we have different gifts

sometimes, i want someone else’s gifts. i want to whip up new {or any} good dishes in the kitchen, and not even need to look at a recipe, and have all the right ingredients already in my cabinet. i want to put on cute running clothes, and new running shoes because my old ones got worn out from all my running, and talk about that runner’s high i think might be fake. i want to be laid back, not care if i’m late, or about using hand sanitizer, or if we are sticking to the plan and crossing off the to-do’s. i want to go to bed early. i want to love folding laundry {although this might not actually be a thing}. i want to fit into all my pants, all the time, and wear actual, matching pajamas to bed. i want to have really long hair that, when i wake up, just looks like that. i want to sing songs, and hit all the notes in the car with my kids, and have really good dance moves to go along with them.

i could go on.

do you do this? do you think about all the gifts you don’t have? someone you wish you could be? all the roles you wish you could fill?

yesterday i took E and K to the bookstore. E immediately asked me for a pen and paper so he could get started on next year’s christmas list. my blood pressure rose, thinking about all the perfect gifts he had at home. what about those?

i did not give him a pen and paper. instead, i asked him to list all the gifts he already had. he named off his numerous christmas gifts. remembering each one, he was suddenly less interested in the new gifts the bookstore had to offer.

after the bookstore, i thought about how i might teach E and K to better appreciate the gifts they have, physical gifts and talents they’ve been given by God. to stop wanting more gifts. to use their gifts to serve others.

this verse came to mind along with all the times i’ve wanted someone else’s gifts. i realized sometimes i am not much better than my five-year-old. good thing God’s got a handle on his blood pressure up there.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. – Romans 12:6-8

this morning, i challenged myself in this new year to do the same thing i asked of E. make a list of all the gifts i already have. staring at my list, like E, it was easy to forget i’d ever imagined becoming a better cook, runner, relaxer, sleeper, laundress, hair model, or singer. with a whole list of gifts i already possess, according to the grace of God, the pressure was off to be something God never made me to be. and i was grateful for what i had.

now, i extend this challenge to you. make a list. what gifts, by God’s grace, were give to YOU? and how can you share your gifts in this new year?

happy new year!