It's almost that time of year to start fresh with New Year's resolutions. Before I do that, though, I thought I'd take a little time to review what has happened over the past year. It's been a pretty great year, in fact it might have been my best yet.
I started out the year in Sydney, Australia. I lived there starting on December 7th or 8th, 2010, and stayed there until March 1st with a couple of trips to different Australian cities but for the most part staying put in Sydney. I had a great time there, lived with a couple of Australians (one was technically Kiwi but he had lived in Australia most of his life) and a couple of Italians. We'd have dinner out by the pool that didn't have any water in it with some friends and had a really great time. It was also a time of pretty intense reading as I didn't really have a lot going on at the time. I blazed through a 90 day Bible which I'm hoping to do again in the new year.
In March, I went to New Zealand for a month. I basically spent 2 weeks on the North Island and 2 weeks on the South Island. I did a fair amount of tramping as they call it, we call it hiking here, and loved the beautiful scenery that New Zealand has to offer. Milford Sound was of particular beauty and next time I want to do the trail that they have to offer. I also got to see some dear friends from my summer of '08 when I spent the summer/winter down under in Auckland and that was pretty great as well. I got to see a couple of the high school boys I sort of mentored and also got to hang out with the guy who I stayed with pretty much the whole summer and his new wife. It was really great to see everyone and catch up on our lives and how we had all been doing for the past couple years. Hopefully, I'll see Mark and his wife Georgie sometime over here in America as they're both pondering grad school in Florida last I knew. It would be so great to see them here, I'd love to show them Siesta Key.
Next, in April, I spent 12 days in Peru. The Inca Trail proved difficult but was such a high when I finished and there isn't much to compare it with, simply breathtaking views along the way. Plus it was the first time I had encountered a lot of Americans at once so it was a nice way to kind of ease back into American culture as I had largely forgotten what it was like to be on American soil and interact with others in our culture. We also had porters along the way who were great and put us all to shame in terms of fitness. They would carry our extra packs and literally run down the trails and have everything set up for us by the time we arrived at our campsites for the night. Also, while I was in Cusco for a few nights before and after the hike, I got to meet the hostel manager/owner who was a great guy named Liam from Ireland. We talked politics and he was super knowledgeable on a variety of topics so I really enjoyed talking to him about different happenings in the world. After my last night in Cusco, I went to Lima for a couple of nights before flying home. This was when I was introduced to a fantastic fish dish called ceviche. It's a bunch of raw fish that is somehow neutralized by all the lime juice that you douse it in. Don't quote me on that by the way, I just think that's true, not 100% by any means. When I came home I had it in Chicago but it wasn't nearly the same as when I had it in Lima; pretty sure it had something to do with being surrounded by Spanish speakers and being in a new locale.
For my 29th birthday, April 11th, I came home to Florida. It honestly just worked out that I happened to fly back home on my birthday, but it was a really nice birthday treat. The following weekend I had a party thrown in my honor at the house that I was staying in at the time (am still staying there now but will soon move out.) It was a great time to see everyone from the church that I knew and I even met a few new faces whom I have since grown to love as well.
With coming home was the realization that I still had a few months before I started my full time job as a teacher and my funding was nearing $0 as I had spent most of my money on my trip. After some unsuccessful time spent looking around for waiter jobs or barista jobs, my pastor asked if I wanted to fund raise and come on board with the church. This was very welcomed as a much needed source of income and I would get to do what I loved anyways while working for the church. In my last blog I confessed that I felt like I had failed miserably in this job but I spoke to my pastor today and he assured me that I hadn't. Both he and my old campus minister whom I met with yesterday said to come at service from a discipleship standpoint, focus on a few people and grow from there. Thankfully, a lot of my friends came through and I was able to raise the amount I needed to be on staff for a year, 20 hours a week in the summer and 8 hours a week during the school year.
In April or May sometime, I went into my school to say hey to everyone and check in with my principal and my assistant principal. This is when I learned I was to be teaching kindergarten starting in the fall with the new school year. Teaching kindergarten scared the pants off me, I really thought I would fail miserably at it. Much to my surprise and delight, it turns out that I absolutely love teaching kindergarten and feel like I've really found my niche within it. Hopefully, I'll get to stay there for a while so I can become better at it as the years go on. Wow, I never thought I'd be saying I actually want to stay in kindergarten for a while.
Also, for Easter in April, I went up to Chicago to see family and friends. I had a great time reconnecting with everyone and even got to see someone who I hadn't seen since high school. I also spent time with another dear friend from high school and his wife, who were pregnant at the time but neglected to tell me at the time I was there haha. I got to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with my friend from high school whom I hadn't seen since we graduated and had a fantastic time, followed up with ceviche in a swanky restaurant. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out nearly as well as the ceviche in a hole in the wall restaurant in Lima did but I still had a great time that night.
Over the summer, I focused on fundraising and working closely with my pastor. It was good to be back in a church community, one that had greatly changed since I had been gone, I might add. Now I feel like I pretty much know everyone again, so that has been really good. We did a few service projects over the summer and into the fall and winter and I had an okay time at organizing, which I still need vast improvements in by the way.
