What do you have?
About 20 years ago I got pulled in to my professor's office. He had a paper of mine and he needed to talk to me about it.
I was working on a degree in Literature. I picked classes based on how they fit in to my basketball practice schedule. I was a commuter - so not many students on campus knew who I was. I didn't talk in class. There was definitely a "cool group" in the English department and I wasn't part of it.
I was pretty excited about the paper though, because I thought I'd done a good job. I liked to think things through pretty thoroughly and I'd come to some pretty good conclusions and presented some solid ideas in the paper.
So when the prof asked to see me, I was curious. His first words were, "When I read your paper, I thought it was plagiarized."
Drop. There goes my heart.
But he continued really fast. "BUT . . . I checked around with your other professors and they all say you are capable of this kind of writing. This is the most well written paper I've ever received - and I've seen a lot of papers! WHY DON'T YOU TALK IN CLASS??!"
I told him I just process differently and it takes me longer to figure things out and I'm not ready to comment in class.
I was flattered though. I think I still have the paper somewhere. Whether or not he liked it, I was proud of it.
He said what he said. I knew I had a gift and that I was a hard worker.
But it ended there.
Because . . . Because . . . a lot of reasons.
Because I didn't know I was powerful. Because I thought I had to sit around and wait for people to tell me what to do. Because I thought God would make something happen for me. Because I didn't know what to do.
And 20 years went by.
These last couple weeks of writing every day - it has been SO FUN FOR ME. But even the day before I started writing I would have told you I had nothing to say. I had hopes that I would write some day maybe. I had hopes that perhaps a book was in my future. I had hopes that by some strange magic I would one day have a creative career...
If you have a gift - offer it. Develop it. Share it. You might not know where it will take you, but it won't take you anywhere if you don't get started.
It is no one else's responsibility (not even God's) to develop your gift or provide you with opportunities. So just do it. Create things of value and share it with others.
I don't have it all figured out and I never will. But I am going in a direction.
So what do you have? Hospitality? I have a friend who is AMAZING (BettyAnn Luyt Ball) at making a space feel welcoming and like you just want to sit in it and be for a while. She finds stuff that would never catch my eye, puts it all together and I'm like... ahh... how did you DO that? I have a friend (Esther Hoogendoorn) that makes you feel like your dreams are possible. I have a brother (Matthew Suderman) that listens to you like your ideas are important - even thought he's a scientist that studies DNA and I'm thinking.. wow.. if he's listening to me, maybe I AM smart. I have a sister (Melissa Wiebe) with a strange:) sense of humor who has creatures living in her head that come alive on paper when she sits down to draw. I have a mom (Gloria Suderman) that can fix anything and find everything you need if you needed to be a Roman Centurion tomorrow for your school project. I have a dad (he's not on FB) who is faithful and ready to help and support without complaint, in any way he can.
What do you have? I have had words. But I didn't have courage.
Take what you have, mix in a little courage, and offer it to the world.
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