We often hear people say "they dont appreciate me" or "no appreciation at all". These are like one of the most common complain or sentiment of depressed and sad people I talk to. They - well we feel unappreciated all the time. It seems like our efforts and everything we have done means nothing to other people, especially people that matters to us. Being affected about other people's complains drains and even pushes us to depression. I myself felt that way all the time. Being easily affected by people around me- even those of I dont know, I end up living my life according to their standards. But I realized that we ourselves are unappreciative of what God has done for us. We do not even care to thank Him for everything- small and big things. Thus, we go through challenges which reminds us to put our faith and trust Him.

I just need to unload now. I feel like educating and making parents in dagupan city realize what's important is life is almost impossible. More and more I feel that dagupan city is not ready for change, to deviate from the norm and to improve. I know The Lord has placed us in situation for His move and testimony. I just hope I have more strength to stand up for the Lord, for The children and for our country.

I'm now in a principal's meeting. It is such a pity how school leaders are lost themselves. They themselves have not seen the purpose of education and the goal of God in educating the next generation. They give unnecessary comments which I think is inappropriate. If they themselves are very loose in their living, what will they give to their students? How do you expect our country to improve when school leaders who should be idealistic and passionate about change refuse to deviate from 1964 practices in education. They are so uneducated and full of themselves. They just look into their needs, their concerns and their interests. They don't even consider what we need to do to contribute to change. How do you expect them to lead their students when they themselves do not have a clue on where they are going? I don't mean to put them down. I am not even going there. I just had a sentiment that school leaders have the vision, the heart and passion to change the world - make the world a better place through education.
When The Lord called me in this commission to serve the next generation, I asked The Lord for grace and wisdom to lead. Leading for the future and educating the next generation is so sensitive, so important that we need to be careful on what we do, how we say things and how we live our lives. It is at the same time a blessing to be in this position because we are limited and controlled by the society's expectation of us and God's commission to be role models. Even towards ois teachers, we mirror and model 'ideal' behaviors to touch them, inspire them and change their hearts. Being a light in the world is a commission given to us by God. Being a faithful and prudent steward is by God's grace. I kept praying the The Lord will continue to use us as a channel of blessing to others. By focusing on what God desires and God's goal, we are being delivered from the materialism of this world, the contamination of self-love and the shallowness of this age.
I really ask The Lord to continue to bless Oakridge. To use the school for His move and for His heart pleasure. Again, not through our capacity, but by the grace of God.  It is indeed impossible to lead the school using our own skills and intelligences. Not through our human capacity but through faith and grace of God.

Resilience

We have always been 'memorizing' that resilience is one of the best Filipino trait. Seriously! I've memorized this from kindergarten to grade 6. But I'd it really? Do we really know what resilience means? Are Filipinos really resilient?
I can honestly say that we have no idea what that means. Human being, by nature do not have resilience without God. We tend to loose our self esteem, our drive. We are prone to depression. We can't handle emotions. We react before we think about it. We break own. How fragile human brings are!
But through God's life, we have something beyond humanity in us. We have now the strength to stand up after a terrible fall. We can pick ourselves us. But this only happens, when we have higher life within.
Our children will skyways how through that soul searching stage. We, ax parents break when we see our kids encounter problem. But we need all the more t be 'sane' to lead our family. When we break own even before they do, how in the wold will you teach survival and resilience?
We as parents need to pull ourselves together when we see our children encounter difficulties. We need to allow them to fail, to learn to pick themselves up. If we save them all the time, how can they learn resilience and survival?
Our responsibility as parents has always been training and teaching our children. We are the first role models, not teachers and not pop stars. We need to be careful because children copy what they see in us. You will be surprised one day when you see your little girl imitating exactly what you are doing. So, when she sees you're weak she'll be weak. When your son sees you lie, he's be a liar.

