I Am Gifted!

I remember being in junior high school and hearing about the G.A.T.E. program. It stood for "gifted and talented". It used to bother me, and not for reasons that you might suspicion. I wasn't envious of those who were in the program. It's true, I wasn't in the program. I was never asked to be... BUT... I wouldn't have accepted an invitation either.

The reason it bothered me was because even at the age of 12 I knew that EVERYONE has gifts and EVERYONE has talents. Having this "club" of sorts implied that any one not in the program wasn't gifted or talented. Or maybe they were, but not as much as the ones in the program.

As I've been reading, journaling and talking about this book 'One Thousand Gifts', the word "gift" has been ever present in my brain. I haven't just been thinking on what things gift me, but what are the ways I can gift others? What things can I do to make my husband, my children, my parents, my siblings, my friends feel like THEY have received a gift?

This week I have been sick with the flu. It is the worst flu that I have experienced in years! I'm sure there is a medical name for it, but I'm calling it the "One two PUNCH" bug! It comes, it acts like it's gone, then it attacks you again... HARD! I have been completely helpless. My children and even my husband have had this same bug, but I haven't been able to take care of them because I have been too sick with fever myself. We have all been doing our best to just take care of ourselves. In the midst of that though... There have been some who have done a beautiful job of gifting. These people may or may not have been in the program in junior high school. Regardless... They are gifted.

~ A friend offered to drive me to the doctor.

~ A friend brought a big pot of chicken soup over for dinner. This was so much bigger than she even knew because as I have been lying in bed, I have prayed over and over that I would just feel well enough to make some chicken soup for my family.

~ A friend sent an amazing note of encouragement. This friend is more a sister. She knows my heart, and she knew what my heart needed to hear.

~ My sister offered to drive almost an hour up here just to bring us more kleenex so that our noses wouldn't get too chapped from having to use tissue paper since we ran out of kleenex.

~ My hubby managed to keep the kitchen under control even though he was sick too. He recovered from his fever before me and he knew that keeping the kitchen up was important to me.

~ A friend offered to make a grocery trip for us.

We are all gifted. The question is, do we all take the time to use our gifts? There were many people in my life this week that showed me and taught me a lot about how to use the gifts that God has given me. They were the face, hands and feet of Jesus, and isn't that the point in using our gifts? It feels good to gift others and to receive gifts, but ultimately...

Gifting others should always resemble Jesus... not ourselves.