My place in the world

Hello dear friends! I know I have neglected you. I have been very busy with my new partner, job, kid, life, church, etc. But I'm here now and I have a little wisdom to share from the experiences of the past few weeks. 

As you know from my previous posts, I really hated working as a salesperson at the call center. Especially because whenever I measured myself against my colleagues, I was the worst of them all. But then my partner told me something that really made sense: your talent is not to be the best or to be the strongest one. Your talent lies within being fragile and sweet. That takes a lot of courage too!

Do you know why it is that some people are good at some things and some are good at others? Every one is born with a special set of skills, a different way to see life and with the tools they are given, they develop a special way of doing things too. I always looked at my colleagues with a bit of envy because they were really good at selling. Others were really good at keeping giant amounts of information regarding specific subjects and others were just great at creating a special bond between them and the customers. I was good at being totally honest and sincere and the customers were grateful for that. But I wasn't very productive in the financial sense, I just kept the customer satisfaction up on the scale.

We all have our place within the group, which makes us important as part of it. In the Bible, it says  no part of the body is less important (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). The whole array of parts is what makes the body work. And so it is that we ourselves make an impact on the wholeness of the community of people around us, even when we don't notice it or don't believe ourselves to be that important. 

I was sent to a different department beacuse I wasn't cutting it as a call center agent. Honestly, I agree that I wasn't cut out for that specific job, even when I did my very best! That was not where I could use my skills best. But it was very interesting when one colleague approached our boss and said "Hey Mr. XXX I can't believe you let Maria go, you cut out the heart of the group, and now nobody feels the same about coming back to work anymore". When he told me that, I realized that even if I didn't intend for it, I was part of something bigger than myself or my few friends at work. I was a part of the bunch, just as we as Christians are part of the body of Christ. And that is why it's so incredibly important to realize that our talents are so valuable, even if we ourselves don't see them as fundamental as others which might seem more obvious.

You must know the story of David and Goliath. When David was sent to the front lines, he was offered an armour and a sword. But David was not good with a sword. Nor was he very fast under the weight of an armour. He was good with his own weapon, a simple sling and stones. And his talent was not greater than the best swordsman's. But when he put it to use, it was enough to kill a giant. He didn't envy the swordmanship. He did the best he could with his own gift.  And that was more than enough!

There is no talent which is better or worse. You might be a great singer, a wonderful speaker, a great shoulder to lean on when someone needs comforting, maybe you're a talented cook, gardener or you might just be the quiet person who has the gift of listening and giving good advice. Whichever your talent is, God gave it to you so that you could add that precise little piece to the world around you. You are so valuable! You are important and precious. Without your talents the world around you is incomplete. And whichever your gift is, I hope you enjoy it, cultivate it and continue growing in it so that you can impact the world around you just the way God intended you to.