Finally launched: The Teacher in Me

CSM Publishing invited me to write a devotional for teachers because I have been teaching part-time in college (and MBA) for almost two decades. "A book such as this will help bring comfort and peace to teachers."  

A dream project, I thought.  

To my shock and the world's, one month later, the pandemic suddenly upended every teacher's life. Classroom teaching abruptly went online. 

While writing this book amidst the turmoil caused by the Covid-19 lockdown, and reading the Scriptures, I realized that teaching is not limited to a classroom. Anyone who imparts knowledge and values IS a teacher—a mentor, private tutor, Sunday school teacher and VBS volunteer, parent, trainor, supervisor, etc. 

In fact, Jesus never taught inside a classroom, but He was addressed over 60 times as Teacher by the multitudes and His disciples. Bar none, He was the greatest Teacher Who ever lived; His teaching ministry revolutionized the world. 

The title, "The Teacher in Me,” therefore, is not about me; it is about Him. 

It was He Who called me to teach, and Who inspires me to carry through. 

My becoming a teacher was no accident. Neither is it an accident for every person who imparts knowledge and values learned through sweat and tears. 

I like to believe that my long teaching stint is a testament to the Teacher’s provision of energy to model my faith, so that my students may likewise welcome the Teacher to live in their heart.  

Writing each devotion, based on my and many other teachers’ narratives culled from countless interviews, has left no doubt in my mind that Jesus is in every learning locale, in fine or foul weather. He builds bridges where there are gaps, shines light where there is darkness, gives patience where it runs thin—a complete teach-and-reach kit!    

Our world is in disarray these difficult days. But as sure as the sun will rise again tomorrow, even if this crisis will take a turn for the worse, if we focus on our all-knowing God who commissioned us, we will sail through. 

Nobody called to teach should quit.  

He promised us: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” (Psalm 32:8) 

ooo

The book was finally launched online (Zoom with FB live) on 23 October, 20 long months after that blessed day CSM Publishing gave me the privilege of writing it. 

It was attended by faith brethren, friends, family, and those called to teach. 

Without having read the book yet, one encouraging message in the chat box read: "That's a nice line . . . the teacher in you. I was always told I am not a teacher, because I do not teach in a classroom setup. But I do teach communication to junior writers in the office. What a confirmation!" 

By sheer grace, despite problems in book publishing during the relentness quarantine with strict health protocols that dog us till today, "The Teacher in Me" saw print. 

May it honor and glorify the Teacher Who guides you and me where we should go.   

#Awesomeness

This is how dictionaries define awesomeness: a quality that inspires awe. Its informal meaning: an extremely or amazingly good or impressive quality. 

It is this second definition that is now popular among cyber denizens. If you click on the hashtag #Awesomeness, posts gush over things (music, events, food, places) in a superlative way. Many of these are recorded on videos. There is even a group page on Facebook called Awesomeness. 

A dear cousin, a retired general and a self-confessed technologically challenged non-netizen, said, “I don’t need the Internet to find awesomeness. I just flip through my Bible and there I marvel at awesomeness in its super-superlative form!” 

The first two verses of our Bible (Genesis 1:1-2) shows awesomeness immediately:  

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” 

These can never be replicated by any human invention. 

CGI (computer-generated imagery) in movies creates all kinds of awesomeness today—galaxies being reduced to smithereens and dust forming into living things. But these are make-believe. These cannot compare to an actual solar or lunar eclipse, or stars playing hide-and-seek with the clouds. Try to wake up at dawn and watch the sunrise making the sky burst with various colors.   

Awesomeness! 

Amos 5:8 paints grandeur in words, “It is the Lord who created the stars . . . He turns darkness into morning and day into night. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land!” 

God gave man breath, but He takes our breath away with the awesomeness of His creation.  

Reflect and pray: 

“O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.” (Psalm 8:1)

ooo

After the Workplace

Five years before turning 60, Gian invested heavily in stocks. He wanted to make sure that all through his non-working years, he would still have income. “I don’t want to depend on my children to support me.” 

