God-Given Talent

Hello Darlings! I am writing to you on this beautiful morning and am just amazed at the awesome gifts that we have all been blessed with. With the Olympics in full swing, I am in heaven – ever since I could understand what it was, I have absolutely loved watching the Olympic Games! I can remember being really young and thinking to myself as I watched the women’s gymnastics team, “I could do that – that’s nothing special… I am definitely going to be in the Olympics some day.”

Well, as the years have gone by I have slowly and reluctantly come to the conclusion that I just might never make it to that incredible blue podium where they give out the gold medal. L And I am convinced that when I do get to see my Savior in Heaven, that He will have some kind of Olympic welcome for me! Oh how funny that would be!

Now, back on topic (I am so easily distracted today). As JD and I came home last night and were getting ready for bed, we turned the TV on just to see what was happening with the Olympics and if we had missed any exciting news. As the channel darkened and the announcer’s voice became clear, we realized that the camera was focused on none other than Michael Phelps – our absolute favorite Olympian of the year! He and three other teammates were about to compete in the 400 meter freestyle relay – there is no way we were going to miss this! We huddled up by the TV like the puppies off of 101 Dalmatians and waited for the event to start. When it did, we cheered on our team like crazy and were so excited for them. As the US drifted behind in the race, our cheers got quieter and we found ourselves praying silently that God would perform some miracle that pushed our team into the lead. Low and behold, He did – as Jason Lezak was swimming the very last leg of the race, and looked at first to be in a distant second place, something amazing happened. In the last 50 meters of the race it was almost as if Lezak turned on a power jet and quickly made his way to the front of the pack – winning the race by 8 hundredths of a second! JD and I both let out these monstrous screams, which I am still quite embarrassed about, and jumped up and down in excitement for our team! It was an absolutely incredible race – one that I will never forget in my lifetime.

As I crawled into bed after all that excitement, I started thinking about how I used to truly believe that I could someday be in the Olympics. Then the Lord so softly spoke to my heart and said “Child, I have given you talent to do great things – you are mine and I have incredible things in store for you.”

Today my dears, my prayer for us comes from John 14:12 where Christ says “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

It is mind-blowing to think that we will do greater things than Jesus himself – but He not only says it, He promises it by saying “I tell you the truth” – Ladies, He is not lying… He is not even exaggerating – If we let our Father in Heaven work through us and give Him complete control over our lives… we will certainly do greater things than Jesus Christ himself (and most definitely greater things than any Olympian).

You have no idea how you brighten my day – I love you and I cannot wait to hear what amazing things God is doing through you on your journey!

With Incredible Joy,

Susan Elaine