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.
No comments:
Post a Comment