In the fall, I started back to school, this time teaching kindergarten. I remember being amazed at just how little they knew, but also that I was the first one to write on their blank slates and how that was a huge responsibility. It turns out that I absolutely loved it. Don't get me wrong, I was ready for break just like everyone else, but I just loved it and love my students this year. I have a great class which helps tremendously of course, and am very grateful for that. This was the first year I got all my students presents, and they were overjoyed with them when I gave each student a stuffed animal and a book.
This time of year, the weather in Florida is perfect, so what do I do? I go up to Illinois where it's freezing. It's not that bad of course, but when compared to perfection it sure seems colder than it really is. I went home for Easter, Labor Day, and Christmas this year; to try and make up for being gone for so long.
What will this new year hold in store for me? I have no idea, but I can only hope that it is half as good as 2011 was.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
traveling
Well, I've got the itch again here lately to travel. It has been, after all, almost a year since I've been anywhere overseas. I still remember when I first came home from my big trip and I was perfectly content to just stay in Sarasota for a while. That has since passed now. I'm ready for some crazy adventure where I go to a new country and am left to fend for myself and find my way around. Also, I desperately need to do some couchsurfing soon. Maybe if I just did that in Florida it would fill my travel void that I'm currently experiencing.
Thankfully, I did some traveling yesterday and am now at my parents' house in Illinois. So that's at least something. Seems like if I don't cross some ocean soon though, I'm going to explode. Okay, okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit there but you get the idea. My life gets so boring when I'm stateside it seems. Now, I realize that stability is good for me but geez, I need something exciting to look forward to, ya know?
Hopefully I'll be going to Turkey this next summer if I ever hear back from that particular missionary that I've been in contact with. I also want to go back to the Czech Republic to see my friends Rob and Audrey but I don't know if I'll have money enough to do both this time around. Maybe I should skip Turkey and just do some touring around again. Turkey would be a cool place to go but it would be fun to be constantly on the move like I was this past year. It can get tiring yes, but it's a lot of fun to see a lot of different sights in a short amount of time.
Where does this need for travel come from? I really have no idea. We took some trips when I was growing up but I didn't go overseas until I was out of college and on my own. My pastor wants me to lead a mission trip somewhere but that has proven much more difficult to organize than just worrying about one person to take care of. Hopefully something will work out with that this upcoming summer as well. I just seem to have a really hard time generating interest, which I put on myself. Apparently I've failed at making a trip look worthwhile and meaningful, I don't know. I'm trying to talk to a couple of different people about shorter trips as those should be more manageable for people I would hope. I don't know if I should focus more on the youth group students or adults, I'd prefer to take adults so I'm not liable but many adults don't seem to have the time to do it so that presents a problem. Either way something needs to happen with it. My job is to get people involved with service in our church and I feel like I've failed for the most part with that particular role. We have a few people at different service projects but not nearly as many as I'd like to see.
Maybe after my 1 year term is up I'll just go back to teaching full time and let someone else who is better at organization take over the director of service that I currently lead in. There is something to be said for working in one's strengths and I certainly don't feel that I've had that opportunity with this job. If anything I've been working out of my weaknesses, which is probably why I feel so much frustration with it. This past week my friend Brandon and his wife were down in Florida visiting so I got to hang out with them quite a bit. I started talking to Brandon about my role at the church and didn't realize just how much of a failure I felt like within that role until I started talking out loud about it. My pastor means well in hiring me but I just don't know if I'm up to the task of getting all our people involved with serving. Serving is inconvenient, so much so that a lot of people simply aren't willing to do it at all. When I started the job I was hoping to change that but I have failed miserably at that part of my job unfortunately. Then again, change takes time so I have to remember that of course.
Thankfully, I did some traveling yesterday and am now at my parents' house in Illinois. So that's at least something. Seems like if I don't cross some ocean soon though, I'm going to explode. Okay, okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit there but you get the idea. My life gets so boring when I'm stateside it seems. Now, I realize that stability is good for me but geez, I need something exciting to look forward to, ya know?
Hopefully I'll be going to Turkey this next summer if I ever hear back from that particular missionary that I've been in contact with. I also want to go back to the Czech Republic to see my friends Rob and Audrey but I don't know if I'll have money enough to do both this time around. Maybe I should skip Turkey and just do some touring around again. Turkey would be a cool place to go but it would be fun to be constantly on the move like I was this past year. It can get tiring yes, but it's a lot of fun to see a lot of different sights in a short amount of time.
Where does this need for travel come from? I really have no idea. We took some trips when I was growing up but I didn't go overseas until I was out of college and on my own. My pastor wants me to lead a mission trip somewhere but that has proven much more difficult to organize than just worrying about one person to take care of. Hopefully something will work out with that this upcoming summer as well. I just seem to have a really hard time generating interest, which I put on myself. Apparently I've failed at making a trip look worthwhile and meaningful, I don't know. I'm trying to talk to a couple of different people about shorter trips as those should be more manageable for people I would hope. I don't know if I should focus more on the youth group students or adults, I'd prefer to take adults so I'm not liable but many adults don't seem to have the time to do it so that presents a problem. Either way something needs to happen with it. My job is to get people involved with service in our church and I feel like I've failed for the most part with that particular role. We have a few people at different service projects but not nearly as many as I'd like to see.
