Good Morning welcome to the Front Porch….Sunday..a day set
aside to worship our Lord, spend time with family….wind down from the weekend…gear
up for the week….I like to think of it as Sonday….day to worship, focus and
meditate on the Lord and His goodness..
Speaking of winding down…gearing up…..back to school
tomorrow for GarlandISD teachers….students get one more day off…we teachers,
librarians, etc. have ‘staff development’…I fondly refer to them as meetings
about meetings…..I have enjoyed the past 2 weeks tremendously…nice balance of
visit with fam, reading, relaxing, some work projects at home, on the farm and
at church, more reading and relaxing…even got to sit on the deck a couple of
times and enjoy my afternoon coffee…did some reflecting, renewing and
resolutions, so to speak, but I want them to be more than some resolutions….working
on making some Lifestyle changes….how I live, move and have my being on a daily
basis. I must admit…having a pretty ‘open’
schedule has been wonderful…sleep in some…for me to sleep until 6AM is sleeping
in……and what a luxury to have a whole day, a whole week stretching before me
and I can decide what to do and not to do….I still made my ‘to do’ list of which I am becoming ‘famous’
for both here at the farm and at work. I
don’t know…something about my list just helps me to get….hmmmm organized…helps me set priorities…to
maximize/minimize what I want to accomplish
and get done. Hmmmm…those ‘ize’ words
again…
Well, today’s word is SPECIALIZE…as
you can see the root word is special….specialize means pursuing a
special activity, directed to a specific goal, being developed and designed for
a specific goal and having knowledge and mastery…whew who knew?!
I think this is one of the ize words that came to me…because
this pretty much explains why we are here on the earth…not just to take up
space, breathe the air and consume resources.
We have a reason and purpose for being here….it is the age-old cry of
many a heart…’why am I here’?
I believe we were created for Him and by Him. One of the most comforting scriptures is
found in
Psalm 139:14-18 The Message
Oh, yes, you shaped me first inside, then
out your formed me in my mother’s womb;
I thank you, High God-you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration-what a creation!
You know me inside and out, your know every
bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by
bit,
When I was woven together in the depths of
the earth,
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written
in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, o
God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber
the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.”
Powerful stuff! I just
cannot see how any Christian could support abortion if they truly believed this
scripture??!! I don’t see how any Christians could support any political party
or politician who does so blatantly and bolding support abortion, genocide or suicide.
Hmmm…enough said for that today.
Anyway, if there would be any doubt to how special you are
to God….I think this should pretty well secure and cement and dispel any random
thoughts about why you are here.
But back to SPECIALIZE…in
view of the scripture just quoted, I believe not only are we created special…we
are ‘specialized’ with gifts, talents, callings and abilities specific to us,
our personality, our background, our environment, our experiences….all messed
together for our specialized purpose here on earth. Pretty obvious, some folk have such a gift in
music, singing, teaching, preaching, caring, painting, decorating, hospitality,
management, crafting, designing….and on and on….
These are pretty general…we all know people blessed and ‘specialize’ to some degree in this
list…but I believe it goes further that each one of us within these callings
have a streamlined specialization in our purpose for being here. We each have a circle of friends, family,
co-workers, church folk, neighbors that we interact and encounter….hmmm…kinda
like our own mission field…..we use our gifts and callings to better our world
and those we come in contact with OR should be.
Matthew 14-29 tells us about the Parable of the Talents. Now,
this parable is referring to ‘talents’ as in money. Each talent worth about $1,000. The Parable tells about 3 servants and how
the master gave out talents to each and told I do not see any specific
directives he gave them…just that he was leaving town and gave them this money…..now
two of those servants invested the talents/money and earned interest or showed
gains. Except, for one…who dug a whole
and hid the talent. In layman’s terms:
sat on…did nothing with it, hid it…
Makes me think…what talents/gifts do we often sit on, hide, never
use…..talents to bless others, bless the Kingdom of God. Talents do not always have to be ‘obvious’…as
in the list above…singing, musical, etc., but can simply be a smile, good
deeds, kindness, and thoughtfulness. We have a dear friend from ministry years
ago, whose talent and gifting was to send cards of encouragement and remember
birthdays. Now, 30 something years later…she
still sends me and the Preacher cards of encouragement and remembers our
birthdays! This is a gift! This is a
talent! This one who was given a calling
and faithfully and lovingly first of all keeps us with countless birthdays,
selects individualized cards (ize) word, mails them….hmmm I can only imagine
the cost through the years…BUT just think of how many lives she has
encouraged!!!
So, look what is in your hands and heart…what do you like to
do…do as unto the Lord…find that ‘specialty’
that is you and you alone…and use it, use it, use it…pour yourself out, give
yourself completely….don’t hide, sit on or let your talents/gift…what you and
you alone… ‘specialize’ in be
wasted…..
We know the ‘rest of the story’…that ‘wicked and lazy’
servant lost the talent that he hid, wouldn’t share, wouldn’t develop…a bad
thing…but it gets worse…he was cast into outer darkness…..
Hmm…something to think about and ponder on….what do you ‘specialize’ in…..make the most of
it!
Until tomorrow……here on the Front Porch
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