Tea began as medicine and morphed into a beverage of choice!
I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most 
Until recently I had never drank Peppermint Tea made with loose leaves. And Honestly, I will probably never go back. The freshness of loose Peppermint Tea cannot be denied. When I open the can of 
I love to read! Inside a book I escape into someone else's life. There is something wonderful about turning to the next page of a wonderful story. Something intoxicating about the smell of the book and the story it brings to life. Reading brings me joy, and these days with my health in the balance, I find solace in my books.
On the other side of the coin, I've been struggling with the very very high volume to my blog monthly and the fact that I have not been able to find sponsors for this awesome work, while the fluff fluff blogs got all kind of ads on their blogs and the male gay sites have all kinds of HIV medication advertisements on them, when it's clear to me, that when people go to a dating site they are thinking about sex, not about how to live healthy.
Then, on yesterday I was just talking to Trey on his visit over about the blog issue and in the end we both concluded, that I am doing God's work and that's the most important thing, just keep tweeting and blogging, God will bless me in God's time.
But lets be honest, its hard when you are trying to keep the lights on. Ummmm, now don't get me wrong, I do have food, but just like the Children of Israel in the Wilderness, we want to store all the manna we can, rather than trust God day to day. This day to day living is scary as hell. For Real!!!
I am no different from many of you, I moan and moan. I even moan about my bracelet business, RLT Collection. Yep, and then God reminds me in His own way to get it together. In my devotional time this morning, I opened the devotion that I should have read on yesterday, but didn't. I'm thinking now that I needed to have that conversation with Trey yesterday before I read it, just to allow it to marinate in my spirit. He and I concluded that we are who we are, and it's a natural just like our skin. We can't be nothing other than what we are. Anyhoo, I read this devotional from my church and it spoke VOLUMES to my spirit, so I'm sharing it with you unaltered at the bottom of this blog post.
Let me say this, don't get stuck with the way things should be done. Your gifts and talents belong to you for God to use for His glory and the goodness of others. Don't get stuck on why other people's projects are growing at a faster rate then yours. Don't get stuck on what your critics have to say. The Bible say's, God calls and God equips. And as sure as I will be 50 years old in 23 more days, the Bible says' God will make room for your gifts. " The doors and heart you are suppose to get through, you will.
We have to be willing to walk in our gifts and talents with assurance that God will use them. We put limits on God when we say it can only be done in one particular way. I serve a God that turned water into wine and raised the dead to life. Just continue to do what you know. Your gifts are yours and God will use you whether, Baker Man or Garbage Man. The Bible says, God will make room for your gift. Yep, this devotional was exactly what I need, it blessed me in so many ways.
I think I came to a come to meeting with Jesus understanding this morning!! I'm done with compassions. It makes me no better than my critics that compare my work to the other Christians and or ministers.
I'm done with complaining. I will continue to do the WORK and however God blesses me, I will accept it graciously. I think we cheat God when we complain about what we don't have, rather than celebrate what we do.
But in the real world, growth takes a lot of hard work and time. So I re-invest over and over again in my bracelet line. I'm always at my bead board coming up with new designs to make the Collection the best. I will continue to reinvest and keep it fresh. Yep, build RLT Collection, one bracelet at a time and one customer at a time. But be assured, before I die, RLT Collection will be a household name.
Yep, I will continue to speak, blog and tweet and at the end of the day, the testimonies I get via email ands tweets about how one of my tweets, my blog or hearing me speak touched a life, it's worth more then any amount of money.
Today, I'm even more convicted and dedicated in all that I do. I GET IT!! My gifts are my own, whether it's speaking, tweeting, blogging or designing a bracelet.
And the Bible tells me, if I continue to use what I have it is just enough for God to work with. Stop boxing God into what you think is right and the best way. Be like David, use what you got and watch God do the rest.
Today's Reading: 1 Samuel 16-17; Psalm 48
Text for this reflection: 1 Samuel 17:38-40
Then Saul dressed David in his own gear, putting a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David strapped his sword on over the armor, but he couldn't walk around well because he'd never tried it before. "I can't walk in this," David told Saul, "because I've never tried it before." So he took them off. He then grabbed his staff and chose five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd's bag and with sling in hand went out to the Philistine.
(Common English Bible)
Reflection
With good reason, the David and Goliath story is so well known that it has become a cultural trope. Who can resist the underdog--a boy who was able to defeat a foe most considered invincible? We cherish these types of stories because they defy all the odds. We want to know how such things could happen when our own experiences tell us otherwise.
David prevailed because God was on his side, of course, but this small excerpt shows David's success was due to more than just God's favor. David was successful because he stayed true to who he was. Rather than accept the armor and disguise himself behind someone else's idea of power, David boldly trusts his background as a shepherd to be enough.
The eighteenth-century rabbi Zusya once remarked, "In the world to come, God will not ask me why I was not more like Moses. God will ask me why I was not more like Zusya." We have each been uniquely gifted by God, but sometimes those gifts are disguised beneath the armor the world prescribes for us. Perhaps we should take a cue from David and let our true selves show--we just may find that who we are is exactly what is needed.
Prayer
God, I give you thanks for creating me uniquely. Help me to resist the temptation to be something other than who you created me to be--to instead know that my gifts are exactly what is needed to make a difference in this world. Amen.
Written by Matthew J. Helms, Pastoral Resident
mhelms@fourthchurch.org