Maybe after my 1 year term is up I'll just go back to teaching full time and let someone else who is better at organization take over the director of service that I currently lead in. There is something to be said for working in one's strengths and I certainly don't feel that I've had that opportunity with this job. If anything I've been working out of my weaknesses, which is probably why I feel so much frustration with it. This past week my friend Brandon and his wife were down in Florida visiting so I got to hang out with them quite a bit. I started talking to Brandon about my role at the church and didn't realize just how much of a failure I felt like within that role until I started talking out loud about it. My pastor means well in hiring me but I just don't know if I'm up to the task of getting all our people involved with serving. Serving is inconvenient, so much so that a lot of people simply aren't willing to do it at all. When I started the job I was hoping to change that but I have failed miserably at that part of my job unfortunately. Then again, change takes time so I have to remember that of course.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Investing in Wall Street versus "Locavesting"
Yesterday, I went to Books-a-Million with my friend. My curiosity was piqued when I saw a book titled "Locavesting" in the finance section. When I went home I downloaded a copy of it on my Kindle. Now, as you can probably imagine, it's about investing locally into small businesses and the like. Yes, I get that it's ironic that I didn't buy the book locally but rather on my Kindle, but Books-a-Million isn't exactly local anyways since it's a chain.
In the book, it talks about how people are now starting to eat locally and buy locally, but that we haven't made the crossover to investing locally. My dad pointed out that we want corporations to do well for all of our 401k's and retirement plans, but what that comment really served to do was to make me think there has to be a better way to invest than just sending money to Wall Street and big corporations. It will be interesting to see what some options are in this book. The problem that I foresee, of course, is that the returns won't be as high as in the stock market. It's pretty hard to beat a system that essentially doesn't have to worry about risk since they now know they'll just be bailed out by the government.
When I was in Australia, I listened to a podcast about peer-to-peer lending. This also seems interesting to me as a possible means of investment. To me, using money to help someone else seems a much nobler cause than just sending money to some company that I have no idea what their values really are unless I really research the company. Let's face reality though, hardly anyone researches a company that well, it usually mainly consists of seeing a company's track record of returns to shareholders to know if they're going to be a good investment. What if there was a better way, a more humane way, to invest? There have been some new index funds that deal with companies who are working on renewable and alternative energy types and that's a definite start. Almost everyone knows though that oil almost always will have great returns, but at what cost to our environment?
It will be interesting to see where this book leads, hopefully it will lead to a better way to invest in my local community. It has already mentioned that if people were to spend just 10% of the money they already spend locally as opposed to chain stores that it would have many times that amount of impact on the local economy. I'll keep you updated on what conclusions this book helps me reach.
In the book, it talks about how people are now starting to eat locally and buy locally, but that we haven't made the crossover to investing locally. My dad pointed out that we want corporations to do well for all of our 401k's and retirement plans, but what that comment really served to do was to make me think there has to be a better way to invest than just sending money to Wall Street and big corporations. It will be interesting to see what some options are in this book. The problem that I foresee, of course, is that the returns won't be as high as in the stock market. It's pretty hard to beat a system that essentially doesn't have to worry about risk since they now know they'll just be bailed out by the government.
When I was in Australia, I listened to a podcast about peer-to-peer lending. This also seems interesting to me as a possible means of investment. To me, using money to help someone else seems a much nobler cause than just sending money to some company that I have no idea what their values really are unless I really research the company. Let's face reality though, hardly anyone researches a company that well, it usually mainly consists of seeing a company's track record of returns to shareholders to know if they're going to be a good investment. What if there was a better way, a more humane way, to invest? There have been some new index funds that deal with companies who are working on renewable and alternative energy types and that's a definite start. Almost everyone knows though that oil almost always will have great returns, but at what cost to our environment?
It will be interesting to see where this book leads, hopefully it will lead to a better way to invest in my local community. It has already mentioned that if people were to spend just 10% of the money they already spend locally as opposed to chain stores that it would have many times that amount of impact on the local economy. I'll keep you updated on what conclusions this book helps me reach.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
blessed and grateful
It seems like this time of year is when one reflects on all they've been blessed with. A couple of my dear friends are in town this week and we've been able to hang out the past few days. While I wish that they lived here again, I'm grateful for the chance to see them again at least. We always have so much fun together.
Lately, you can't turn the news on without hearing about our high unemployment rate or how a lot of people have just given up looking for work. For that reason, I am extremely grateful that I currently have a job. The only thing I know how to do for the jobless is pray for them, which I need to do more of. Sure, I'd love to start a business to provide jobs, but that's simply not where my strengths are. I'm a teacher, I tried to run from that at one point but have now accepted that I think that's exactly where I'm supposed to be right now.
Many of my friends and most of Americans are straddled with debt. That's another thing I'm grateful for, that I don't have any debt. It started with my parents paying for my college, but the better gift was that they taught me how to handle money. This has kept me out of debt all my life except for a 6 month period when I quickly paid off a 2 year car loan. It didn't take long for me to realize that I hated debt and the idea of paying interest for a long period really didn't hold much appeal to me at all.
