Talents

 

Talents.

We all have a talent. Something that comes easily to us. Sometimes, so easily that we don’t realize that it is a gift from God and that it has value. For some it is a skill that takes practice, like playing a musical instrument. For some, it is baking – everything comes out perfect and tastes great. For some, it is organization. Or listening. Or serving. Or teaching – the list goes on and on.

And, if you think hard enough, you’ll figure out your talent. God wants us to use the gifts and talents that He gives to us. Take a moment and think, “What can I do today to encourage my pastor’s wife with my talent?”

Bake a plate of cookies? Offer to take the kids while she sits and drinks a cup of coffee? Write her a note of encouragement? Pick a bouquet of flowers from the garden?

Janet Parkhurst from Nebraska used her talent to honor not just her pastor’s wife but all those who have touched her life in the following poem. It was an encouragement to her pastor’s wife!

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How do you thank the Creator who formed you in your mother’s womb?
And planted and kept you in a place where you’d blossom and bloom?

How do you thank the pastor’s wife you knew when you were five?
The one who gave your first glimpse of Jesus in her hug and her eyes.

How do you thank those who taught Holy Cross Bible School?
Their flannels telling stories of Moses and Jesus and the golden rule.

How do you thank your Mom for tuning in to the Crusades of Billy Graham?
Whose words convinced young knees to bend and come, “Just as I Am”?

How do you thank the families of faith who influenced you and your high school friends?
Especially the one whose witness came from a tumor that took her life in the end.

How do you thank those who invited you to a retreat or a rally and begged you to go?
Or preachers and speakers and strangers and cousins who prayed for your soul?

How do you thank the pastor who mentored and married your kids and laid your parents to rest?
Who’s dedicated grandbabies and led by example and love down paths that are best?

How do you thank his faithful wife who stood fast ‘til we learned the power of prayer?
How do you thank sweet sisters in Christ who know who you really are and still remain there?

How do you thank the husband who loves and the sons who stay positive and say, “it’ll all be fine?”
How do you thank an encouraging daughter whose love for Jesus and faith have grown bigger than mine?

How do you thank a church family for a heart connection shared every week?
Together we worship and sing, laugh and cry, teach and learn, fail and seek.

How do you thank God’s army, the body of Christ, who’ve carried you through life’s joy and pain?
Those who’ve sacrificed their time, love and prayers when they had nothing to gain.

O Father, my repayment can never be enough, but in You, giver of gifts far greater than gold,
I will trust to bless, keep and watch over those who shared their hearts and cared for my soul.

By Janet Parkhurst
November 2017