Why we are relaxed at oakridge

Okay...so here goes our side. Why we are relaxed at Oakridge.  "'Lax" as other dagupeno have branded us. At first, I was so confused what they really meant and how in the world they brand us such. Then I realized how other schools stupidly make students memorize bunch of useless information which by the way they will forget after exams. Parents in this region expect "busy work" from their kids. They want their kids to come home and looked busy by memorizing bunch of useless information. They don't want kids to play - which by the way is the most productive activity for kids because their brain works through play. They don't even want their kids to rest. I don't know. Beats me.
I think what you are looking for is...the word, "different". Why is Oakridge different? Why do we do things differently? Honestly, it's because we educate using biblical principles of raising children for The Lord. God does not want children who regurgitate everything from the books. He wants children of God who has the wisdom and prudence to make good decision. After all, we are created according to God's image. It's an insult that we lower ourselves to the standards of robots. Why memorize all the definition of words, when you don't know how to use these words? It's that plain....stupid? God created us unto His image. He expects a lot from us. Educating our children with higher order of thinking brings glory of God.

Why we are relaxed at oakridge

From www.utsandiego.com

When Tina Rasori teaches math to fourth- and fifth-graders at Fay Elementary School in City Heights, she expects her students to do more than calculate the correct answers.

Students work through problems and demonstrate how they arrive at answers. After conferring with classmates, they also must critique the reasoning of their peers.

This is math infused with Common Core, academic standards that are set to hit California classrooms in the 2014-15 school year. The guidelines — developed by a nationwide consortium of educators and other officials — are designed to emphasize critical-thinking skills over rote memorization and better prepare students for college and career.

“No more multiple-choice answers,” said Rasori, whose class will help pilot Common Core state assessments this spring. “The whole point of Common Core is to get us to prepare students for college and 21st-century jobs, where they probably won’t be asked multiple choice-questions.”

Schools throughout San Diego County are working to incorporate the new benchmarks into daily lessons in time for the statewide launch, which is set for fall 2014. The shift will drive changes, some of them dramatic, from kindergarten through high school.

At least 45 states have adopted Common Core, which is designed to enable them to compare academic progress with others states for the first time.

Some schools have been training their teachers for Common Core for nearly two years. Others are just getting started. Since California hasn’t provided additional funding for these preparations, teachers and principals have been establishing their own banks of resources, from related lessons collected from various websites to material obtained from workshops and conferences.

The overarching goal of Common Core is to transform how students are taught, particularly what they must do to master math, English and other subjects.

Nonfiction will be stressed over fiction, accounting for half of classroom reading in the earliest grades and growing to 70 percent by high school. Regardless of what students read, they will be pushed to analyze the text and develop opinions on its structure and purpose.

The traditional essay will continue to be assigned. So will poetry lessons. However, the new standards stress scientific reports and other nonfiction. Analytical writing that might be useful in college or the workplace will also be pushed.

Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Common Core:

Q: How were the Common Core standards developed?

A: Common Core standards started as a voluntary, state-led effort coordinated by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, with stakeholders from nearly every state in the country contributing to their development. In the fall of 2009, governors and state commissioners of education from 48 states (including California), two territories, and the District of Columbia, committed to developing a set of standards that would help prepare students with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in education and careers after high school.

The standards cover mathematics, English language arts, and literacy in various content areas for students in kindergarten through grade twelve.

Q: When do the new benchmarks take effect?

A: The California Board of Education adopted the standards in August, 2010. The state expects to implement the standards in the 2014-15 school year. Each school district in California will be charged with developing its own plan for rolling out the standards based on local needs and resources.

Q: Will the overhaul change high school graduation requirements?

A: No. State and local graduation criteria will remain the same. The changes will be seen in how students are taught the subjects, and what will be expected for them to master the content in each subject.

Q: Will Common Core eliminate any classes that are currently required of students?

A: Probably. Middle school math requirements are poised to undergo significant changes. The Common Core eliminates the push for all eighth-graders to pass algebra. The Common Core offers two math pathways for middle school: One that allows for some students to take algebra if they are ready; and another that offers general math classes that prepare students for ninth-grade algebra. Critics argue that the second track makes it difficult for students to follow a sequence that puts them in 12th-grade calculus, a course that is expected by top universities.

Q: How can educators implement the standards without new instructional materials?

A: The development of new curriculum and instructional materials aligned to the standards will likely take years. In the meantime, the California Department of Education plans to post on its website a list of supplemental instructional materials designed to bridge the gap between existing programs and those called for under the standards. Schools and districts are also working to create their own clearinghouses of best practices.

