"Understanding Your Gift."

"Mommy, God made me short so I could be a good soccer player. I was not made to play football, but I was made to be a good soccer player." These words were spoken to me by my precious Joshua this morning while he was getting ready for school. Apparently this has been on his heart for a while. Joshua is small. He didn't start out that way. He came into this world at a whopping 9lbs 10oz at 22 inches long. I thought he would be a giant, but somewhere along the way God decided that Joshua needed to be small. He may not always be small. He may shoot up one day, but in the mean time God is using his size to accomplish something even greater within his heart and life. I realized this morning when he spoke those words that he knows without a doubt that God created him for a specific purpose and he is not wasting his time being something that he is not, but instead he has found his strength, he is giving God the glory for his strength and he is working whole heartedly, without distraction to use his talent. Oh how I wish we as believers could embrace this truth. Have you ever wanted to do something that you were just not gifted to do? Have you ever tried to be good at something that you were just not made to do? For years I have wanted to be a singer. I have done solos, sung in the choir, been on worship teams and I will say that I do not have an awful voice, but this is not my gift. I was not made to sing (in public). I can speak and I can teach, but sing...it just shouldn't happen, but for so many years I wanted it to be so and I forced it. I possibly even robbed others of the blessing of serving in their gifted area because I was taking up space doing something I was not called to do. I was also stifling my own gifts and talents by spending my energy on singing instead of pouring it all into teaching and speaking. God has gifted each of us with very specific gifts and talents and as Joshua said, "We were made for them." We need to seek to find those gifted places of passion and serve in those areas. God is most glorified when we are using the gifts that He has equipped us with. How defeated and embarrassing to try to be good at something that we were just not created for? I was not created to be an athlete. I flinch and squirm when a ball is thrown to me, I bat and throw like a girl and I run with my head hanging to the side. It's just not in me and it has been quite embarrassing to reveal this lack of talent before others. Now I realize that the more you work at something or practice you will get better. I was able to stay on key for the most part when singing. I have actually won a tennis game before and I have gotten better at throwing, but I will never be what you would call a gifted singer or a gifted athlete. God has gifted me in the area of communicating. (My parents knew this early on, bless their hearts.) I can stand before a room of hundreds and never have a not one butterfly. I get so excited to open God's word and teach others what He has shared with me, but hand me a microphone and start the music and I immediately start sweating and my voice starts shaking. We have gifts and we need to look for those gifts, grow those gifts and use those gifts for the glory of God the Father. I was so blessed to hear my 5 year old grasp this concept. He is a gifted soccer player. He is so gifted in fact that instead of playing with his age group 4-6 year olds, he is playing with the 6-8 year olds and he is 5. He is just gifted. He is fast, he has fancy foot work, he has accuracy in his shots and he can see the openings and opportunities as if he had a bird's eye view all the time. More importantly, he understands that God gifts us all in  different ways and he is committed to using his gift and not try to be something that he is not.  What an encouragement he has been to me to work in the area of my giftedness.

Romans 12:6 NIV "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us."

1 Corinthians 12:4 NIV "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit."

Hebrews 2:4 NIV "God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will."

"What can you do with a penny?"

"What can you do with a penny these days?" Well just ask Jacob! Jacob and I got cold at the soccer tournament last weekend so we went to sit in the car. Now usually when we are in the car he is buckled in his seat, but since we were just sitting I decided to let him just sit up front with me as we warmed our frozen fingers. Well apparently his thawed out sooner than mine did because those precious little pinchers were able to pick up 4 pennies and load then into the DVD player. It began to whine and drag and make noises that I was sure would require quite a few zeroes added to the dollar signs. I called Honda and sure enough using the DVD player as a jukebox is not covered under the warranty. Oh how I sighed and prayed. (That I would not hurt him.) What to do? I knew Matt WAS NOT going to spend 100 plus dollars to fix something that had nothing to do with the overall operation of the van. We are blessed to have friends with the fix-it knowledge as well as a love for us so they want to bless us. Mr. Fred came over and in less than 30 minutes he retrieved 4 pennies from the player and it works like a charm. Thank you Mr. Fred! I began to think about what you can actually do with a penny? As my children said, "You can't even buy gum for a penny anymore."  Not that they actually even remember those days, but I'm sure they've heard about them. Something of so little value ($0.04) to some (me) could be worth so much more ($100). It was only 4 little pennies and oh how much fun for Jacob to watch the player suck them right up. It was like magic... Poof Disappear. I was totally helpless and had no idea what to do to fix it, but Fred on the other hand possessed the knowledge and the know how to fix the problem free of charge. What free gift do you possess that would cost you very little yet would be worth so much to someone else? Maybe it is a gift or a talent or maybe it is giving of your time. Without a doubt the testimony of our salvation would be worth life to those who do not know, it costs us nothing to share, but it cost Jesus His very life. The message of salvation is worth far more than any amount of zeros added to a dollar sign, but cost us nothing to share, not even a penny. Share the gift of eternal life this Christmas and also look for ways to serve others just as we remind our children all the time. "Jesus came not to be served, but to serve!"