Recently, I've been in contact with a mission organization down in Haiti, as well as other ones to different places. This summer I'm still hoping to lead a small team down somewhere for a short mission trip. I'm grateful that I live in a day and age where we can travel to any other country in the world in a relatively short time and that it's affordable depending on where you go and how much money you're willing to spend on it. A lot of people ask me how I can afford to travel to so many places. Well, I don't have a mortgage or a car payment and I only pay $400 a month for rent all inclusive. I'm blessed to be able to save a ton of money during the school year so I can then turn around and travel during the summers.
There are so many blessings I take for granted, and for these I am grateful. I'm grateful that God has never left me and has always provided for my needs and blessed me abundantly with material wealth but more importantly relational wealth. The friendships that I most hold dear I'm extremely close with, and for those I am grateful.
Lately, you can't turn the news on without hearing about our high unemployment rate or how a lot of people have just given up looking for work. For that reason, I am extremely grateful that I currently have a job. The only thing I know how to do for the jobless is pray for them, which I need to do more of. Sure, I'd love to start a business to provide jobs, but that's simply not where my strengths are. I'm a teacher, I tried to run from that at one point but have now accepted that I think that's exactly where I'm supposed to be right now.
Many of my friends and most of Americans are straddled with debt. That's another thing I'm grateful for, that I don't have any debt. It started with my parents paying for my college, but the better gift was that they taught me how to handle money. This has kept me out of debt all my life except for a 6 month period when I quickly paid off a 2 year car loan. It didn't take long for me to realize that I hated debt and the idea of paying interest for a long period really didn't hold much appeal to me at all.
Recently, I've been in contact with a mission organization down in Haiti, as well as other ones to different places. This summer I'm still hoping to lead a small team down somewhere for a short mission trip. I'm grateful that I live in a day and age where we can travel to any other country in the world in a relatively short time and that it's affordable depending on where you go and how much money you're willing to spend on it. A lot of people ask me how I can afford to travel to so many places. Well, I don't have a mortgage or a car payment and I only pay $400 a month for rent all inclusive. I'm blessed to be able to save a ton of money during the school year so I can then turn around and travel during the summers.
There are so many blessings I take for granted, and for these I am grateful. I'm grateful that God has never left me and has always provided for my needs and blessed me abundantly with material wealth but more importantly relational wealth. The friendships that I most hold dear I'm extremely close with, and for those I am grateful.
Monday, December 19, 2011
the gift of giving and some thoughts on tithing and wealth
Last week, I had the opportunity to give presents to my kindergarteners. It was such a joy to see their faces light up with excitement when I gave them their presents. With exuberance they exclaimed that I was "the best teacher ever!" To which I instantly thought, "Well, I'm technically your only teacher ever at this point so talk to me when you're in 5th grade." haha
Anyways, I teach at a Title 1 school, so a lot of my students may not be getting very much in terms of material gifts this Christmas. It was a special blessing to get to give them something nice and spoil them a little bit. I got them each a Kohl's Cares stuffed animal and a book to go with it. I spent quite a bit on the presents, one book and one stuffed animal wouldn't have been bad at all but when you multiply that by 18 it can really add up. It was so worth it to see their beaming smiles as they hugged their stuffed animals. We quickly realized, though, that the sleeve on the hardcover book simply wouldn't do so I just let them throw that away. You live you learn, right?
When we come back from break, I can't wait to read them the stories in the books that I bought for them. Hopefully, some of them will have their parents read them the books but I know some of them simply can't due to only speaking Spanish. The books focused on how special each child truly is, so I thought that's a pretty needed message during this time. When I gave them their presents on Thursday of this previous weeks, it was yet another example of how giving is truly better than receiving. They could've all gotten me something nice for Christmas as I'm sure students do in better socioeconomically located schools. They didn't though, which was fine because I know a lot of those families struggle to just put food on the table. It was much better to be able to bless each of my students with a gift that really meant a lot to them. My assistant principal poked her head in because my students were being so loud with excitement. I apologized quickly and she said, "Oh, they're just so excited." I'm glad she understood. By the end of the day, a couple of the students had already named their stuffed animals. Two of them named their lions 'Tigris.'
I must admit, in years past, I didn't get my students anything for Christmas usually. It always seemed like it would be such a waste when I got done buying for all of them. The class size is smaller in kindergarten though thankfully so that certainly helps. Also, a lot of my 5th graders were just ungrateful in general so I thought it would be a waste to try and get them anything. A couple of years the students would have appreciated it, but I guess I'm still growing up at this point as well.
This has been my first year of teaching kindergarten, and I'm amazed at just how sweet and innocent my little ones are. I take ownership of my students, I consider them to be my own kids since I spend more of their waking hours with them than their own parents do, minus the weekends of course. On top of the innocence, is the truly caring spirit that a lot of them have for one another. It's really inspiring when one student falls down on the playground and I have 4 or 5 students asking them if they're okay and putting a hand on their back to console them. Yes, kids cry a lot more than what I'm used to in kindergarten, but they also get over it much quicker than I had originally expected.
