Learning to be the Clay

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to help with writing a grant for our county nursing service. I have never done grant writing before. Filling out forms is not my favorite type of writing, but I thought the experience would be good for me.

Somewhere in between the time I had agreed to help with the project and the time I needed to turn in the form, though, my mind became muddled with self-doubt. Self-doubt often transcribes itself into resentment. Resentment dredged up a bunch of questions.

Why had I been asked to do this? Didn't the organization have people who were trained in this sort of thing? Wasn't I doing someone else's job? What if all the answers I gave on the form were all wrong and completely off the mark from what the grant-seeking and grant-awarding organization wanted?

When I posed the questions to the lady who had asked for my help, she made me realize one essential thing. I am a writer. Sounds silly, but sometimes I forget that. She reassured me that, yes, I do know how to arrange words on paper in such a way that they make sense to someone else, they communicate an idea, and not everyone can do it. I guess that's the part I find hard to understand.

Nobody likes to fill out forms, but what I forget is that not everybody can fill out forms! So, by putting aside my other writing projects and dedicating a couple of hours to this project, I donated In Kind hours. Isn't that something we all strive to do, give our time and talent to our neighbors and our community whenever possible?

I learned a lesson that day. I came to realize that I do have a gift that I can give and that I should share it freely whenever I can. I may never write that great American novel and my name may never appear at the top of an article that appears in a national magazine. My ability may be limited to filling out forms and penning words of comfort to friends in time of need on a greeting card, but God engineers who will see those words and who they will touch.

That thought brings to mind a Bible verse from Romans 9:21. "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?"

It's time I accept the fact that I am clay in God's hands. It's called obedience. He knows the projects that will benefit from my writing skill and the projects that won't. He has my path all laid out, and even though I can't see all the bends in the road, He can. Whether that trail leads me to a mansion or a shack, it doesn't matter. What matters is that, if I obey, He will be there, waiting with the words we all long to hear. "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. " Who knows what "many things" lie in store. He does!

I don't know if the AMA will look favorably on our Annual Wellness Walk, a small community project in a rural, economically deprived corner of the western United States. If it does, I'll be glad for any monies they award.

Glad and humbly grateful for the opportunity to have taken part in the process.

Thanks for reading my blog.