Q: How will the state gauge student performance under Common Core?

A: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torklakson has recommended that California replace its current Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) assessment program with Smarter Balanced assessments beginning in the 2014–15 school year. A consortium of states using Common Core worked to develop the new tests, which will be piloted by 1,000 schools in California this spring.

Q: Will the tests resemble the current state standardized exams?

A: No. The new tests will be administered with computers, laptops or tablets. The multiple-choice scantrons that have been the signature of state tests will be eliminated. Questions will require students to write in their answers, using their computers.

Why we are relax at oakridge

This article came from www.peekabooparenting.com. Hope it answers dagupenos' questions why we are relax

We have an American educational system that languishes under the premise that if a student repeats something many times he will learn it. He may not understand it, but he will learn how to repeat it so he sounds knowledgeable. Our primary classroom teaching methods use Rote Learning, defined as, “…a learning technique which avoids understanding of a subject and instead focuses on memorization. The major practice involved in rote learning is learning by repetition. The idea is that one will be able to quickly recall the meaning of the material the more one repeats it.” Wikipedia

This is how teachers continue to process your children in grades K–12 and our students in colleges and universities throughout America in the 2011 Global Knowledge Economy, which is driven by information and technology. This is a time and age when students have to be able to deal with changes quickly and effectively. This new economy places increasing demands on flexible intellectual skills, and the ability to analyze information and integrate diverse sources of knowledge in solving problems. NO ONE will advance in this new information age with rote memory skills. Those are the skills of mindless workers who put this gidget with that gadget for eight hours a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, for 30 years. That age is over in America. It left for China and India more than10 years ago.

Why do our teachers and educators continue to use a mode of education that consigns our children to a life of irrelevancy? Why do they resist change, flexibility, and new thinking techniques?

I believe it is because it threatens their lifelong Rote learning habits. Technology threatens them; teachers are artifacts from a time where they were taught they had to know all the answers. They believe in authoritarianism in an age when large groups are sharing information every day in a world without Ethernet boundaries; this is how teachers were taught to teach. They see technology as a threat rather than a challenge. Their students know more than they do in thisKnowledge Economy and so they avoid the embarrassment of having to admit they are fallible by demanding safe Rote answers to safe standardized  test questions.

Educators have forgotten that one of the most exciting teaching moments is when the student teaches the teacher. Information exchange between teachers and students allows everyone to participate in the exciting adventure of Critical and Creative thinking. The teacher becomes the guide who helps channel student energy, creativity, intellect, and critical thinking into new solutions that awaken enormous possibilities for all. Teachers do not have to have all the answers; they need to ask the right questions! Their students will find the answers.

There is a serious relationship between Critical thinking and Creative thinking. They are like a hand in a glove. Creative solutions to problems involve not just having new ideas. New creative ideas must also be useful and relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking plays a crucial role in evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones, and modifying them if necessary.

Now what is Critical Thinking? The list of core critical thinking skills includes observation, interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, and explanation. There is a reasonable level of consensus among experts that an individual or group engaged in strong critical thinking gives due consideration to:

•    Evidence through observation
•    Context of judgment
•    Relevant criteria for making the judgment well
•    Applicable methods or techniques for forming the judgment
•    Applicable theoretical constructs for understanding the problem and the question at hand

Critical thinking employs not only logic, but also broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, and fairness. A teacher or student disposed toward critical thinking includes a courageous desire to follow reason and evidence wherever it may lead. They are open-minded, display attention to the possible consequences of choices, have a systematic approach to problem solving, inquisitiveness, fair-mindedness and maturity of judgment, and a confidence in reasoning.

To be fair, the real question is, do our educators possess this kind of thinking? Are they able to develop critical thinking in their teaching methods so their students have a future in the fast moving, ever changing world of the Global Knowledge Economy? If our educators cannot make this transition between Rote Memory and Critical Thinking then our student population is doomed to languishing in Industrial Age thinking while the rest of the world, i.e., China, India, and others leap forward, above, through, and beyond them.

It is NOT about money. Socrates taught under a tree.

It is about questioning old assumptions, creating group think in classrooms, exciting students and challenging them to question everything they are told, and requiring them to develop their own solutions to problems, which may or may not agree with ours. It is about trust and belief in our ability to learn along with our students as they learn along with us.

