Mad Skills

I'm over it, really I am. I bet you got the business, too, about things going on your "permanent record" when you left high school for the big, bad, real world. I don't mean to be a goodie-two-shoes, but I didn't have to worry about fighting or skip days showing up. I did worry about whether I could hang on to my algebra and geometry skills or those dates from history for the moment I would need 'em ... and 'they' told me a lot that I would absolutely need and use those jewels a lot.

I don't know if I could legitimately keep algebra/geometry skills or historical dates on the list of all I'm capable of or expected to do, but I have come to the realization that I do have some mad skills. Individual athletes and teams as a whole are touted in every pre-game projection and post-game recap for their mad skills. And, you have them, too!

I saw that McDonald's commercial last night naming the abilities and gifts of the Washington Redskins and Dwight Howard ... and laughed. Not AT them, but at the recognition of all that I've been asked or expected to do in this normal week of work/ministry. In addition to being preacher, teacher, pray-er, listener, counselor, etc., I have held my ground as:

• a GPS service (when I friend called for directions in a town that neither of us live in)
• a transportation manager (when a church member asked me to explain why the church parking lot was laid out the way it was and how we would fix a loading/unloading zone dilemma)
• a soil specialist (when church members asked me, yet again, what the construction guys were doing with all that dirt ... they were smooshing in down as tight as possible because good surface AND subsoil compaction is necessary for the stability of a structure, just in case you need to know)
• a psychologist (when a church member asked me to chime in on why a teenage daughter is exhibiting a fresh penchant for obsessive/compulsive thought patterns and behaviors)
• an event planner (when no one else seems to be able to open the closet door to see if we have enough plates/napkins/cups for the next spaghtetti dinner
• a chauffer (when no one else could bring themselves to run the van to our church picnic so everyone - meaning those who don't drive - could participate, too!)
• a social worker (when those riding your van are special needs adults who've been allowed to have way too much sugar and other stimulation ... just before you arrive to pick them up and promise to take good care of them for the whole afternoon)
• a referree (when representatives from two ministries within the church are jockeying for position on the church calendar)

And, I'm not even going into the afternoon as a tour guide! I never dreamed while I was in seminary that saying "yes" to Jesus would mean doing all that stuff.

I heard Maya Angelou, in an interview this morning, say that gratitude saved her life. I needed to hear her say that. I was almost ready to choose an attitude for the day that is much different from that one. But, to be bitter and resentful about all that I've done is to overlook my skills ... and God's faithfulness. You've heard the cheesy saying: If God brings you to it, then God'll bring you through it. I choose to believe that God is not just helping me get through anything that comes to me, but to show OUR mad skills in the middle of it - God's power and my openness to that power.

My guess is that you'll have something come up today or tomorrow that you had no clue you'd ever have to face or handle. I can't wait to see your mad skills! Go get 'em, Tiger!