<< Your time to speak >> - Release the talent you were born to use

A dear friend of mine agreed to do a guest post for this years blogoversary party.   I knew her writing would have an impact on others like it has had on me :)  So without further ramblings from me ..... Toria's guest post ..... enjoy ;)

:: Being a visionary...it's often talked about and yet not many people know how to apply it to their lives. It becomes like a shadowy image dancing right out of reach, big dreams that seem impossible but we still desire to be a part of. Dreams that have titles of "missionary", "artist", "author", "musician", "mother", and so the list goes on, a never ending trail of possibilities that just doesn't seem possible for us.

They're not possible, because we couldn't possibly do them better than the person next to us. 

We don't want to try and flail our arms in defeat as we fall again to the hard, cold earth. We don't know where we fit in or where we should add our voice. We don't even know what avenues we should meander down in search of our purpose on earth, what paths will bring the most glory to God through our life.

Most of us, I believe, have been sitting there in the shadows for too long. I know I've been there too long. You graduate high school, know you have your whole life ahead of you...and you freeze, not knowing where to go or what to do. We don't know how to thrive.

 I have realized that you have to look backward in order to look forward.

My brother is a musician. Within three days of ever picking up a guitar, he taught himself how to play and was fingerpicking Yiruma. He has so much talent that it makes me a little sick- because I wish I could play as effortlessly and compose such beautiful pieces as he does.

 But you see, my brother's always had talent. Looking back, I see him dancing and bobbing his head to the beat as a toddler. I hear him singing his own good-morning songs as a child. I find him at the piano... again.

 Yet, my brother doesn't believe he's a musician, becauseit's always been there. Music is just something he does. Where I can see amazing potential, all he can see is the professionals that to him are so much better. It's the same for you, for me. Sometimes you have to look back to look forwards- something in your childhood, maybe, that you still hold a love for. An event that happened and changed your life. Something that is so a part of your DNA that by now you just glance over it and say, "It's not special....it's just always been there."

Sometimes we hold the vision tighter than the Vision-Giver.

I wasn't made to be a musician. I could want it desperately, but that's not the Father's vision for my life. Most of the times, we go looking for our purpose outside of the skills and talents God has given us, because they don't seem "special"- they've just always been there. They're not as exciting as the talents someone else has. But, God has a vision for all of our lives, and we need to embrace and thrive within it. His vision for me may not be the things I want but He's given me other talents, deep down inside of me, that He wants to call out and use whether I like it or not.

For years people have told me that I'm a writer, that I have a way with words, that I should write books. Most days, I don't believe them. I laugh a nervous little chuckle, shrug my shoulders and change the subject.

My talent became mundane, because it wasn't new to me. It lost it's sparkle under years worth of dust, afraid to be let out.

While my brother tapped out tunes as a child, I surrounded myself with pen and paper. My childhood was spent with notebooks of stories, drawings and doodles in my math book, too many hours staring out the window in a world far away.

It's easy to run from your talent, but to truly be filled with vision you must embrace it. You can't look outside of yourself and copy the life of someone else.

Your talent is just as important as the person next to you, no matter how different it is.

Embrace the vision. Reclaim your passions. Release the talent you were born to use. Go forth boldly in paths that God has made you- even from your beginning days- to run in. ::

 -Toria from His Irish Flame