Finally, the student must be taught not how to know the answer, but how to ask the question. Teachers and students must first embrace what they do not know and Critical thinking is a primary tool in approaching this. Spend some time with any 3, 4, 5 or 6 year old and count how many times they ask you, “Why?” Watch them play and watch how they solve problems and disputes. They have it! Then we turn them over to government schools that Drill and Kill it out of them.

Pageants for kids are one of the weirdest thing for me. Growing up in the philippines, mr and ms intramurals and mr and ms United Nations are so common that it has been the norm. But part of me have always hated those event. It's like exposing your children to superficial things, when you need you teach them the value of like sportsmanship or world peace. Call me old school, but I refuse to let my children join and even see that kind of superficial and worldly activities.
Today is United Nations day. Something like it's the anniversary of un. So, a lot of schools have United Nations themed events. And most of these schools have pageantry or fashion show. It freaks me out seeing how shallow these activities are and partly a waste of time and money ( you need to buy costumes). I suddenly top bought of our culture and what we value the most. It is undeniable that Filipino culture have always valued family. But sadly, it has always been the picturesque perfect family that one values the most. We focus so much on going to church together and being seen going to church together rather than communicating and bonding with out children. We treat children as errands more than opportunities. We really need to recalibrate as parents. We cannot just live this way because we will be raising next generation of Filipinos who have no value for relationship and genuine communication. Materialism is all around us. When we equate love to material things, our kids will indeed become materialistic. But when we spend time with them engaging our children to genuine communication and quality time, I believe you are not just raising children who knows how to deal with others, but you are setting them for life.

It's 1:46 in the morning and I can't sleep. I had such a stressful day I don't know how to move forward. I don't even know how to smile. Every problem I hear and receive from parents paralyzed me to death to tell you the truth, Oakridge has always been my greatest weakness. It haunts me to my very core that parents complain about the school being loo...relaxed. At first I don't really understand what they are talking about because we give numerous home works the kids even stay up till wee hours in the morning to finish them. But what they mean by relaxed is we do t give tons of "busy work" - stuff students from other schools do to look busy. Example, 1. Getting definition from dictionary. ( duh! You can check it by double clicking the word at Microsoft word or Mac). .2. Enumerating bunch of stuff from the book. ( double duh! Not only stupid but waste of time). 3. Memorizing ( you know what memorizing bunch of trivial stuff do in life of a person - NOTHING). Being compared to local schools is simply an insult. Why will you compare us to schools that makes children memorize skeletal system in grade 1? How stupid can the parents get by tolerating child abuse? Not only is it developmentally inappropriate ( meaning children at that age shouldn't be doing such), it's plain STUPID. Oakridge is again about critical thinking, answering questions, speaking in front, and being able to analyze things logically. Oakridge is aboutprepRing the next generation for life and for college. Oakridge is about raising smart students who will have a firm grasp of how to live, what are important and who we are. I just hope parents understand it. The way I look at it, parents themselves don't know what should really be taught at school. They themselves are clueless as to how they raise their children and their roles in raising the kids. This afternoon, one of the moms at schools shared her problem with her firs born ( who never studied at Oakridge). She said her son used to begood academically. But when he started joining milo sports stuff, he got barked a (friends) who taught him vices. The kids now flunked most of his subjects for consecutive times and might be dismissed at his college. What does that tell you? When parents are not clear of what the role of the school is, things like that happens. When parents understand that thinking, good decision making skills and work habit matters most over memorizing bunch of useless trivial facts, we raise responsible and logical young Filipinos who will definitely change th landscape of Philippine society.
But of course, parenting involves a lot of prayer on the part of parents and grace from GOD.

Preparing Baby Food

Feeding your infant is one of the most exciting milestone for every hands-on mom. Not only are you being creative in making and preparing food for your little one. You have the sense as well that your baby is really growing...fast. It is such a rewarding and at the same time precious moment for every family.
Comes with the excitement is the unending research for recipes and researches on baby weaning and feeding. You just have so much researches on baby feeding that you just end up getting a decent baby food book from National Bookstore (Thank God, we have National Bookstore in Dagupan).
Today, I'll be preparing Salmon meal for my little one. Exciting! Her first 'gourmet' meal. I just hope I wont screw it up. Heres the recipe I found.

