Day 96 - Little Gifts

My husband and I are part of a community group with our church. One of the first things we did was take a spiritual gifts test to see what each of us has been given and tried to figure out how to use it. One of the questions that was posed was "are my gifts a reflection of the job I have been doing for the past few years? or are they God given and I am in a job that suits me?" As I reflected on this, I thought about my daughter. Mike and I came up with a list of 10 or so qualities we love about Jocelyn at this age for her recent photo shoot. Some of those included: fearless, orderly, adventuresome, social...it goes on. These are things that she has that have not been affected by 30 plus years of work or relationships with others. As a mother, I need to encourage the qualities that God has given her at an early age, even if they are not like me, and help her learn how to use them. Once she gets old enough, these will translate into spiritual gifts that she can use for God's glory. For instance, her fearlessness or adventurous traits may allow her to do mission work in other countries around the world. I don't want to squelch that by being overprotective early on. Back to my original thought, I think my current spiritual gifts are from God but have been shaped through life. I think back to when I was Jocelyn's age and I was pretty fearless too. I now wish I had pursued some of the things in life when I had the courage.

Jenna