My father-in-law was a laborer in a cement plant.  During the long night shift, he worked in tunnels under the huge rock silohs making sure they were depositing rock on the conveyor belts without getting hung up.  How could this possibly be a job that fit his love of the outdoors and his alert mind that quickly soaks up facts and comes up with original ideas?  Surely this was a terrible job for a man like him!  However, he didn’t allow the drudgery of his job to drain the life out of him.  Instead, he used his schedule to give him daylight hours to do what he loved.  Often, on his way home from work in the morning he would stop at the river to fish.  His boring job didn’t define him.  He read their entire set of encyclopedias to stimulate his mind.  On his days off, he went to church and spent quality time with his kids who love him dearly to this day.  He taught them the things they were eager to learn.  He knew how each one was ‘bent’.  One learned gardening from him, another learned hunting and fishing, and another learned mechanics.  When he was offered a promotion, he declined.  He was being true to his nature.  He was happy working alone in peace.  Dear reader, do you scoff at his simple life?  Be careful. Money and power don’t make us happy.  Honoring how we are made and using those passions for others makes us happy.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how we are made.  Each one of us has a unique set of inclinations, personality, skills, experiences, desires, and abilities.  It seems to me that early in life these tendencies become evident.  We notice that a certain child makes friends easily.  Another child loves books and animals.  Yet another is happy listening to music and dancing, while another likes to build with Legos.  Sometimes a trauma or loss deeply affects a child and changes them, interrupting a normal progression in the development of their natural inclinations.  Other times children don’t have the opportunity to develop their natural gifts due to lack of resources.  Sometimes children are so busy doing activities chosen for them, that there’s no time or energy to pursue what they’re actually best at.  But inside each of us are God-given giftings meant to bring us joy as we use them to help others.

Think back to your own childhood.  If you’re brave, write down the answers to these questions:

What are some of your earliest good memories?

What did you like to do when you were a little child?  What things/animals/people were you drawn to?  

What did you spend your spare time doing when you were in elementary school? 

What are some things you were proud of doing?

What electives did you want to take in high school?  What extra-curricular activates did you enjoy?

What were your favorite classes in college?  

Look at your list.  Are any of these things part of your life now?

Because I’m in a creative profession, I’ve been trying to figure out how to keep my creative fire burning.  It occurred to me that perhaps if I went back to my younger years, I could see what lights me up and focus on including those things in my art.  I realized that I have always loved trees and flowers, birds and animals, fabrics and hats- the influence of my seamstress/milliner grandmother, people, books, drawing, teaching, and learning something new. Now I have a list of things that light me up and they are becoming renewed inspiration for making art.  The portrait above is my first piece of the new year.  Including things I love in my photographs is refreshing my soul.  What makes your heart sing?

Now before you yawn and click to the next website, let me ask you if you’d like more zip in your life?  What I’m talking about doesn’t only relate to creative types, it’s for every one of us.  I believe that God formed each of us uniquely in the womb.  He ‘wired’ us to have a unique set of passions and abilities.  The more we use those God-given inclinations for the good of others, the happier we will be.  I encourage you to ask God to reveal and renew the gifts he has given you.

“Then the Lord said to Moses,  “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.  I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts.  He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze.  He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft!
 “And I have personally appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to be his assistant. Moreover, I have given special skill to all the gifted craftsmen so they can make all the things I have commanded you to make:  Exodus 31:1-6

See how God picked specific individuals and gave them what they needed in order to do his work?  The universe isn’t random.  God is intimately involved in the life of each individual.  He formed each one as he saw fit.

“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
 
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!”  Psalm 139:13-17

Do you hate your job?  Or do you feel bored and useless in retirement?  Ask God to show you what he formed you to do right where you are.  There are seasons in our lives and we may need to shift where and which abilities we use.  But there is a unique place for each one of us to contribute and therefore experience happiness.  If you are a person of faith, God wants you to use what he gave you within the household of faith, also.  He formed us to work together in the Church so everyone is taken care of.

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function,  so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.  If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well.  If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”  Romans 12:4-8