Learning My Core Gift

I attended the Feast last Easter Sunday at the Arena. My first time. The liturgy was great. The music was awesome. And Bo Sanchez, as usual, gave the most wonderful talk.

Bo once again brought up that we need to find our Core Gift for us to succeed in life. That got me to thinking: What is my core gift?

Here are the things that I do well:
- Write.
- Sing in a choir as soprano.
- Organize data and create systems.
- Think outside the box. Make creative solutions.
- Listen and observe.
- Think and learn from what I experience and observe.

What do I love best?
- I love creating something new. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a new journal entry, a new system, or a new company.
- I love helping others. I need to know that what I’m doing is a benefit to others.

How do I see myself?
- I am a Martha. Working in the background is what I do best. Unlike Martha though, I do not envy Mary. I have no wish to be in the limelight receiving praise. I’m used to working more than my fair share. Experience has proved that all the hard work pays off in the end.

- Family comes first. God brought Tommy and me together for a purpose. He heals others, and I heal him. Healing is our primary mission as a family so his medical career gets top priority. I let go of my career in IT because it takes up too much of my time and energy and I have never regretted it.

- I’ve always been a planner. I envisioned my future and got what I wanted. But my deepening faith demanded that I give that up and allow God to take the driver’s seat. So I chose to be a passenger and just wait for our next destination. Although I sometimes panic and demand to see the map, our journey has been exhilarating and very, very rewarding.

To answer the original question, I think my core gift is that I can clearly discern God’s will in my life. My eyes are always open for new opportunities that come my way because I know this is God’s way of leading me to the next journey. I believe that God has used me to answer others’ prayers on numerous occasions, often while He was also serving a need that I have.

To achieve this, I do not just stare at the heavens and wait for instructions. I actively seek out His will. To use the analogy I’ve stated, when I can’t locate the map, I go into all the available streets to find the right path.

Lately, God is leading me to people like Bo who advocates goal setting to harness the latent power we have to control our future. It’s like they’re urging me to go back to who I was. I know one thing for certain though. As a Christian, any self-appointed goal is useless if I do not align my plans with God’s will for my life.

Funny thing about God’s will though, I’ve discovered there’s still a lot of free will available and that’s where planning and goal setting helps. For example, I can choose to start a new business or I can choose to become a real-estate investor. Both can increase my earnings and therefore help my husband. Both can provide job opportunities for others. Both can give me a chance to develop and use my talents. But before all of that can happen, I need to choose and make a commitment. I need to set a plan and follow it through.