DAY 32
Using What God Gave Me
Where do I start? God has given me so much. He has given me talents. He has given me intelligence. He has given me a heart of compassion above many. He has made me sensitive to the needs of others. And a mind that still functions even after the destructiveness of living a life of addictions and craziness. I am surprised that I can still put all my life together down on paper or on a computer the way I can after all the things I have done to my body and mind over forty seven years. That God has really blessed with the ability to still have the capacity to think and to create and to put together everything in a way to get a message across so that His Glory can be seen and be understood by others. I didn’t use this gift in school, in fact when it came to anything like writing or speaking in public, I made sure I was absent that day, or that the dog ate my homework just to get out of having to turn anything in. Who knew that when I copied the back cover of a book but change the words around a little just to make it sound a little different and got a “C” for the effort, the teacher was really trying to tell me something, I had talent for something she saw in me. An ability that was hidden deep down, too bad she never encouraged it past that point from there on out. I was always the last one to recognize something good in myself. No one ever told me much growing up that I was good at anything except my piano playing. Then when I was in my middle teens I began for the first time getting praise for my ability to care for the kids I taught. I found that was something that I really cared about, caring for others that I could relate to. A group of people that allowed me to be myself with the stigma of having to worry about someone over me telling me to behave or stay out of trouble or always correcting me for bad behavior. Instead I was getting positive reinforcement for the things I was doing and the effort I made. This brought joy into my life. As an adult I found that I was able to manage people well, that I took very little effort to be in charge without sounding like I was lording it over them. I worked well by doing things that I expected of others first. No one ever was asked to do anything they hadn’t already seen me do a number of times before I ever asked them to do something. It was only in my personal life I had problems. It was only in my personal life I was selfish. But that was then and this is where we are now.
I hope soon and very soon the talents I have been given can be used to bring glory to God. He didn’t bless me not to use me. That would waste both our times. I thank God for the things He has blessed me with, and kept a part of me over the years, although sometimes they can also work against me I always have to be on my toes to recognize the difference. Having a good strong voice it great for some things, but it can also be an annoyance in others. A quick wit is also good, but it also needs to be tempered with love and the right place to be used. I enjoy very much the ability to interact with many people. People are why Christ came. Not the rich and famous but the down and out, the weak and the meek. And I have been both at times in my life so I understand them both. God sees past the outer and so can