One of the greatest fears of retirees is running out of money. “What if I get sick?” 

The “what ifs” eat us up. Indeed, we all want the security of having resources for the rest of our lives.

But no stocks, insurance, HMO, savings, or any financial investment can guarantee anyone of security. My husband and I know wherefore we speak. We invested in a college plan for our youngest son, perpetual care/funeral arrangements for when the time comes, and a life plan that stipulated regular dividends after a few years of prompt payments. All of them closed shop—hard-earned money gone down the drain. 

Planning for retirement is of course a good idea, but there is a far better idea to look forward to: having an eternal inheritance that never runs out, and that is available only through faith in Jesus Christ.

We sometimes forget that there is a plan that gives us guaranteed security way beyond this life, and indefinitely into the future.  

Apostle Paul said that we have been born again because “. . . God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay." (1 Peter 3:4 NLT) 

This inheritance guarantees life that never runs short and never runs out. We will have everything we will ever need.  

Reflect and pray: 

A place is reserved for me in God’s eternal kingdom. How should I prepare for this everlasting inheritance? 

ooo 

Training Up

Darius, aged 9 and an only son, always looked forward to his grandpa’s visits on weekends. That day, Darius asked grandpa to play chess with him.  During the game, Darius was playful and wasn’t taking the game seriously. 

“Checkmate,” grandpa said. 

Darius sulked. 

Darius’ dad (grandpa’s son-in-law) talked to grandpa later and said, “Next time you play with Darius, please make sure he wins. He’s still young and we need to encourage and affirm him.” 

Grandpa was heartbroken and thought silently, Am I of the old school? He had always believed that children, no matter how young, must be told they are wrong when they are. They should only be rewarded for things they do well. Otherwise, they would grow up thinking they are better than others, and worse, they can do haphazard work and still emerge a winner.  

Disciplining children is a must in the Bible. Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV) says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” 

Darius may have felt disappointed, but through his defeat, he was being taught by grandpa to play better next time.  

In Hebrews 12:11 (NLT), we read, “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”  

Proverbs 13:24 minces no words, “He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly."

Before he left for home, grandpa told his daughter in private, “This is your family and I do not mean to interfere in how to bring up Darius. But please look up what discipline is in the Bible—and see how your Mom and I brought you up.” 

Reflect and pray: 

How can I help young parents to practice discipline? 

ooo

A PINK New Day

October 7, 2021, was a day like no other amidst this long, unending pandemic. 

From morn till night, everything I ever learned about creating a good advertising campaign was defied by all. 

And a new brand of hope was launched.   

It was the day incumbent Vice President Leni Robredo, the choice of the ISambayan coalition and a host of other groups to be the opposition's presidential bet, answered the call and officially filed her Certificate of Candidacy.  

Before her announcement, there appeared on social media some posts (profile pictures and memes) in varied shades of pink, the color that volunteers have been using on communication materials to convince Leni to run.  

In advertising, I learned that a well-crafted strategy be first put in place before the creative execution—posters, billboards, leaflets, press ads, and slogan, etc.—could begin. We had a color-and-template manual with strict specifics for a unified, total look. 

However, immediately after Leni delivered a speech about her decision, a multitude of pinks suddenly sprang up: some labeled in Filipino, some in English, on images (roses and other flowers, gowns, ribbons, furniture, buildings, you name it). No well-laid strategy, no creative parameters. Everyone was his own creative director. 

A sea of pink materialised like magic.

"Have you ever experienced a pink sunrise? I just did," tweeted Manolo Quezon, a noted Filipino writer.

That described precisely the emotion choking me. I felt as though grace rose in all shades of pink, shining brightly and signifying the dawning of a new, beautiful day. 

It was then I realized what some friends have earlier articulated, "Leni is not a brand, but a movement." Indeed, it is growing organically towards hope: to end  the decaying and decomposing culture of impunity that might have already ensconced itself in our beloved Philippines in the last five years.   

My profile photo in glowing fuchsia/cerise/magenta/amaranth, courtesy of my friend Ggie, features a "Tumindig" avatar holding my newest book. 

