in various directions. Nevertheless, I decided to keep the wooden door of my open to feel the wind while watching the unique motions of tiny flowers and dried leaves in the air. Rain had sent its signs to warn us before its arrival while I was sitting in the living room, chitchatting with my mother over a mug of Horlicks and she had her tea.

It was one of those days when I was talking with my mother while a million questions were running through my head and tugging at my tiny little heart. “When are you going to find a permanent job? Why are you only getting replies to applications that you are not looking forward to? Why are the ones you seek the most being the least found? Is this not the right place to plant your seeds?” These questions seemed to become a worry as I kept on thinking without finding answers. Oh, the troubles my heart and mind went through, totally oblivious to my mother, as I chatted about the nice children at school!

Just then I felt a gush of wind on my skin, and a tiny little thing swirled around and landed on my lap. I was about to push it off, presuming that it must either be a dried flower or a leaf as always, but I changed my mind and decided to examine it first. To my surprise, it was none of those but the teeny-weeny feather of a sparrow. Almost instantly, a very familiar verse in the Bible struck me.

“Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So, don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.”
Matthew 10: 29-31

“…Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs and he will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
Matthew 6: 32-33

That little feather reminded me about the Lord’s presence in every situation and it encouraged me a lot. I’ve pasted that feather safe in my book of poems, always to be treasured. Isn’t God so sweet and sensitive to our needs? :)
Truly, we are more valuable than sparrows :).

Bits 'n' Bytes of School (Part 3)

Tina: Can I call you Saturn?
Myself: Why?
Tina: Because you earrings look like the planet Saturn that I drew for Science!

* I have this pair of long dangling earrings-it’s silver with three pink ‘balls’ of different sizes, each having a streak of white at the center. The largest is in the middle of a silver square. That looks like Saturn.

-The little girl from India was wearing 3 wristbands that read 'Love', 'Dream' and 'Best Friend' each. She asked me to sign my name on the wristband but I told her that i prefered if the band looked original. She then took off the ' Best Friend' wrist band and asked me to wear it because she said I was her best friend. She was very happy that I agreed to wear it till school was over, although the band was over sized. Every now and then, she would pass by me, point at the wristband and smile widely. Such an adorable child!

-Another 10 year old girl secretly gave me a very sweet looking, pink color, heart shaped lollipop secretly as a gift. She told me not to tell anyone else or they would ask me. She hid it even from her younger sister! Kids are so cute and just have a way of melting hearts:)

These are just few of the conversations I shared with the children, and they have never failed to make me remind me of my own schooling days and make me realize how alike, and yet different we are.

Bits 'n' Bytes of School (Part 2)

Alice: Teacher, I don’t want to do Science. I hate it so much. I just want to play.
Myself: How can you say that? Learning Science helps you understand the world that you live in. It’s so interesting!
Alice: Then why don’t you learn it yourself?
Myself: I did, when I was your age. And I liked it. Now, whether you like it or not, you have to do your Science, so it’s better that you start to love it. Morever, the principal will check your work tomorrow.
Alice: Teacher, why must you become like my mother? Day and night nagging! At home I hear it. Now, here also!
Myself: If you don’t want people to ‘nag’ at you, you should behave in such a way that people won’t need to ‘nag’ at you.

(At this point, she started meddling with her stuff and disturbing the other students around her. So I sternly said that if she refused to do her work, I wouldn’t allow her to sit with me at my table, and she would have to return to her own cubicle.)
Alice: Why must you be so fierce now? Ok lah, I will do it now. (And she started her work, and completed a very good number of pages!)

* I was just comparing myself with these children. During my time, the teachers gave orders and we just obeyed (the only exceptions were the rebellious children.) This girl, Alice (not her real name) was not one of the rebellious kids. She was just one of the typical children in school who was voicing out her honest feelings to me. To a large extent, I am their friend. I eat with them during recess and sometimes join in their games. They don’t really fear me as I am friendly with them most of the time. They share their sadness and disappointments with me, when they fail their exams or get scolded by other teachers. Some of them also run and show me their papers when they get good scores…But looking back at my school days, my classmates and I never talked in that manner to any teacher regardless of how nice and friendly they were. Times have changed…..

Amy: Teacher, will I go to Hell?
Myself: Why are you asking me such a question? Didn’t you just learn about that last week ?Amy: I learnt…I know…I believe. But just now Sally sent me a note saying that if am friends with Jane, I will go to hell. Sally said I must not befriend Jane if I want to go to heaven. I feel very afraid. I don’t know what to do.

*My goodness! The extent children go to in their quarrels and differences!!!

Jane (10 years old) : Jo jie jie (elder sister in Mandarin)…I want to tell you a secret. Don’t tell anyone, ok?....Sally and David like each other. Yesterday, Sally (12 years old) sent David (14 years old) a note asking him “ What do you like?’ You know what he replied?....”I like you hair. I like girls a little bit taller than you……I like you!”

* Hmm...teenage crush!

David: Where’s Morgan?
Myself: At home. Why are you so bothered about Morgan?
David: Because Morgan is my friend. Morgan is cool. I like Morgan. When are you going to wear Morgan again?
Myself: Maybe next week.
David: Yeh! Yeh! Morgan is cool! Will you wear it on Monday?

* Morgan, by the way is one of my turtle-neck tops. I wore it with black jeans. It’s dark blue with splashes of lighter shades of blue across my chest, with the brand name “Morgan” written on it. This is one of my favourite tops and seems to be the kids’ favourite too. A number of them have asked me when I plan to wear it again. Whenever I wear it, David would come and greet it, saying “Hi Morgan!”

Bits 'n' Bytes of School (Part 1)

It has been about two months since I started teaching at the ‘home-school’ and I am indeed very happy there. Every day, I return from school with different stories of how lovable and sweet the children are.
Here are just some of the cute, funny, naughty, inexplicable and sweet dialogues between the children and me.

Student from India: Jo Dhidhi (meaning elder sister in Hindi), after you stop teaching here, I will come to your house and see you everyday.
Myself: What if I have to work outstation?
Student from India: You must work here. I will pray for you to find a job here. You must pray hard too!

(This student is a 10 years old girl. Very adorable and intelligent. I go to school with her and her litttle brother everyday as we live in the same row of houses. In school, I teach her Bahasa Melayu and she told me that she loved learning with me. After school, in the evenings, around 5 pm, she and her little brother, together with another 12 year old Chinese boy in the neighborhood, would come over to my house. We would either spend time drawing in my house, or going for a walk with my dog while they cycle.)

Little boy from India: How you can draw like that! It’s so beautiful! (And he took my drawing of a small goldfish and kissed it!)

(This little boy is 5 years old and is very adorable as well, just like his sister.)

Little boy from India: Jo dhidhi, can you please help me carry my bicycle down the steps? ( in the playground)
Myself: Sure.
Little boy from India: Jo dhidhi, you must be very careful because you are very small, just like me. Your hands are small, just like mine. We are not strong.

David: Do you know that I have I friend in USA? (While I was helping him with his History & Geography- about USA)
Myself: Really? What’s his name?
David: David…David Smith. He’s getting married tomorrow.
Myself: So, did he invite you for the wedding? Or is he coming over?
David: Yes, he’s coming over. He’s getting married to (my name). And she will become (my name) Smith.
Myself: …Interesting….(I knew right from the start that he was ‘crapping’, because he always talks like this, but I just played along. But at this point, I was at loss of words when I realized that I was part of his ‘crap’.)
David: No lah…I was only kidding…So, when are you getting married? He he…

(David-not his real name- is a very bright 10 year old boy, and he is very rarely quiet.)