guitar lessons, justin beaver, and talks about tithing - just a typical week?

Been a little while since I last put up a post. We're really back and into the swing of things again since the wee break for Christmas. Yes, I did just say "wee." With being back, guitar lessons have picked up again. On Wednesday evening I give free guitar lessons at Woodvale to anyone who would like to come. I've been doing this since mid-October. I've had a few come and try it out but last just a few lessons. But I also have three syblings who've stuck it out the entire three months so far with me. They are 11, 9, and 8. The two oldest are girls and the youngest is a boy. And they're a whole lot of fun. Wednesday evenings have truly become one of the highlights of my week. We haven't progressed as far as I thought we might have in three months, but I've found that trying to teach guitar to young students is proving challenging for me and that's probably part of it.

Now, I mention my guitar students because tonight they had the chance to show off some of the chords and songs they've learned so far. We opened up the midweek service/Bible study/prayer space/whatever it happens to be depending on the Wednesday with two of the songs we have learned. The first, "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love," we performed for the same crowd about a month and a half ago. The second, "Amazing Grace" was a debut for the kids. They did a great job and I think they were quite excited when some of the congregation joined in and sang "Amazing Grace" as they strummed. It was a fun night and I'm quite proud of the trio.

On a different note, I'm still trying to decide what kind of compliment I was given yesterday by one of the eight years olds in the after schools at the 174 Trust. As I left to go on bus runs for the Disabilites Club, this boy came up to me, hugged me, and said "You're the best human being ever! Way better than Justin Beaver when he's singing songs!" Yes, you read that right. "Justin Beaver." Unless I'm still having trouble with the accent, I'm pretty sure that's what was said. Nonetheless, I think it was quite the compliment and it's fun to know that some of these kids do actually enjoy having me around.

As long as I'm skipping all over the place with this post, let's go back to last Wednesday, the 18th. At our midweek Bible study we began discussing stewardship. Oh, the church's dreaded S-word. Even worse, we got into the almost forbidden T-word. We talked about tithing! Now, as I say this, I will say that I am not generous by the standards I am about to lay out. Additionally, lots of people don't necessarily believe tithing to be a spiritual practice. But we started to talk about what it means to be generous. And in light of tithing, which we were also talking about, I made the comment that tithing is not being generous. If we believe tithing to be a spiritual practice, then giving ten percent is not being generous. On top of that, if we do tithe, then living within our means (which we were also discussing) takes on a different form, because if we put this spiritual practice of tithing first, then our means is smaller than our paycheck. Just a little thought to wrestle with. I certainly am. And on top of that, what money that we give can be considered as part of our tithe? I would argue that a tithe doesn't just have to go to our church.

Blessings and peace from Belfast and as one of my first bosses wisely said (and says), be good to each other!