TYNT

Wow, what a Thursday! I obviously lost sight of writing a new thank you note amidst working, hanging art for tonight's church art show, Brownies, et al. But that ends now. Here is an excerpt from last week's thank you note, the first for my project. I wrote to thank the co-leaders of B's Brownie Girl Scouts on the one year anniversary of B joining their troop:

You took a 7 year old little girl who had never been a part of an organized group and a mom who knew next to nothing about Brownie Girl Scouts and made them old pros. I am so proud of everything Bea has accomplished in the past year and I'm privileged to have been just a small part of it.
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On another note, tonight our church is hosting their 2nd art show. I have been blessed to be able to play the teensiest role in helping prepare the foyer for the reception. Let me tell you, God really does know our desire to serve and he'll always find a place for us if we just ask him. Since we joined our church (going on about 3 or 4 years, now) I have wanted to serve in some capacity but I just didn't know where I belonged. I tried to join the Childrens' Ministry Team and filled out an application to volunteer in the nursery on Sundays. I wasn't really thrilled about it, but I figured since I'd done it at my last church that it was probably a good fit for me. Despite the Childrens' Ministry Leader getting up every Sunday and practically begging the congregation to put an application on file to help in the nursery, I was never called. I took it to mean that was not where I belonged, and was relieved to say the least.

I waited and prayed, hoping that there would be some niche where I would fit perfectly into the church body, not even really knowing myself where I wanted to serve. Feeding ministry didn't work out, women's ministry was not for me. Would I ever find a way to serve my church? And then, seemingly out of the blue, my friend Vel (who I barely knew, by the way) emailed Dave about submitting art to the inaugural art show in December. I jumped on the email thread and, unsolicited, asked if there was any way I could help with the show. Lo and behold my services as psuedo-curator were well received and I happily joined the crew in the positioning and displaying of art. Ah, it was a perfect fit. Behind the scenes? Check. Artistic-y? Check. Serving the Lord and his body of believers? Check and double check.

So what have I learned through this experience? That God can use those of us with even the least churchy talents to serve his church. I didn't have to lead a bible study or a Sunday school class to be useful to the Lord. He knew I had a heart to serve and a limited scope and he found where I would fit in perfectly.

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. Romans 12: 4-5