Creative Communication. That’s what I scribbled on a piece of paper with many numbers circled and words all running together. It was a blur. Maybe because my eyes welled up a little bit.
Communication. That word and I don’t get along very well. We never have.
When it comes to sharing from my heart, it can be a struggle. I feel uncomfortable talking in front of a group of people…small or large. I can even have trouble talking with just one person, even my husband sometimes. I keep my heart and spoken words guarded inside. I let busyness become an excuse. I‘m good at casual conversations and I especially like to take advantage of my joy listening to others.
Last week, I had to take a spiritual gift test thanks to the disciple study group my husband and I are in. I took a similar test about 15 years ago and some of the results were basically the same but I think part of those gifts have been hiding. This test showed that my #1 gift was Creative Communication…to “communicate God’s truth through a variety of art forms.” Hospitality, faith, encouragement and teaching were close seconds and third. I’m OK with believing hospitality is correct and even encouragement because I do enjoy using those gifts, but communication and teaching?
When I was in college studying to teach high-school English, to my surprise, I clearly heard the Lord tell me He did not want me to teach children. But I think I took the “not to teach” and applied it to anybody not just high schoolers. And I was fine with that because communication, or weakness in it especially after my brain surgery, was not my cup of tea.
So this past week I’ve kept thinking about these test results, trying to understand them. And God is holding his hand open with the gift of confirmation. Over this past weekend, {in}courage hosted a {in}RL (RL=Real Life) event for women to join together and speak encouragement to everyone who listened. And this year’s theme was “STAY”.
I heard women sharing the importance of staying together with the people God has specially put in your life. Stay in communion. And in order to be in communion, or commune with others, there must be communication. And during those times, there’s fun and fellowship and just-sharing-what-we’re-up-to-these-days, but there also needs to be times where we’re vulnerable and expose the heart. Those stories I heard confirmed a couple of different things I’ve been praying about lately.
Not only stay in communion with the special people in your life, but also, and most importantly, stay in communication with Jesus. And then share that communion with others.
God’s gift of His Word is to spur us on, and that He did to help confirm some of my questions in 1 John 1:3-4 Message and The Voice emphasis added:
“We saw it, we heard it, and now we’re telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: retelling this story fulfills our joy. We want you to enjoy this, too!”*
God wants us to commune with Him daily so we can hear over and over the story of his immeasurable love and grace for us. John and the other followers who knew Jesus and eye-witnessed his resurrection just had to let others know about it! They wanted that experience to be communicated to everyone, however God gifted them, so all can experience that joy through Christ.
I want you to enjoy the gifts God gives you, too.
I’m being reminded that God, with His own creativeness, has gifted people to communicate in other ways than just talking out loud. So, here I am being exposed, guarded only by Christ, and communicating…in written words instead of spoken words. Writing is an art that takes a lot of practice, along with photography, and speaking out about your faith. So, I guess I’ll keep on practicing (because I really need it) and keep on trying to communicate through different forms of art…including practicing hospitality with the special people God puts in my life, and through writing for Simply Remind Me…and who know what else because that’s where the gift of faith comes in.
{And you’re welcome to communicate here anytime by leaving a message below!}
Thanking God for:
#1357 azaleas in bloom
#1358 spiritual gift test
#1359 confirmation
#1360 studying bible in sun light outside
#1361 Jesus walking on in the sunroom one morning as I opened my Bible. The door that wasn’t latched literally blew open when I opened the Word. Come Holy Spirit, come.
#1362 daughter’s boldness to audition for talent show
#1363 listening to {in}RL Importance of STAYING connected…with others and God.
#1364 watching helicopters fall from trees
#1365 planting flowers and veggies
#1366 long overdue family night
#1367 husband grilling Aussie Chicken just like Outback
#1368 invited to friends’ home for dinner
#1369 honor of being trusted
#1370 talking out loud to Jesus on walk
#1371 aching feet from working in yard all day
#1372 rain holding off until the end of the soccer game
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