Sunday, August 20, 2006

Jack of All Trades, Master of None

I've been thinking about gifts in relation to vocation lately. I guess its that time in my life where I have to think a little more seriously about that kind of thing. And I'm not going to lie, it makes me jealous of those people who are clearly gifted at one thing or some specific area. You know, the people you know who are going to be amazing teachers, musicians, lab researchers, etc. I am not one of those people. Not to sound conceited, but I have a wide range of gifts. A lot of you have told me that. I am thankful to have been blessed with every gift that has been given to me. But well, I feel a bit like a 4 year old with an Arc Welder - what do I do with them? Do I need to find a job that both serves the kingdom and incorporates as many gifts as I can stuff in there? Or do I have to start looking more specifically at the gifts/skills differential? I'm gifted with music, but I am not skilled in it. I love to sing, and I'm pretty good at it, but I can't play anything to the point where I could lead a band or worship team or something. So what do I do with that gift? Do I sing at church, do I continue to study voice, do I continue to write and keep doing gigs, do I get more serious and disciplined about it when I'm done school? Do I need to find a ministry position that lets me sing? Or what about the whole acting/drama thing? I've got skills there too, and passions, and gifts, though much of that has transferable skills to the arena of public speaking. Or the gift of healing and prayer...I would love to get paid to pray or what I really mean, is that I would love to pray for my vocation and to also be able to have rent paid and eat. So do I seek a job that fits skills and passions, and then find other ways to use the rest of the gifts? Right now it seems like God is really directing me towards the retreat/conference ministry stuff right now. That area looks to me like it would have the potential to utilize many of my gifts and skills along with the probability that the job would continue to change so much that many gifts would continue to grow. Just something I was thinking about.

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