Salmon, Potato and Sweet Potato

Ingredients:
Salmon
Potato
Sweet Potato (kamote)
Butter

Directions:
1. Steam Salmon, Potato, Sweet Potato in an electric steamer. Dab butter on top of the Salmon.
2. Once cooked, bring the Salmon, Potato and Sweet Potato out of the steamer and put them in the blender. Add Breastmilk.

One of our greatest challenge as parents is to say "no" to our children and to actually allow them to make mistaes. We, as parents are naturally over protective that we control everything in our children's lives, keeping them away from falling and thus, not teaching them to pick themselves up after every fall. Resilience- being one of the valued trait and skill in life, we need to allow our children to learn from their mistakes even if it breaks our heart. Allowing our children to commit mistakes, to hurt themselves have been a "no no" in filipino parenting. Mark, our friend's brother even said, he thought he was invisible. All these time, he was thinking he's invinsible because he never got hurt. so, when it happened for the first time, he got really depressed because he realized he's human and prone to pain and hurt. Thats really like an eye opening for all of us. We really need to allow our children to fail - to teach them how to survive, how to overcome their problems. If we "save" them everytime things get hard, we will never have children who will soar and do great things in the future. 

Remember how our parents raised us? Remember how many times we fell before learning how to skate in roller blades? Remember how many times we got into an accident before learning how to ride the bike? We all went through all these pain and trouble, so we learn to adapt, to overcome and to soar high. I hope , as we raise our children today, we stop "babying" them. And allow nature to take its course. Biblical parenting is very simple. It simply tells us that God has made parents to guide the children- not to control them, not to baby them. 

time

Time is the most precious investment we can ever give to our loved one, what we value most and our dreams for the future. If we love our children so much, we should learn to stop and give our time (actually set our time) to spend with them - to get to know them, to talk to them, to read them stories, to have relationship with them. If we want to have good marriage, we need to set time with our husband- to have dates, to chat, to cuddle. Indeed, time is so precious that it is one of the greatest investment we can ever give to the people who mean a lot to us.
Nevertheless, in this time and age where life has become complicated because of technology and a lot of worldly pleasures, spending time with our loved ones is one of the most difficult thing ever. Having to check social media everyday, reading updates and posts of people we barely know, we end up not having enough time to spend with our children. I really look forward to weekend - especially when we go to Manila. Because its during those time that Ipad, Laptop and even phones are kept- even left in Dagupan, and our 100% will be for the kids and with the kids. I just love that. It reminds me what matters most to me and Dek.
Indeed, parenting has become to difficult today because of technology and other wordly things. We all need God's grace and mercy to give us the prudence and strength to stop using our smartphones, our ipads, our laptop and go back to basics- the most valuable thing in life....building relationships.

Spiritual education

How we raise our children today will determine what kind of future we have. I believe that. That's why it's so crucial that we - mothers are so hands on and careful in raising our children. When we talk to them, when we discipline them, when we make decisions for them and even when we "spoil " them. Filipinos are culturally whiners. We complain about everything and anything, even the smallest detail of our shoes, our shirt, tv ads, our president's smoking habits, our mayor's sexual preferences...we complain about everything. We take everything too personal, when all we need to focus on is "does it work?". We focus on senseless details, when all that matters is "if it's working". And it all boils down to how we we're raise and our values. Being raised in a society where parents simply believe everything they say without investigating the facts, without researching scientific researches, we have a tendency to just blurt out every complain and issues we have without analyzing if it's even worth worrying. In this time where 4g is everywhere, just a click on your smartphone will give you details about everything and anything - we need to train our children to research, get facts, think, analyze, before reacting. We need to make our kids stop being "o.a" and start dealing with life in a very smart way. Thinking is one of the key skills we need to instill in our children. And as parents, we mirror and model these behaviors. If we ourselves think and react a certain way, what do you expect your children to copy and imitate? If we lie in front of our children and tell them "don't imitate me", what in the world are you trying to convey to them?
Parents are the greatest role models of their children. People always think children copy pop stars, teachers, other kids. But the biggest influencer in a child's life is the parents. As parents, we need to continuously ask the Lord's grace and mercy to equip us with prudence and wisdom in handling our children. We need to really stop thinking about ourselves and start focusing on the kids. If we put ourselves first - what we want and what we need, don't you think we will be raising children who are full of themselves as well?

