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Confessions of a Lousy Bow Maker
by Julia Lee Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a fun fellowship for the ladies at our church. A time without heavy topics, mostly just some neat tips on various crafts and good fellowship. Initially, I wasn't even going to attend since I wasn't particularly drawn to any of the topics I knew were going to be presented. I'm not one to do crafts, or decorate the house, or anything neat like that. My talents lie elsewhere. I ended up going only due to a friend who asked me to be a model for her presentation. She was presenting the topic of accessories and I was going to be the "How NOT to Accessorize" example. Be silly in front of an audience? Now that is one of my talents. One topic was bow making. Making big beautiful bows has been a talent I've admired in others, so I was actually eager to learn. I figuratively rolled up my sleeves, and determined to try my best. I listened attentively in the beginning, just knowing I had an untapped bow making talent, waiting to be developed. I would create a beautiful bow that would awe my family speechless. I was doing really well so far. Then the speaker had to stop and give different instructions to others in the group who had a different type of ribbon. Since those didn't apply to me, I decided to fellowship with the person next to me. It was a fellowship too, right? I must confess the art of fellowship IS one of my talents. Inevitably, I missed out on the next step, which proved to be fatal; at leastfatal to my dreams of becoming a talented bow-maker. It was increasingly becoming apparent that my bow stood out among the others at my table, but not in a good way. I just could not make my bow look as astounding as theirs! I kept trying to arrange the loops in vain hopes they would magically spring into the right place and become the beautiful bow of which I would awe my family speechless. I resolved to give myself a pep talk as I half-heartedly arranged my deficient bow. Mentally, I chanted, "My talents lie elsewhere". I comforted myself that although my bow was doomed, I make really good chicken enchiladas. My little pep talk did my self-esteem wonders, despite thoroughly failing Bow Making 101. Aren't we so glad that our Heavenly Father bestowed different talents and abilities to us? How boring it would be otherwise! He bestowed upon us different talents and abilities for His glory. Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us, "And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:" (KJV). Notice how the verse does not tell us to compare ourselves to others. God gave different talents to different people for purposes He alone knows. To compare ourselves to the talents others possess and find ourselves lacking is an insult to Him. And what a comfort to know He doesn't expect me to be good at everything! I am resolved to do my utmost with the talents He has given me for His glory. I am a home school mom who loves to write about our family and our journey as we raise our family to love the Lord. http://singsong-artsoffaith.blogspot.com Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |