The Gifts We're Given

In an interview shortly before his death, the poet and philosopher John O'Donohue said, "It's beautiful when you find someone at work who's doing exactly what they dreamed they should be doing and whose work is an expression of their inner gift. The gifts that are given to us as individuals are not for us alone, or for our own self-improvement — they're actually for the community, and to be offered to others."

I think about a man I knew from another church — a retired CPA who was passionate about helping young couples find a way to live debt-free. With his help, I saw so many couples strengthened in their marriages, able to become more generous, and able to pass on a new way of being to their children.

I think about a woman named Jacki whom I met at a continuing education conference years ago. She was a former Miss Florida contestant who worked in the beauty industry — and she felt God calling her to begin a ministry offering facials, manicures, makeup, and clothing to women who had been physically or emotionally abused.

I think about Barbara Enos and Bonnie McCarty from my previous church, who made prayer quilts for veterans, women in shelters, and people in need.

Whether you experience a calling like this as a tug on your heart or a stirring in your soul — whether you hear God's voice clearly, or are moved by the cries of human need, or simply sense: this is one thing I can do right now — these callings speak to the presence of a caring God whose Spirit is deep at work within us, moving us toward the places where grace is most needed.

May you and I ever remain open to those callings. May we use the time, the experience, and the gifts we have been given to bless a world that is desperately in need.

Prayer: We thank you, O God, for glimpses of your Spirit at work in and through others — in the quiet, faithful offerings of ordinary people. Stir us as well. Show us where our gifts are most needed, and give us the courage to offer them. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.

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