Had agreat chat with a friend today. Was talking about how important it is to spend time with our children in the first seven years of the life. I realized that the best thing I did in my life is to stop working and to focus on my kids. I realized that The Lord has blessed me to realized what's most important for me - not my work, but my family. After all, what will I give to my students if I can't even teach my own kids. Right? More than anything else, this sabbatical leave has recalibrate me in my spiritual walk with The Lord. Praise God, I can officially say that The Lord has restored my first love to Him. It is so true that when you focus your eyes on Jesus, you will realize that everything in this world is vanity of vanities.

Today, I had the opportunity to meet and see the life of two kinds of people -one who has nothing and one who has everything. Early this evening, before going home, we passed by pampanga for dinner. Of course, we ate at Susie's ( dek's favorite palabok and my favorite rice cakes. Susie has been our favorite this year. Not only do they serve comfort food, it's cheap.) while eating, I noticed the staff of Susie's prepare an order of lasagna for this old lady beggar outside the restaurant. He gave it to the security guard and the guard gave it to the old woman. My heart was so touched, I reached out to my husband and told him of what they have done. And he willingly opened his wallet and gave money to the old woman. The waiter started telling us about this old woman who comes to the restaurant to ask for food once in a while, who sends her grandchildren to school and who begs for money. She's basically in her 80s and walks kilometers to look for food and money for her grandchildren. And when I looked at her, she would have that earnest desire to live longer to send her grandchildren to school and to have more opportunity to spend time with her love one. I was so touch I started praying for her on our way back home. 

As we were going back to pangasinan, a friend started texting me about how depressed she is and how she's loosing her mind. Being a good frind, I consoled her. When I heard she ran away without any cash, I told dek we're going to rescue someone tonight and we did. When we picked her up, she started talking about how tired she was, how much she needed antidepressants and how her boyfriend is creeping her out. Apparently, her boyfriend tried to kill himself several times. Her boyfriend - who's wealthy enough to have bodyguards and drivers and people to serve him, a person who need not worry about money and his future, wants to kill himself. I instantly felt this person is empty. Why would someone kill himself if not for the emptiness of his life?  

I suddenly realized how privilege the old woman was having her loved ones to live for. Indeed, it doesn't matter how much you have - but who you have and who you have within you. Life is indeed vanity of varieties when you don't know why you were created and why you live each day. Our human life is way beyond material things of this world and even intellectual things. We are created to be filled with The Lord. We are created for God's purpose and to accomplish what he had planned. Life without Christ is not worth living. I praise The Lord that He has given us reason to live each day. 

The need of Philippine Education

When we talk about the need of Philippine education, I cannot help but rant and list down everything we need to do to fix education system. I feel complied to contribute to the change we need to go through to have transformation in our society. Today at church, pastor peter prayed for theovernment officials and the future of our country, within me, I was like, " I don't think the country will ever change. I don't think the government will ever improve. I don't think we will ever see transformation in our community". That was the skeptic, "realist" teacher ai. But within, I have the longing to see my country improve, progress. And I suddenly heard The Lord speaking within telling me - that's why you're in education. Indeed, The Lord has placed each one of us where we are to change and touch other people, our community, our society, even our country. I have heard one brother say Christians are suppose to be contagious. When Paul was preaching in the early Christianity, people were so attracted to him. Maybe because hew as charismatic. But more because hew as filled with God. So, when we, as Christians are filled with God, we contaminate other people around us - our students, our co teachers, our principal at school ( I know tom have been transformed for the past three years. I know his spiritual side has been 'activated'.), and even the parents. I just pray that more people will come to The Lord through us. I hope and pray that The Lord will continue to use us to be His channel of grace and blessings. I hope we, as God's children can change the landscape of Philippine government and education. That by being Christ filled teachers, we raise the next generation of Filipinos who are. God fearing and who will do what God desires.