One girl in particular spent the better half of the first semester in tears it seemed, until I put her next door and then she had calmed down in about 5 minutes. She just really needed to be taken out of the context that had made her cry for a little while and then she was fine. Even that main behavior problem student hasn't cried over the past few weeks so that's been really nice. Now if I can just get her to stop talking out of turn and bossing other students around, then I'd really have a success story on my hands. She's on a behavior chart and has honestly done better but she still gives me headaches. There's always one in each class as they say. Hopefully after break she will have matured a little bit. Thankfully her mom is always on my side and very involved and always wants what is best for her daughter so that's encouraging.
So, here it is, my first day off of school, and what am I doing? I'm writing about school! Oh well, it's nice to be passionate about teaching again. My pastor asked me if I wanted to preach or tag team preach this coming year at all and I jokingly said, "I'm just not a teacher, Ryan." We both laughed at this but I just don't know if I feel comfortable preaching in front of adults. In years past I've done testimonies and they usually cause a certain amount of nervousness on my part. Maybe preaching would be different since I'm not sharing something quite so personal.
Now, on to the inevitable trail that some of you probably took while reading this after reading my status on facebook about how many billions are spent on Christmas in America versus how much it would take to get clean water to every person in the world. To go over it again, I believe it was $450 billion spent on Christmas in America versus $20 billion to bring clean water to everyone on the planet. Well, I really have no defense. I realize I'm part of the problem, but in the same breath at least there's that awareness. I don't believe all gift giving is bad either, just to clarify. I just think a lot of parents buy excessively at Christmas and rack up considerable debt on credit cards that they're then paying off until June or July. It is imperative to get one's financial house in order before deciding to spend a lot on Christmas in my opinion.
There are a couple of schools of thought within Christianity that I've seen regarding getting your financial house in order before tithing or tithing while getting your financial house in order. Personally, I believe in tithing while getting your financial house in order, as it never gets any easier even if you do get out of debt in my opinion. Better to develop the habit when you have little than to wait until you're wealthy and then it really will seem like you're giving a lot. In addition to that, I believe the tithe is the basement of Christian giving, not the ceiling. I have a personal goal of giving 12% in 2012, 13% in 2013, 14% in 2014 and so on. This is the one area in the Bible where God says to test Him in this, bringing in the firstfruits of your crop or in our case the firstfruits of our incomes. While some people misinterpret that area as meaning God will always pour upon you financial blessings, I do believe that sometimes that is how God indeed chooses to bless us, particularly if it means providing for one's own family. Sometimes though, the blessings are realized in other parts of our lives, not necessarily financially or materially. In any case, I do believe that if we are faithful in giving at least a tithe that God will be faithful in helping us meet our basic needs. We may not ever become wealthy, but I do believe God will meet our basic needs.
Yesterday, I spent some time reading a book from the early 20th century entitled "Thrift." It has a lot of wisdom on how to handle one's finances and it's also intriguing since it's written from a much different time period. Much of what the author has to say is still very relevant to today's world. He talks about living within one's means, saving for a rainy day, not giving away all one's money at the 'beerhouse' which I found especially entertaining. It always amazes me just how much money is spent on drink outside of the home. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with having an alcoholic drink every now and again but at the same time if you're going to drink do it at home where you can save a ton of money. Unless of course, you're on Santorini Island in Greece. It was the only place I've been where a glass of wine was cheaper than a soda haha
That being said, I am the first to admit I spend way too much on traveling. However, I am not in debt and am really tight on my budget the rest of the year. Even when I do travel though, I usually am able to do it quite a bit cheaper than anyone else I know due to couchsurfing and other tricks of the trade. Most people aren't comfortable with the idea of couchsurfing, but it has saved me a fortune over the past few years and then some. Not to mention the cultural exchange and the great people I have gotten to meet over time through the website.
Back to the idea of giving a tithe for a minute. When people say that the tithe is not in the New Testament, two things pop up in my mind. The first is, even if the tithe is not mentioned in the New Testament, where in the world do you find a basis for giving less in the New Testament than in the old? The second thing is that it actually is mentioned in the New Testament, it's just implied rather than stated directly by Christ Himself. If you read the rest of the gospels though, I come away with the feeling that God expects people who believe in His Son Jesus to give more than 10%, to live sacrificially which sometimes can mean much more than 10%.
When I read the Bible, particularly the words of Christ, it seems to me that there is a lot more said about the dangers of being wealthy than He says in defense or that it's okay to be wealthy. The rest of the Bible seems to say it's okay to be wealthy, but I often think that's just a cop-out for wealthy people to feel okay to be rich. If it's truly harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven though, than myself and a lot of my friends are screwed indeed. Yes, I know the rest of the verse that says with God all things are possible; but at the same time it seems like such a temptation to put one's trust in wealth instead of in God. Giving a tithe or ideally more helps put our perspective back in order about whose money it is when it's all said and done anyways. Everything we have comes from God, it is all a gift. Atheists would never acknowledge this, and would claim that they made their money with their own two hands, but it's God who gives them the ability to work in the first place, whether they believe in Him or not. Furthermore, it should cause us some unease at the very least when we look at some of our purchases when others in our own borders and around the world struggle to just put food on the table.