Before the day ended, social media was in a phenominal pink-palette frenzy—with more slogans in all dialects and formats, more photos of every size and kind, more poetry and songs. JUBILATION. All caps. 

I needed to blog about this to record a time in my life when people spontaneously celebrated the bright pink of hope.  

This hope does not rest on Leni, but her kind has been sent to us, at a time of despair, so we can have a foretaste of our joy and peace if we fix our eyes upon the Source of all. 

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NLT)

Photo credits: the collage is made up of borrowed FB profile photos and posts of friends 

A Cheerful Heart

My dear friend Lynnie, dubbed as "book lady," has a heart so cheerful it shines wherever she goes.  Even if plans are waylaid or aborted, her brilliant smiles and disposition make people feel everything will be okay. 

After choosing to stay single for some time, while focused and immersed in ministry, the Lord sent her "The One." Lynnie decided to marry Doug, a widower with three adult children. Circumstances after circumstances brought them together, as though these were being divinely orchestrated.  

Lynnie realized (an epiphany!) she was meant to have Doug as her life partner, “He is a missionary and I work on events for Christian organizations, we should be able to support each other’s ministry." 

On their wedding day, put together by friends of both, the sun glowed on the beautiful garden where they were to exchange vows. As though on cue, however, the rain pelted; the officiating pastor suggested to shorten the ceremony. 

But the couple said, “No, all or nothing!” 

Umbrellas sprang up all over the place, and under these umbrellas they committed their union to God. 

What the videos/photos showed was glorious celebration. Everybody—guests, bridal entourage, and especially the bride and the groom—seemed to welcome the showers of blessing. The joy was palpable. Wet faces were full of mirth and laughter. 

It was a happy thanksgiving to the God of love Who chose one for the other. All other peripherals—clothes, hairdos, décor, physical arrangements, etc.—faded into insignificance.  

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.” (Psalm 37:4-6) 

At her wedding, Lynnie’s cheerful heart radiated so brightly, even the weather was illumined by it.    

Reflect and pray: 

How can I develop a cheerful heart to encourage others to do the same?  

ooo

In Due Time

Bills, statements of account, library books, paper submissions, mortgages, loan payments and all other transactions have due dates. There is a penalty for not meeting them.   

In fact, anything we do on Earth has a timeline. Even extended deadlines have specific due dates. That’s what calendars and timepieces are for. 

It's the same with life on earth. When does it end?  Life's deadline varies from person to person. 

Some die young, too soon; some die old, too late; some die suddenly: some die after a long, lingering illness. Some seem to be given an extension and we call it, "second life." But there is a specific date for every individual's last breath, which is unknown to us.

Now, the phrase, “in due time” is everything but specific or definite. It means "eventually" or "at the right time." It is used to suggest that we should be patient, or to suggest that some event will happen eventually. 

It is vague. 

Have you ever been through a crisis? Or are you going through one now? In such a state, oh, how we pray for God’s rescuing grace to intervene and ease our plight right away.  

But does He?  

In John 11, Jesus is told that his friend, Lazarus, is critically ill. To his disciples' surprise, Jesus doesn’t hurry to heal him; He goes two days later.  

Lazarus has been dead for four days when Jesus arrives. He then brings His friend to life. Is that late? 

That's "in due time." What a miracle that someone who has been dead that long could still come alive!  

God’s perfect timing. "While waiting," our pastor often  emphasizes, "we grow our faith, fully believing that only God gets the glory for pulling us through." 

When is that again? "In due time.” 

This three-word phrase is exclusively His—God's own schedule; not yours, not mine.  

"'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the LORD." (Isaiah 55:8 NIV) 

Humans have a life span; God has none. He is eternal—the beginning and the end. 

The world had a date for Jesus' crucifixion and death. But on the third day, nobody expected He would rise again and conquer death. It’s the same way with crisis, suffering, and life itself—only God can end them “in due time.” 

The good news is, if we have the gift of salvation to join Jesus in His home, our life there will be forever, with no deadline.