I had a great opportunity to hear God's message today at church. The topic was about holiness and how we can be transformed unto the image of God's son little by little everyday. Indeed, this should be our goal, our desire - to be more of Him and to have more of God added into us. I truly appreciate God's timely speaking. When we allow The Lord to reign in our hearts and to have us filled by the Holy Spirit, we will realize that everything in this world are I imply vanity if vanities. Nothing in this world is worth our love. We should never forsake our first love with The Lord. Often, our eyes are clouded by distorted view of happiness and of our purpose in life. We always want something more from the world. But when we see the real cost of sin, and how un satisfying the world is, we will stop and simply pursue The Lord.
Being on a sabbatical leave was the best decision I have made for the last five years. Not only have I focused on myself. I have grown to realize why I am doing what I am doing. I was able to see why The Lord has placed me in this situation and what Oakridge is all about. It was the perfect opportunity for The Lord to show me that I have been commissioned to do His perfect will and to sow the seed of life ats cool. I have seen how the power of. God has brought Oakridge to where it is today. And how by God's grace will it touch more lives, cause for lives to turn to The Lord and see His perfect will. It is such a beautiful realization. Not only have I seen that Oakridge is indeed God's, but I also have seen that I am nothing. None of my skills, my capabilities contribute to oakridge's conquests and success. Everything Oakridge is comes from God Himself. So, whenever we want to compromise the quality of education for the sake of "friendship" and politics, The Lord will indeed punish us for He never compromise. I truly praise and thank God for such a wonderful speaking. It makes me desire to grow more in The Lord and to have Him and His life added more into me.

I always hear the quote, "do what you want to do" quite often in thia cpuntry. Somehow people have the tendency to do what they please regardless of the consequences of their actions. And thats just pathetic. Oakridge teaches our kids to think, analyze the pros and cons of choices before doing or making a decision. I think thats a mark of an educated and cultured person. Ive seen so many people who are just driven by emotions and by what they want that they give up even if they dont have any backup plan. Its just poor planning and no regard for one's future. Its hard to raise the next generation of young leaders. Teaching them good work hanits, diligence and prudence are among the priorities. For me,  honors and the number of poems memorized by the kid do nothing to the child's future. Whats important in life are the skills to survive in the real world and attitude to endure. This is why i believe in oakridge education.

Planning teachers day - thanksgiving dinner for my Oakridge family. It's never easy. I wanted it to be special. Tom wants it no fuss, American style party where there's no program, no speeches. Haha. But I want touch of details...something to make the night special and make our teachers feel that we love them. And so goes my planning skills.
I wanted lanterns, shells, flowers all over the place to give that romantic vibe. I want quotes about teaching and name cards for all the teachers. I want seat plan and all the details. I hope we pull this off.

How should we raise our children? This is probably the hardest decision we have to make in our parenting life. One is that how we raise our children will directly affect how they will take care of us in the future. More than that how we raise our children will be how they will succeed in life. Thus, how we raise our children is the key to how we want to leave a legacy in this world. I am so touched by parents who have chosen to homeschool their children in the primary years so that they can teach academic and spiritual truths to their children at a very young age. I admire their dedication to homeschool - and to do it the right way. Don't get me wrong...I believe Oakridge is the best place for my children. I believe in my Oakridge team and Oakridge passion for teaching. But I also have the inner desire to educate my son. So, every night, before we go to bed, I tell him stories, talk about God's word and teach him spiritual truths that will lay a foundation for him in his life.
I have one major rule in how I raise my children. That is the fear of The Lord. When they have the fear of The Lord, they wouldn't do anything that will make them loose the smile of The Lord upon them. I know that it is sooooo...vague. But so real. It's really a matter of consecrating our children back to God. Remember when God asked Abraham to sacrifice ISaac? Abraham did not think twice because he knows that his son was from God and God's alone.
I believe parenting needs a lot of grace and mercy from The Lord. Humanly speaking , there are a lot of strategies and approaches in training our children. Bu one seems to stand out - biblical parenting. I hope we raise independent, God fearing, smart children who doesn't whine, but who loves The Lord and obeys His will.

