Can I change the color?

My thumbs are black.

Try as I may I cannot get them to be white - like my sister's - or my son's - who I think got that magical touch from our grandma Nesmith.  They can both make bread and Cindy makes a mean pound cake. 

I also don't think I'm going to get them to be green - like my mother's who most likely got that from grandma Nesmith.

Hum - I think all I  got from grandma Nesmith is that I like to entertain.

So what do I mean when I say my thumbs are black?

Printer's ink.

And in reality to I really want to change the color of my thumbs.

No.

I know that God gives us each unique and special gifts. 

We all have a gift.  Did you know that? And it's better for us to use that gift rather than to try to make ourselves fit into a mold where either another gift is necessary OR where we don't get to exercise that God-given gift.

In a recent conversation a friend shared how someone he works with is a great painter.  He described the skill of the person and I could just see this guy on a ladder trimming out the top of the wall.  I could see that clearly because one thing I can never do right is to trim out.  My last effort even included a special pad that I should be able to trim the top of that wall with nary a drip on the ceiling.

Yeah, right.  It took as long to go back and wipe those drops off the ceiling as it did to trim out the wall.

The issue with my friend is that his work includes lots of other hands on skills but no painting.

It made me want to get this person together with my son the contractor.  Surely he needs painters.

Which makes me think of one of my gifts.  I may not know the answer to a question but I always know someone who does.  I think that's because one of my gifts is encouragement.

I did make a pound cake the other day (from a mix).  It was fair.  I do have a flower garden in my front yard.  Some of the plants seem to be thriving.  And the hibiscus that didn't bloom at all last year has a few buds on it. 

So maybe I can use that gift of encouragement and encourage myself.  Just because I may not be the BEST baker, gardener, painter...doesn't mean I shouldn't give it my best shot. 

I think the words of the Apostle Paul in the book of Colossians (paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message) say it best

"Let every detail in your lives - words, actions, whatever - be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way"Whatsoever you do, do it all to the glory of God"