Gifts of a Bus Kid

Gifts of a Bus Kid Christmas is the season of “gift-giving”! We buy robes, PJs, and electronics galore and wrap them in colorful paper. Gift certificates in tiny envelopes are hung on the tree or put in stockings for those hard-to-buy-for people in our lives. I have read in the bible about the “gifts” or talents God gives to each of us. Some say they have no gifts, but the bible would disagree. Gifts are not all the same, just as the broad array under your tree is not the same. Some people can sing; some can preach; still, others teach. I knew a precious saint who had the talent to put a beautiful flower arrangement together to set on the piano for Sunday morning service. I loved the faithful one who cooked for big church gatherings as if cooking for two and the volunteer who welded together the very stage that held those who would minister in teaching, preaching, and bring us a song. Sometimes people don’t recognize these things as gifts, but they are just the same. Some days I doubt my worth in the Kingdom. I mull over my supposed “gifts” and wonder if they are from God. When I was younger, I fed babies in the nursery, taught 4th graders about Jesus, and was a clown named Cleofa at Bible School. All things I could see and touch. But now I write! Old fingers fly over the keys to type words on a page that flitters out of my heart and mind. Sometimes I feel very vulnerable putting my thoughts out there, not knowing if anyone will read them or like them. For the last several months, I have been planning to self-publish a book of devotions. I have over five hundred writings of the previous ten years and new ones that I try to write weekly. The enemy taunts me that I’m just a nobody and could never write a book that anyone would read. Even at my age, my mind can still go back to the days I climbed aboard any church bus that would take me to church. I knew nearly nothing of the God that I met in those tiny Sunday School rooms with brightly painted kid-sized chairs. I remember the first time I learned that I could pray to God; even as a child, it changed my life. I scribbled “oTeach Us To Pray” onto red construction paper, made crooked lips, and pasted them on my masterpiece. At times, I compare what others know of the bible and writing and wonder if I still belong in the tiny room with brightly colored chairs. But as my “big girl” self, I know the scripture in 2 Corinthians is true. Only God can qualify us and enable us to be ministers of his New Covenant. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 It’s not that we think we are qualified to do ANYTHING (capitals mine) on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his New Covenant. As long as these fingers can plunk out a word to glorify my Lord, I will trust Him to give me the courage to do that in His name and for His sake.