I've officially turned off social media and started to walk by faith. Indeed, we tend to be so affected by whats posted online- by what people say, what they think...but we never ask the Lord really what He thinks. It makes me realize how self-absobed we are, how full of ourselves we are. We always say that the Lord will be coming back soon. But how can He come when we ourselves are not ready for His return. We focus so much on our lives, petty things that makes us sad, complaints about the minor details of our lives- when the Lord's intention and heart desire is for Him to built His church. Truly, we need to set our minds on the things that are above- things of the Lord and not of this world. We truly need the Lord's grace and mercy for us to realize it everyday- that we need to be delivered from the self to the cross for His move here on Earth.
I myself feel the guilt- how self absorbed I am when the Lord has been so much faithful to us. It made me stand up today - for the Lord. I remember Lot's wife and what happened to her when she loved Sodom so much. She turned into salt. We should really stop loving the things of this world- the minor details of our lives. We should start focusing on what the Lord desires.

insecurities

Insecurities. This is the biggest battle of human life. Every person is haunted by the uncertainty of the future. People get depressed because of this. People kill themselves because of this. People finds solace in drugs and alcohol. People use other worldly pleasure to divert their attention. Still, Insecurity can be the most dangerous thing in the world today.
Nothing in this world is permanent and sure. Everyting can pass away. Thats why we need the Lord Jesus. He is the only sure, constant thing in this world. He is our blessed assurance, our security, our comfort, our way, our light, our truth , our all in all.

I'm going to apologize for this ranting again. Its just that I cannot contain this anymore. This is driving me crazy and paranoid. And I really need to let it out.
Its just that I feel like everything we are doing for the kids are taken forgranted by the kids themselves and the parents. We have given so much - from class preparation, to delivery, execution, afterschool support and even prayers, but it seems like everything we have done has been in vain. This is what Im talking about. When you love what you are doing so much that you put your heart and soul, you get too emotional and attached when people say things about the work that you do. But I also know that Oakridge and what we do in Oakridge is not from us, from our own capacity, but comes from the Lord. I know that all these hardwork will just be in vain, because the content and source of everything at school is the Lord Himself. I know the Lord is doing His work to decrease the self in oakridge and more of Himself will shine. Oakridge is a consecrated school for the Lord's move. It is not out of our own capacity or skill that Oakridge teaches, and even leads the community today. Whenever a student complains, a parent criticize the school, it makes me realize more that it is not mine, nor ours...it is the Lord's.
I dont know about tomorrow. I just live from day to day. I dont borrow from its sunshine for its skies may turn to gray. I dont worry over the future for I know what Jesus said. Today, I'll walk beside Him for He knows what is ahead.

Last night, I was not really able to sleep. A parent of a former sped student is bad mouthing the school saying we hit her kid when I know 100% we didn't. I was there. Not possible the kid was hurt. The mom's baseless accusation is dragging the name of the school down. Me - pissed off and angry at what she is doing. If I was to enumerate the many many sacrifices we have done for her kid, it will be so fast her head would turn. Imagine this mom who wanted "yaya" services from the school. She refuse to teach the child at home, refuse to take care of the kid after class and wanted "extended " services like swimming and after school. She would rather leave the kid at school than spend time with her kid. But this situation is not new to me. I have encountered many many parents like this. I'm sorry. I don't intent to be self righteous, but I do love spending time with my children. I look forward to my bonding time with them. Our conversation, our hugs, our kisses makes my day complete. In fact, the best time I have with Nathan is driving to Dagupan, doing grocery together and chatting and singing in the car. So, don't get me wrong! I just don't understand parents who refuse to spend time with their kids.
But after an evening of contemplation , I realized how evil my heart is...how much I needed the Lord's forgiveness and sanctification. How defiled my heart is when people hurt me, my staff, and what we do! Then I remember that Oakridge is of the Lords. I am reminded that everything the school is about is of The Lord. So, I have nothing to be angry about. People ( not of The Lord but of the world) will always persecute God's people. They will put whatever work God has. But all we need to do is to forgive and pray for them.
Forgiveness is one of the hardest thing for me to do. One thing is because of pride, I wanted and expected people to make sure their actions don't hurt anyone. My expectations of other people's action is so high, it seems impossible. But The Lord does know where to discipline and hit us.