Many Christians are quick to point out that one should give with a cheerful heart and that they just don't feel lead to give like that. To this my response is, "Well maybe your heart is just in the wrong place then." Sometimes, giving first out of obedience will than cause your heart to be cheerful rather than waiting on a cheerful heart in order to give. Sometimes we need to give in order to be obedient to Christ and the Holy Spirit's work of conviction on our hearts. In short, I think a lot of people make a lot of excuses as to why they don't give more, and this is to their folly.
Anyways, I teach at a Title 1 school, so a lot of my students may not be getting very much in terms of material gifts this Christmas. It was a special blessing to get to give them something nice and spoil them a little bit. I got them each a Kohl's Cares stuffed animal and a book to go with it. I spent quite a bit on the presents, one book and one stuffed animal wouldn't have been bad at all but when you multiply that by 18 it can really add up. It was so worth it to see their beaming smiles as they hugged their stuffed animals. We quickly realized, though, that the sleeve on the hardcover book simply wouldn't do so I just let them throw that away. You live you learn, right?
When we come back from break, I can't wait to read them the stories in the books that I bought for them. Hopefully, some of them will have their parents read them the books but I know some of them simply can't due to only speaking Spanish. The books focused on how special each child truly is, so I thought that's a pretty needed message during this time. When I gave them their presents on Thursday of this previous weeks, it was yet another example of how giving is truly better than receiving. They could've all gotten me something nice for Christmas as I'm sure students do in better socioeconomically located schools. They didn't though, which was fine because I know a lot of those families struggle to just put food on the table. It was much better to be able to bless each of my students with a gift that really meant a lot to them. My assistant principal poked her head in because my students were being so loud with excitement. I apologized quickly and she said, "Oh, they're just so excited." I'm glad she understood. By the end of the day, a couple of the students had already named their stuffed animals. Two of them named their lions 'Tigris.'
I must admit, in years past, I didn't get my students anything for Christmas usually. It always seemed like it would be such a waste when I got done buying for all of them. The class size is smaller in kindergarten though thankfully so that certainly helps. Also, a lot of my 5th graders were just ungrateful in general so I thought it would be a waste to try and get them anything. A couple of years the students would have appreciated it, but I guess I'm still growing up at this point as well.
This has been my first year of teaching kindergarten, and I'm amazed at just how sweet and innocent my little ones are. I take ownership of my students, I consider them to be my own kids since I spend more of their waking hours with them than their own parents do, minus the weekends of course. On top of the innocence, is the truly caring spirit that a lot of them have for one another. It's really inspiring when one student falls down on the playground and I have 4 or 5 students asking them if they're okay and putting a hand on their back to console them. Yes, kids cry a lot more than what I'm used to in kindergarten, but they also get over it much quicker than I had originally expected.
One girl in particular spent the better half of the first semester in tears it seemed, until I put her next door and then she had calmed down in about 5 minutes. She just really needed to be taken out of the context that had made her cry for a little while and then she was fine. Even that main behavior problem student hasn't cried over the past few weeks so that's been really nice. Now if I can just get her to stop talking out of turn and bossing other students around, then I'd really have a success story on my hands. She's on a behavior chart and has honestly done better but she still gives me headaches. There's always one in each class as they say. Hopefully after break she will have matured a little bit. Thankfully her mom is always on my side and very involved and always wants what is best for her daughter so that's encouraging.
So, here it is, my first day off of school, and what am I doing? I'm writing about school! Oh well, it's nice to be passionate about teaching again. My pastor asked me if I wanted to preach or tag team preach this coming year at all and I jokingly said, "I'm just not a teacher, Ryan." We both laughed at this but I just don't know if I feel comfortable preaching in front of adults. In years past I've done testimonies and they usually cause a certain amount of nervousness on my part. Maybe preaching would be different since I'm not sharing something quite so personal.
Now, on to the inevitable trail that some of you probably took while reading this after reading my status on facebook about how many billions are spent on Christmas in America versus how much it would take to get clean water to every person in the world. To go over it again, I believe it was $450 billion spent on Christmas in America versus $20 billion to bring clean water to everyone on the planet. Well, I really have no defense. I realize I'm part of the problem, but in the same breath at least there's that awareness. I don't believe all gift giving is bad either, just to clarify. I just think a lot of parents buy excessively at Christmas and rack up considerable debt on credit cards that they're then paying off until June or July. It is imperative to get one's financial house in order before deciding to spend a lot on Christmas in my opinion.
There are a couple of schools of thought within Christianity that I've seen regarding getting your financial house in order before tithing or tithing while getting your financial house in order. Personally, I believe in tithing while getting your financial house in order, as it never gets any easier even if you do get out of debt in my opinion. Better to develop the habit when you have little than to wait until you're wealthy and then it really will seem like you're giving a lot. In addition to that, I believe the tithe is the basement of Christian giving, not the ceiling. I have a personal goal of giving 12% in 2012, 13% in 2013, 14% in 2014 and so on. This is the one area in the Bible where God says to test Him in this, bringing in the firstfruits of your crop or in our case the firstfruits of our incomes. While some people misinterpret that area as meaning God will always pour upon you financial blessings, I do believe that sometimes that is how God indeed chooses to bless us, particularly if it means providing for one's own family. Sometimes though, the blessings are realized in other parts of our lives, not necessarily financially or materially. In any case, I do believe that if we are faithful in giving at least a tithe that God will be faithful in helping us meet our basic needs. We may not ever become wealthy, but I do believe God will meet our basic needs.
