GIFTS - HOW DO I USE MINE?

Mark and I had been at our Church in Bundaberg for 2 years and had become really good pew sitters. We didn't feel guilty as our Church didn't like `women speakers'. We were kept busy with communion helping and morning tea duty, and no one had asked us to teach Sunday School.

Then we went on holidays - our first trip to Tasmania. It was great, and while there we visited this Church of Christ in Launceston. They had just bought this big warehouse and were renovating it. They showed us around and then we had morning tea at their coffee shop. They told us about their goals to reach out to the community. We hadn't heard this kind of talk for a while, and Mark and I both couldn't wait to get back to Bundaberg to tell everyone what we'd seen. We got in the car and looked at each other - `we need to get more involved with Church'. This thought led to another 8 years of wonderful Children's and Youth ministry at Twyford Street Church of Christ.

Recently Mark and I have started helping at Sunday School at our new Church on the Gold Coast. After 30 years of Children's Ministry, you'd think we'd be fine. But when David and Jenny (our minister and his wife) walked in - "oh no"! I later discovered that Mark had the same problem, yet his was more practical. He worried that we'd get into trouble because we weren't members yet. But he kept on with his lesson.

Me - already to get up on stage (I used to be an actress), whispered in Laura's ear, `Go for it', and I quietly shrunk into the background. I was terrified and I just froze. My psychologist would not have been happy with me.

Mark and I talked about it later - both coming to the same conclusion that it was time to quit. We just didn't have those gifts anymore, but we still had the love for the children. During the week, as we read our Bible together, we prayed about this.

"In all that he did in his service of the Temple of God and in his efforts to follow God's laws and commands, Hezekiah sought His God wholeheartedly. As a result He was very successful."

2 Chronicles 32:21

"Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after his time. He remained faithful to the Lord in everything, and he carefully obeyed all the commands the Lord had given Moses. So the Lord was with Him and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did." 2 Kings 18:5-7

One morning when we finished praying, we look at each other: "We need to get more involved in the Children Church."

Where is God leading us? How do we use our gifts? Is it in Children's Ministry, which we both love, or has God something else planned. At the moment, He only knows!! But when He tells us, we'll be ready!