The past two weeks have been filled with occasions that have led me to this quotation by Brian Tracy. One of those was the recent 37th Anniversary Celebration of my covenant community, Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon. It was, as the men, women and children of Ligaya were reminded, a great opportunity to experience the gift of grateful hearts. To be grateful for the gift of community, the gift of brothers and sisters who share the same vision and mission of bringing more men and women into personal, growing and thriving relationships with our Lord. To be grateful for the gift of community, recognizing lessons learned through the pains and victories experienced throughout our being part of Ligaya. To be grateful for the gift of pastoral care and service and for the opportunity to serve brothers and sisters in many different ways as the Lord provides such opportunities to be used by Him.
Another occasion to experience devout thanksgiving, as Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it in his quotation, was a send off cum birthday celebration for a brother in Christ, Harold Camonias, who is pursuing his call to priesthood in Australia. He was here for a short visit and he actually went back to Australia yesterday afternoon. It was the first time in a long while that a lot of the brothers and sisters (who served with Harold in Lingkod Greenhills before he pursued his call to priesthood) got together (with some bringing their kids along). It was truly a great time of catching up and renewing ties with old friends. We were actually pointing out jokingly that only Harold had the powers to bring together so many old friends who have difficulty getting together on that large a scale even if all of us live here in Manila (albeit different parts from North to South to East to West). Truly, it was a blessing to have come together for that one rainy afternoon and just allowed friendships to be rekindled! And so, the next time Harold comes back for a visit, which will be around two years from now, it will most likely be a reunion cum children's party on the side. :-D
There will definitely be more occasions to be take on that attitude of gratitude and devout thanksgiving and, through those experiences, stories of grateful hearts will continue to be shared here. I am truly grateful to the Lord for providing me this avenue for such stories!
To be honest, there have been times when going to class has been difficult. Especially when you're not sure if the students appreciate all your efforts in accompanying them in their learning adventure. Or if they even want to learn when they feel that your subject is either boring or not value - adding enough to merit lots of their time and effort. But those times get way overshadowed by the times when you see students enthusiastic about your class or when they say that they're having fun while learning a lot at the same time (even when the subject matter may not really be that exciting at face value).
You can find yourself saying "Should I still exert so much effort?" after another dull and blah class session where you had the hardest time getting students to respond. Or you can find yourself humming and saying "What's the next installment to this fun and exciting class adventure?". Whatever response you'll have, for me, one thing's very sure and I definitely agree with Albert Einstein here. Regardless of the response, I should always approach my being a teacher as an opportunity to give of myself and whatever I can to be able to contribute to the learning journey of my students whether they recognize it at the onset or perhaps belatedly.
It seems that challenges will always be part and parcel of our lives. From experience, I believe that God placed these challenges in our lives for us to grow more in both trusting Him and in being able to face our limits and overcome these hurdles.
I've been teaching for many years now yet I find myself regularly facing the challenge of a new semester or trimester, new classes and new students. I've come to learn that each semester or trimester, each class and definitely each student is different and, therefore, I have to be ready to adjust the way I approach each class accordingly. Most of the time it works, sometimes there are misses yet I find myself asking "What do I need to do to get it right the next time?" Challenging your limits helps you to see what you can do better the next time.
“Most of us all walk around as if we're sleepwalking. We really don't experience the world fully, because we're half-asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do.”
― Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie
As I begin my second month of this blogging experience, I find myself being grateful that a former student of mine pushed me to start this blog (which, like I mentioned in a previous blog post, was part of my bucket list). It's something new, it's definitely a learning experience for me and it's definitely something that's not automatic to me. And I like what I'm experiencing as I go through this blogging journey. I am encouraged and inspired by all the feedback that people (mostly the brothers and sisters in my Catholic community, my former students and my current students whom I have shared this blog with) have given me so far.
