Saturday, December 06, 2003
Learning Through Teaching
I haven't even started teaching (well, assisting in teaching, to be more precise) yet, and I'm already learning. Actually, as soon as I got the course materials I knew that teaching Sunday school this term wouldn't just be good teaching experience for me, but that'd it'd also have a lot of personal spiritual relevance. The book we're working from, right on the cover it says "Your Possessions: What to do with what you have" and "Priorities: Keeping God first". Not to mention, the first lesson's title, exclaims in really big font: "I Want More!" ^^;; Oh yes, definitely relevant.
Okay, so a lot of the activities and even some of the emphases ("Is the opportunity to add something to our "tresaure chest" of stuff worth getting deceived and humiliated?") don't gel with me, but just the idea of rethinking my attitude towards "stuff" has really forced me to look more carefully at myself. This morning, for example, after I found out that the Colorado 12-inch Roy McFarlane figure wasn't actually available in the Square One Wal-Mart, I was pretty grumpy. Consequently my tone reflected my frustration when I talked to my mom, and she remarked: "Don't get mad at me, it's Wal-Mart's fault, not mine." That hit me pretty hard. I mean, really, what was I getting so upset about? I was pretty lucky to have even been able to get my Canadien Roy, and it's not like it was the end of the world to not get the other. It's not like I even have space to display them anyway; my closet's already full of FFX and LotR figures. There's definitely something wrong with my perspective when not being able to buy a toy makes me so upset.
Anyway, I still have a long way to go--I'm probably going to continue with my plan to write out my prioritized wishlist after this post--but the need to think about how materialistic I am has definitely been planted firmly in my mind and heart.
I haven't even started teaching (well, assisting in teaching, to be more precise) yet, and I'm already learning. Actually, as soon as I got the course materials I knew that teaching Sunday school this term wouldn't just be good teaching experience for me, but that'd it'd also have a lot of personal spiritual relevance. The book we're working from, right on the cover it says "Your Possessions: What to do with what you have" and "Priorities: Keeping God first". Not to mention, the first lesson's title, exclaims in really big font: "I Want More!" ^^;; Oh yes, definitely relevant.
Okay, so a lot of the activities and even some of the emphases ("Is the opportunity to add something to our "tresaure chest" of stuff worth getting deceived and humiliated?") don't gel with me, but just the idea of rethinking my attitude towards "stuff" has really forced me to look more carefully at myself. This morning, for example, after I found out that the Colorado 12-inch Roy McFarlane figure wasn't actually available in the Square One Wal-Mart, I was pretty grumpy. Consequently my tone reflected my frustration when I talked to my mom, and she remarked: "Don't get mad at me, it's Wal-Mart's fault, not mine." That hit me pretty hard. I mean, really, what was I getting so upset about? I was pretty lucky to have even been able to get my Canadien Roy, and it's not like it was the end of the world to not get the other. It's not like I even have space to display them anyway; my closet's already full of FFX and LotR figures. There's definitely something wrong with my perspective when not being able to buy a toy makes me so upset.
Anyway, I still have a long way to go--I'm probably going to continue with my plan to write out my prioritized wishlist after this post--but the need to think about how materialistic I am has definitely been planted firmly in my mind and heart.