Yesterday, I spent some time reading a book from the early 20th century entitled "Thrift." It has a lot of wisdom on how to handle one's finances and it's also intriguing since it's written from a much different time period. Much of what the author has to say is still very relevant to today's world. He talks about living within one's means, saving for a rainy day, not giving away all one's money at the 'beerhouse' which I found especially entertaining. It always amazes me just how much money is spent on drink outside of the home. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with having an alcoholic drink every now and again but at the same time if you're going to drink do it at home where you can save a ton of money. Unless of course, you're on Santorini Island in Greece. It was the only place I've been where a glass of wine was cheaper than a soda haha
That being said, I am the first to admit I spend way too much on traveling. However, I am not in debt and am really tight on my budget the rest of the year. Even when I do travel though, I usually am able to do it quite a bit cheaper than anyone else I know due to couchsurfing and other tricks of the trade. Most people aren't comfortable with the idea of couchsurfing, but it has saved me a fortune over the past few years and then some. Not to mention the cultural exchange and the great people I have gotten to meet over time through the website.
Back to the idea of giving a tithe for a minute. When people say that the tithe is not in the New Testament, two things pop up in my mind. The first is, even if the tithe is not mentioned in the New Testament, where in the world do you find a basis for giving less in the New Testament than in the old? The second thing is that it actually is mentioned in the New Testament, it's just implied rather than stated directly by Christ Himself. If you read the rest of the gospels though, I come away with the feeling that God expects people who believe in His Son Jesus to give more than 10%, to live sacrificially which sometimes can mean much more than 10%.
When I read the Bible, particularly the words of Christ, it seems to me that there is a lot more said about the dangers of being wealthy than He says in defense or that it's okay to be wealthy. The rest of the Bible seems to say it's okay to be wealthy, but I often think that's just a cop-out for wealthy people to feel okay to be rich. If it's truly harder for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven though, than myself and a lot of my friends are screwed indeed. Yes, I know the rest of the verse that says with God all things are possible; but at the same time it seems like such a temptation to put one's trust in wealth instead of in God. Giving a tithe or ideally more helps put our perspective back in order about whose money it is when it's all said and done anyways. Everything we have comes from God, it is all a gift. Atheists would never acknowledge this, and would claim that they made their money with their own two hands, but it's God who gives them the ability to work in the first place, whether they believe in Him or not. Furthermore, it should cause us some unease at the very least when we look at some of our purchases when others in our own borders and around the world struggle to just put food on the table.
Many Christians are quick to point out that one should give with a cheerful heart and that they just don't feel lead to give like that. To this my response is, "Well maybe your heart is just in the wrong place then." Sometimes, giving first out of obedience will than cause your heart to be cheerful rather than waiting on a cheerful heart in order to give. Sometimes we need to give in order to be obedient to Christ and the Holy Spirit's work of conviction on our hearts. In short, I think a lot of people make a lot of excuses as to why they don't give more, and this is to their folly.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
thoughts on teaching and this upcoming summer
As a teacher, one of the things I have to do is continual professional development. Most of this I don't mind and some of it I even enjoy, but my ESOL classes are almost unbearable. They're all online, which I don't mind so much, but they're harder than the grad school classes that I had taken this past summer. Oh well, I shouldn't complain too much, ideally they're making me a better teacher. It is helping me to better manage my time as well, something I continually struggle with. Just today, I finally got caught up on the course that I'm in, I was a couple weeks behind. Today, I felt extraordinarily productive for some reason, really got a lot accomplished; this is not very typical of my usual Saturday's. For a while I had been trying to focus on taking a Sabbath but I think I was really just extending my Sabbath into 2 days instead of 1. Sunday's I do technically work since I'm on staff at a church but I don't really see it as work since I enjoy it so much.
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this past week my students were pretty good. Starting late Thursday and on into all day Friday though, they were just completely nuts. I guess I should expect this with the Christmas holiday coming up just around the corner and my students getting super excited about it. This is the first year I've spent some significant portion of my income on my students for presents. I'm finding I really care about the little ones, they've found their way into my heart more so than my fifth graders used to. They're just very sweet at that age, and tend to care a lot more about each other than my fifth graders used to. Fifth graders can be just nasty to one another, but in kindergarten they seem to still have a lot of innocence and sweetness about them. Next week should be fairly interesting, I'm sure the kids will be whack-o with the upcoming break approaching ever nearer by the day. We have some fun stuff planned for them, with a gingerbread man hunt and watching Polar Express on Friday with hot cocoa and cookies. My coworkers have been gracious enough to help me with this, in particular one has helped me by wrapping my presents for my students, no small task I might add.
