Week 104

Positive post Sunday, February 10, 2019- Week 104. 

A few weeks back, I wrote about a book I received from my daughter Heather, son in-law, Ryan and my grandchildren Sean, Chad and Aubrey.  The title of the book is The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For? by Rick Warren.  As noted by the author, this book is a guide to a 40-day spiritual journey after which you will know God’s purpose for your life.  The book is set up for you to read a few pages each day and reflect on a simple yet meaningful question presented at the end of each day.

I’ve been reading this thoughtful and insightful book religiously each day since I received it and felt compelled to share my thoughts on two of the days, Day 30 and Day 31(starts on Page 232 for those who have the book) that I found to have significant meaning to me personally.  Day 30 is titled Shaped for Serving God and Day 31, Understanding Your Shape.  Both days focus on “SHAPE” which stands for Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality and Experience, and remind us that we are all shaped to serve God.  God made each and every one of us different and exploring and better understanding our unique gifts will help us better serve God and each other.   

Reading these two days in this book caused me to reflect on my life and think deeply about my own personal SHAPE.  I began to ask myself the question, am I using my spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experience to serve the Lord.  Then, there it was in writing, the question at the end of Day 31, “What God-given ability or personal experience can I offer to my church?”  This may seem like a simple question but for some reason, maybe divine intervention, it really made me think.  What do I currently offer to my church and more importantly, how can I leverage my SHAPE to make a deeper and more targeted contribution to my church community?  I will continue to explore this and seek input from others over the next few weeks to make sure I am making a meaningful and impactful contribution to our church and to our broader Christian community.

So, I ask you the question at the end of Day 31, What God-given ability or personal experience can you offer to your church?  And, most importantly, are you offering it?  If not, today is a good day to start!

God Bless!