Seeking Out Your Talents

by Cindy Sproles

There’s a massive rose bush next to our tiny front porch. Six years ago, it started as one of those $2.50 pots from Walmart – the ones that last about two weeks then shrivel and die. When my son dragged it home, I was obligated to attempt to help this pretty little rose grow.

I transplanted, fed, watered and offered sunshine to the plant and within a few weeks the rose sprouted a couple of new limbs. To my surprise small pink buds appeared. The baby was growing. . .so, I dug a nice hole in the ground by the porch and planted it. By fall the rose bush stood knee high. The nights grew cooler and winter blew in. No one was more shocked than me at the pink blooms that colored the first snow.

Six years later, our once tiny rose bush stood five feet high. It’s limbs stretched well over the porch making entering the house a bit. . .”sticky.” As pretty as the bush was, limbs deep inside the thorns died and the blooms grew less.

The rose bush needed pruned. I dreaded it. Its thorns were brutal and just touching the limbs left one looking as though they’d tangled with Jaws. Gloves and pruning shears in hand, I carefully cut the rose bush back to knee high pulling out all the dead limbs and even cutting away ones in full bloom. It hurt in more ways than one. Clipping the branches with lovely, sweet smelling roses pained me.

“I’ve probably killed it.” I told my husband as we stood staring at the nub of a plant.

“Probably. But we’ll see. Give it a little time.” And so I did. Within a couple of weeks, new sprouts popped up and now, tiny new blooms.

Gardening is not my talent. I’ve tried it, and failed. And I’m convinced the success of this rose bush was pure luck.

I do have gifts though. We all do. I look at them as our attributes of God. We’re made in His image and within that image are a multitude of innate gifts. It tickles me to say, “It’s God’s DNA in me.”

When I hear others say, “I don’t have any talent,” it upsets me. We can’t NOT have talents and gifts as God’s creations. The trouble is, we assume these talents have to be obvious. . .like singing, or playing an instrument. But that’s not so.

Some of us bear the gift of encouragement. Others find their passion and love in sending cards, while some love working in the background. The gifts and talents we have are God-given. It’s up to us to discover our ability and capitalize on it.

There are times our talents need to be trimmed a bit. We get a little out of control and find ourselves worn down. When this time comes, we retreat for a while, refresh, revive, and revitalize to allow our gifts a much needed time of renewal.

My six foot rose bush is small again. But the dead branches are cleaned out, and the new ones are erupting. Soon, very soon, it will fill out and bloom again.

We’re all blessed as children of God. Every single one of us, have His DNA. His attributes. Sometimes we have to seek to find our worth. Prune off the branches that appear healthy but may be sucking us dry, so we are able to sprout the amazing gifts harbored in our hearts.

Your worth is immeasurable. Seek out your special gift or talent and grow it to the glory of the Father.

Cindy K. Sproles

Cindy K. Sproles is a speaker, author, and conference teacher. She is the co-founder of www.christiandevotions.us and www.inspireafire.com and Christian Devotions Ministries. Cindy is also the co-founder of WRAMS (Write Right Author Mentoring Service) where she works with Lori Marett and Ann Tatlock in mentoring writers). Cindy is a best-selling, award-winning author with two of her latest novels being named Novel of the Year by the Christian Book Market. Cindy has her hand in various projects but her love of teaching new writers stands above the rest. She is an Appalachian-born and raised gal, proud of her heritage and happy to share it at any time. Cindy lives in the foothills of East Tennessee with her husband and son.

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