The past couple of weeks, I've tried to get back into my 90 day Bible again that's on my Kindle. Man, what a tough discipline that is! It's a very good habit to get into and gets you through a lot of Scripture in a short amount of time, but it sure can be difficult to sit for 35-45 minutes in order to read an entire day's worth of reading. Maybe I'll just wait till the new year to start really tackling it. Self-discipline is a much-needed type of discipline, and also one of the hardest types to achieve, at least in my opinion. In finances I'm fairly disciplined, I eat out too much but I'm still able to save a ton considering my salary. Now if I could just carry that self-discipline over to the areas of Bible reading and getting back in shape. A couple weeks ago I signed up for a couch to 5k program at a local shoe store but apparently only one other person and myself signed up so they had to postpone it. I really hope it works out eventually, I would love to run with other people who need to get back in shape. With the new year they should have enough interest to get a group started I would suspect, what with all the new year's resolutions of losing weight and all.
This next summer, if all goes well, it looks like I'm hopefully going to be on my way to Istanbul, Turkey for 4-6 weeks for a mission trip. This is something I'm looking forward to immensely and really hope it all works out. I've been in touch with the coordinator of the trip and he sounds like he's going to be able to get me to stay with a local instead of the hotel that they offer everyone else. Most people would prefer a hotel in another country but I think that would really take away from the cultural experience of living somewhere new for a few weeks. This is coming from someone who has couchsurfed all over the world after all. A local place is best viewed from the eyes of a local; something you just don't get if you're holed up in a hotel when you're somewhere new.
Back to my little ones, I have to share a story really quickly. It was simply hilarious this past week when I was trying to read a book to my students and the girl in the bathroom was singing so loudly we could all hear her clear as a bell. When I told her to stop singing, she said, "Ahhh man!" like she was super disappointed that I had put an end to her little self-imposed concert. What a riot! Now that the kids saw me laughing about it though, I'm pretty sure it's inspired other students to sing in the bathroom now too. Oh no! What have I done to myself?! Oh well, I guess they'll just grow up to be future singers in the shower as well, which I found myself doing this morning for some reason to the tune of "Give a give a give a garmin, give a give a give a garmin."
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this past week my students were pretty good. Starting late Thursday and on into all day Friday though, they were just completely nuts. I guess I should expect this with the Christmas holiday coming up just around the corner and my students getting super excited about it. This is the first year I've spent some significant portion of my income on my students for presents. I'm finding I really care about the little ones, they've found their way into my heart more so than my fifth graders used to. They're just very sweet at that age, and tend to care a lot more about each other than my fifth graders used to. Fifth graders can be just nasty to one another, but in kindergarten they seem to still have a lot of innocence and sweetness about them. Next week should be fairly interesting, I'm sure the kids will be whack-o with the upcoming break approaching ever nearer by the day. We have some fun stuff planned for them, with a gingerbread man hunt and watching Polar Express on Friday with hot cocoa and cookies. My coworkers have been gracious enough to help me with this, in particular one has helped me by wrapping my presents for my students, no small task I might add.
The past couple of weeks, I've tried to get back into my 90 day Bible again that's on my Kindle. Man, what a tough discipline that is! It's a very good habit to get into and gets you through a lot of Scripture in a short amount of time, but it sure can be difficult to sit for 35-45 minutes in order to read an entire day's worth of reading. Maybe I'll just wait till the new year to start really tackling it. Self-discipline is a much-needed type of discipline, and also one of the hardest types to achieve, at least in my opinion. In finances I'm fairly disciplined, I eat out too much but I'm still able to save a ton considering my salary. Now if I could just carry that self-discipline over to the areas of Bible reading and getting back in shape. A couple weeks ago I signed up for a couch to 5k program at a local shoe store but apparently only one other person and myself signed up so they had to postpone it. I really hope it works out eventually, I would love to run with other people who need to get back in shape. With the new year they should have enough interest to get a group started I would suspect, what with all the new year's resolutions of losing weight and all.
This next summer, if all goes well, it looks like I'm hopefully going to be on my way to Istanbul, Turkey for 4-6 weeks for a mission trip. This is something I'm looking forward to immensely and really hope it all works out. I've been in touch with the coordinator of the trip and he sounds like he's going to be able to get me to stay with a local instead of the hotel that they offer everyone else. Most people would prefer a hotel in another country but I think that would really take away from the cultural experience of living somewhere new for a few weeks. This is coming from someone who has couchsurfed all over the world after all. A local place is best viewed from the eyes of a local; something you just don't get if you're holed up in a hotel when you're somewhere new.
Back to my little ones, I have to share a story really quickly. It was simply hilarious this past week when I was trying to read a book to my students and the girl in the bathroom was singing so loudly we could all hear her clear as a bell. When I told her to stop singing, she said, "Ahhh man!" like she was super disappointed that I had put an end to her little self-imposed concert. What a riot! Now that the kids saw me laughing about it though, I'm pretty sure it's inspired other students to sing in the bathroom now too. Oh no! What have I done to myself?! Oh well, I guess they'll just grow up to be future singers in the shower as well, which I found myself doing this morning for some reason to the tune of "Give a give a give a garmin, give a give a give a garmin."
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