Being me...

God calls us, not in spite of our weaknesses but because of them. 

It was Sunday morning. As usual, I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. At risk of overusing metaphors, getting three kids ready & into the minivan in time for Sunday School can be likened to that of ‘herding cats’.

Somewhere between my daughter’s meltdown over her ‘bad hair’ & helping my boys ‘find’ their two Bibles out of the 152 we have laying around, I realize, we have a potluck after church. Gasp. 

Of course, I do the only thing that any self respecting pastor’s wife can do. I drop my now crying daughter & two boys (without Bibles) off at the church door for Sunday School & make a run for the grocery store. 

As I peruse the isles of my small town grocery, I find myself at a loss. So, I make the tough choice. I buy two bags of potato chips & a tub of French onion dip. I’m thinking they will go perfect next the inevitable sloppy joe sandwiches & pigs in a blanket.

Back to the church I go, with my hair on fire & a run in my stockings… actually this might be a little bit of an embellishment but you get the picture right?

Breathlessly, I arrive to the church kitchen with my bags, which I hand deliver to the kitchen workers, who are hard at work cutting up fruit & whisking eggs. They are all staring at me. One of them looks amused. 

Hmmmm… something seems amiss. Could it be that something I said under my breath on the way in? Is my hair really on fire? In my rush, did I forget to put on my makeup? Can they tell I pulled on the jeans I wore yesterday from the dirty pile on the floor? What? 

“Um… Thanks for the chips,” says the bemused man. 

“They will go great with the breakfast potluck we are having,” says another. 

I look around. No one knows quite what to do. 

& then the most beautiful thing happens… 

We simultaneously burst into laughter. 

This is me. 

A crazy, klutzy, unorganized, undomesticated chick who tends to fly by the seat of her pants & loves nothing better than a good belly laugh. Cause who am I foolin? I’ve got crazy, klutzy, unorganized, undomesticated & that flying by the seat of the pants thing to work with. I learned long ago that I can’t afford take myself too seriously & forcing myself to be something I’m not, kills my spirit. I can’t be perfect at everything & to try would be far more exhausting than the afore mentioned cat herding.

The kitchen crew knew this, accepted it, loved me & acknowledged me by putting my chips & dip right out there amongst homemade caramel rolls, eggbakes, cheesy potatoes, & fruit skewers. 

Oh yes. They sat there in all their glory. 

I felt seen. 

Vital.

Important. 

Sufficient. 

Honored in my randomness. 

In Ephesians 4, Paul says some of the most amazing things about our gifts... 

'But that doesn’t mean you should all look and speak and act the same. Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. The text for this is,

He climbed the high mountain,
He captured the enemy and seized the booty,
He handed it all out in gifts to the people.

Is it not true that the One who climbed up also climbed down, down to the valley of earth? And the One who climbed down is the One who climbed back up, up to highest heaven. He handed out gifts above and below, filled heaven with his gifts, filled earth with his gifts. He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.' -Ephesians 4:7-13, (the Message)

I'll talk more about this whole 'giftedness' thing tomorrow but today I just want to take a moment & say,

"Thank you kitchen peeps for affirming to me that I am whole. 

Just as I am."

                                  Oh & by they way... there were no chips left. Bam!