Emerging from the Shadow of Death

This semester's been a strange journey. The most trying day has just passed. I thought by the sixth week of school, I'd get the hang of things and the momentum of school. However, I've been hit left, right, cetner and and as result, missed quite a lot of school. 28th october (after 26 & 27 - ben & my special day) was D-Day. 1 Social Studies Instructional Package due, 1 10-week voice journal due, 1 voice essay due and 1 voice presentation due. Essentially, the bulk of the voice module marks were collected that day. 30% for essay, 30% for weekly journal and 30% for presentation. The SS instructional package was another heavy load. Can't remember how much. 60% I think. But although it's all worth so much, they were all last minute jobs. So was my Critical Reading & Writing Research Paper - another bulky one - due on the same day as the module's in-class graded assignment. I didn't study for it, and by God's grace, it's purely reflective. So just reflect on my essay from a certain perspective and then write. Wrote quite a bit, hopefully it made some sense. :p

The research paper in itself was a challenge also. The tutor made us submit drafts of different sections, but because of my absence (and not being on schedule), I missed out all the editing sessions. Even when the final draft was due, I had to ask for an extension and attend a later class because I had nothing done. But thank God I managed to produce the final piece. After the final draft editing (which in fact was a first draft), I had an overhaul of the entire research paper. The final product looked really different from the first draft.

I think the best was the response I got for my voice presentation. I was very worn out the night before - after my birthday celebration with Eve, Vic & Vincent (thanks guys) and my Abby (together with Tina & Lina of course) - I had to complete the first draft of my voice essay before I could release myself to go for the dinner. Came back home to touch up on my SS instructional package, voice essay and complete writing my voice journal. By the time I got to bed, it was already 3am. And Ben was still working on his projects. He's been really taxed also. I still had a voice presentation in a poor state - I didn't like the mock presentation I did the week before (thank God there was one - otherwise I would have to spend even more time starting from scratch on top of my pressing assignments), so I revamped the whole thing. I knew I was gone to change it, but I only had time to think about it when I was in the shower and just basically moving along. It was during my drive to school in the morning that I came up with the outline of my 5-minute speech. I spoke on Marriage the week before, a topic close to my heart, but I didn't like the way it came out. I was also too attached to my script. I kept reading from it, so I had to do away with it. In other words, not even have one. Coz I know even if I did write one, I would refer to it and beat myself if I didn't adhere to it. Senseless pressure. So as I drove to school, I prayed. I had prepared a poem/prose (actually it's 1 Cor 13:4-13 on Love) to read as part of my 2-3minute reading section. (There are two sections - 5min speech and 3min reading of prose/poetry). Some of my classmates did two different topics for both sections, but I decided to gel them together (my sections, not my classmates) and just make sense of things.

So I spoke about Marriage. I started with asking the audience to *smile*! :) A technique I learnt from someone in Perth a while ago. I have the tendency to be tense, so that kinda loosened everyone up, including me. But then again, the class was a lil' mad that morning - it was funny! James was just posing for the videocam, back against it and looking at it. Super funny! :) Back to the topic. After that, I asked the audience how many were married - a few raised hands - and how many were contemplating marriage the next 5-10 years. Only 1 enthusiastic answer. Then I shared with the class about a conversation I had with a male friend last semester. He shared that he had to get married to his girlfriend because it was the right thing to do - although he wasn't extremely sure whether that was what he wanted. I highlighted the 'red flags' to the audience - frequent quarrels, marrying to please parents, talking to members of the opposite sex without letting the other party know, controlling the other party NOT to talk to members of the opposite sex. Then I continued by saying that after that conversation, I reflected on what made a marriage work. And I came up with this definition through the acronym - L.O.V.E. (or technically speaking, it should be alphabetism).

L is for 'Looking forward together'. I shared the conversation I had with a 16 yo - about working in partnership to serve others vs just being with that person, but without a purpose - just see each other as frequently as often as they would when serving, and eat, shop, watch movie. After a while, it gets boring. "Sweethearts look into each other's eyes, but lovers look forward together" or something like that. I emphasised on the need for the couple to have a purpose - so that the marriage has a purpose and that the whole family has a common purpose.

O is for 'Overcoming Obstacles together'. The three hotspots for trouble in most marriages - Money, Sex and Children. I stressed that the couple must resolve to overcome whatever obstacles together, especially in these three areas. People think that divorce is the easy way out, but working through things in divorce and after it is often much harder than working things out together as a married couple. Then I gave this demonstration. I held up two sheets of paper - imagine these are two people. They come together in marriage. Supposed to be glued together (I prepared two glued sheets together just prior to getting out of the car for the lesson...:P). But when the couple heads for a divorce, I tore the glued pieces together. Tore real nicely. In fact, it was ripped apart. It delivered the effect i wanted! Thank God! And I ended that demo with - don't forget, there might be children involved. They were just staring hard at the torn sheets.

Then I had about 1 minute left. :P I was running out of time.

V is for being 'Vulnerable' to each other. Let go of the pride; don't compete with each other. Don't be critical of each other either. I mentioned that if your partner was any better, they would have found a better person and not have married you. (From eve's blog). Quite a number nodded sheepishly in agreement. :)

E is for 'Enjoying Each other'. Laugh, have fun, date! Remember why you married each other in the first place.

I rounded up with a summary of L.O.V.E.

When I finished, they were all very excited. Some said that they should have recorded my speech and one even asked for a pencil ("Seriously! I need a pencil! Not joking! Quick, before I forget!") and jotted down the points. I really really really praise God for the whole speech. I was driving to school - lack of sleep and just very worn out, and God provided the materials to share. I had more confidence this week than the last because this time round, I was going to share God's word. I forgot to include the verse - 'For this reason, the man shall leave his mother and father and cleave with his wfe and become one' - prior to the demonstration. It was from my pre-martial counselling class that the example was used. The effect wasn't that great then coz we all had to separate the sheets before the glue dried up. But this time round, it was good. Even I was astounded. Fwah.

Then I read 1 Cor 13. On Love. Kinda in continuation of the speech - illustrating what love really is. Because of the attention they gave to the speech, they listened to the reading - to God's word! :D At first I hesitated, but then I realised that since my tutor has been sharing her taoist/buddhist materials, I felt I could share God's word also. Furthermore, it was pretty much like a melting pot of sorts - different people with different backgrounds coming together to share their beliefs. I'm just so glad God's word was shared.

In fact, while doing my essay, I was reminded of a module I did about 3-4 semesters ago - Use of Spoken English in Teaching. We were given a topic, 5 min to prepare on the spot and then share it with the class. Rather impromptu. But as that was brought back to memory, I gained confidence that God would deliver me through this time sans script. But all in all, I really hope that the talk was meaningful to the audience. If one family could be adverted from disaster because of that sharing, then it has been really worth it. God's word will not return to Him void. :) I just thank my pastors for telling me that I don't have to explicitly shove God's word down throats - as long as it's God's principles, then we're helping to edify others. :) It then sets the platform for sharing God's word.

I'm just grateful that I made new friends this semester - especially Peiyan (from Voice), Patricia (from Social Studies, Intro to Lit and Meanings of English) and Irda. God's giving me new friends, and it's just wonderful that at this age, I still can find nice pals in school. :) Thank you, Lord. :)

I have one assignment left - and that's on poetry. Deadline's on 2nd Nov, and I need to finish it by the 31st so that we can all go swimming on the 1st! :) Then it's exams! :)