This past weekend, Pastor Craig, shared the Vineyard saying:  “Everybody Gets to Play.”  It reminded me of a something that happened when I was a child.

I grew up here in Glendale a freckle-faced brunette in a neighborhood of blonds – 13 of them.  Not just any blond, but the light, almost white kind of blond.  To say I stood out in the crowd was an understatement.  Normally it didn’t matter to any of us, except when we played “Big Valley.” 

In the late 60s, the Big Valley was a popular television show.  For those of you over 40, you’re humming the theme song right now … “The big valley, the big valley …” (Ok, I know there weren’t words.) As little kids we would reenact the various episodes and inevitably, there was an argument over who would get to play Audra Barkley.

Audra was the beautiful, longhaired daughter, who was fussed over by her mama and pampered by her three handsome brothers.  As much as I would have liked to play Audra, that was never an option.  You see, Audra had long, blond hair.  With my brown hair, I wasn’t even considered for Audra.  I did, however, get a part.  I was Nick.  Not Heath, the handsome younger brother – Johnny (with blond hair) got to play him.  But Nick – the hot-headed, troublemaker.

When I didn’t play Nick, I (gulp) played a horse.  These are embarrassing facts of my childhood that I’m only now able to talk about.  I would have made a great Audra.

Although I write that tongue-in-cheek, the truth is, it hurts to be left out, or relegated to a role that doesn’t fit you; whatever age you are.  What I love about God’s Kingdom here on earth is that everybody gets to play!  And we get to play a part specifically designed for us.

Each of us is called to serve God in a wonderfully unique way.  God gives us skills and talents at birth, and then calls us into service.  Once we say “yes,” God fine-tunes our skills and increases them according to our faithfulness in using them.  Yet many Christians never fully discover their gifts. 

When that happens, there’s nothing more frustrating than an under-used Christian.  I wonder what would happen if every believer were serving God according to his or her gifts and talents – and not based on where there’s a vacancy in children’s ministry or on a committee.

My challenge is to discover my God-given gifts and talents and surrender them to God and His purposes.  If my gift is teaching, then I need to be somewhere I can teach.   If I have financials skill, then I should be working with money.  If I love to pray for the sick, then I should be praying for the sick.  It would be nice if someone identified my skills and asked me to serve accordingly, but the responsibility for using my gifts ultimately falls to me.

Although my days of the Big Valley and playing Nick are past, I’ll never forget feeling out of place, and longing to play another role.  God’s Kingdom is big enough for each of us to fulfill the calling God has for us.  We need to say “no” when someone asks us to play “Nick” and we need to pursue opportunities to play our own brand of “Audra.”

In His Love,

Glynnis