Our Weaknesses Are Unique

Our passions are unique. He can keep his documentaries and war movies. I’ll be in the kitchen, whipping up something tasty. What fires each of us up is no accident. Even our weaknesses are unique. It’s our job to put them to use for Kingdom purposes. In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in their body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. In the body, every part is vital. Not only is it painful, but you end up working around a bandaged finger.

Irresistible Forces

Even with nine perfectly good, working fingers, it’s hard accomplishing what you can with ten. You are a part of the body and the whole body is needed. The body doesn’t need you to be someone else. No one part is more valuable than another. The body needs you, exactly as you are. We’re all going through something. And if we’re not going through it right now, we’re catching our breath from the last thing we went through. You may admire where someone is now, but there’s no telling what she had to go through to get there. Do your job. It’s a saying worth unpacking here. Benjamin has a Super Bowl ring to testify to his prowess on the football field. But when the time comes for kicking a field goal, I don’t want to see Benjamin running onto the field.

These Are Special Times

It’s not what he’s been trained for. When the team needs a field goal, they send in the kicker, not the tight end. The same goes for you and me. We need to do our job. It’s what you’ve committed yourself to. It’s the people you’ve committed to doing life with. It’s living out your gifts for the Kingdom. Each of us has been granted special giftings. Over the years I’ve wished many times we didn’t have to move so much for my husband’s job. For much of my adult life, I’ve been the new girl who got lots of disbelieving looks for how many kids we have. As a result, I’ve often felt like an outsider. When I hear from moms who feel isolated and overwhelmed, I instantly feel like, Me, too! My particular experiences give me an instant connection and a sense of empathy I might not have otherwise.

Prove Yourself

He has expanded my ministry beyond my family to serve other moms. I also get to share my experience of mom life in our podcast, Why or Why Not with the Watsons. You just may be surprised by what He does! The child who gave Jesus his loaves and fish is my role model! Such a statement can help you direct your precious resources of time, money, and energy into purposes you want to invest in long term. He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. This verse guides our purpose as a family. We’ve committed it to memory, and we have it hanging in a prominent place in our home. What is it you want your people to remember about their time with you? What’s going to be your legacy for the Kingdom? Sister, the person you are is beautiful. Others may not share enthusiasm for the same things, but that’s okay. It’s up to you to express it. Sometimes it’s our quirks that point us to our legacy. For instance, my obsession with food has become a way for me to nurture my family. While I don’t need any of those things, I daydream about what it would be like to play with all these foodie toys in my future kitchen. I smile, imagining grilling outdoors again. Custom brass plates for a mailbox featuring your family’s name and street address? I imagine seeing Watson on such a plate. We’ve never had a permanent address before. We’re still years away from our forever home, but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming. While I’m at it, I want a little stamper with our address for our outgoing envelopes. We wish for better clothes, a nicer car, a suitcase with working wheels. We think, My life will be better when I get what I want, right? We tell ourselves we’ll be better off when our desires are fulfilled. It doesn’t have to be something from a catalog. We want to be less shy or less talkative. We hope to be more of something or less of something else. We wish others would change or take us seriously or ask for our forgiveness or give us the respect we deserve. We wish for more time. Each of these roles requires time and energy, and I struggle sometimes to know which role takes precedence. When I’m trying to engage my child in conversation while my phone is blowing up with messages from my Bible study group. We’d spent the morning walking the park, checking out the animals and chatting with another family who had come along. At last we arrived at the kids’ favorite exhibit. Naomi wasn’t yet four years old, but she was excited to do whatever the big kids were doing. She was determined to conquer this marvelous tree, which to her was as big and inviting as the wide world. She boldly began climbing, and every so often I’d check on her progress. She was doing great . She couldn’t go back the way she’d come, and she couldn’t go up any farther. Kids were coming behind her, but she was too frightened to move another inch. Kids were getting impatient, urging her to move. I could see that Naomi needed help, but she was too high for me to reach.