Edie from Life at Grace recently wrote a post on finding your giftedness and calling. It is a really great read and so I decided to match her points she mentions with my own explanations and observations of how this blog has helped me to find my own calling.
First off, these three passions of mine are areas that I have experienced throughout my life and not just as an adult or married woman. These areas have helped me see a clearer picture as an adult of how my passions and gifts reflect my calling or vocation that I have pursued with blogging.
1. I have to write to process things.
I wrote about this before here. But I have always enjoyed journaling and writing things out in order to process. That continues today.
2. I have always loved mentoring younger girls and having deep conversations with other women.
I thought I wanted to be a teacher because I loved having an influence in children's lives. When I got tired of teaching I thought I wanted to go into vocational ministry. When I realized I did not have energy to be camp counselor or do overnighters anymore I found I just liked having deep conversations with people...particularly women. I looked for young women to mentor but nothing stuck for the long haul. It wasn't until I started being more open and transparent here on my blog that I realized that other deep souled women all over the world were willing to meet me here. As a result I have been able to carry on conversations I have started on my blog into real life. The real life conversations has been one of the greatest gifts of blogging for me so far.
3. I love to move things around to create something beautiful.
I am not so much passionate about creating but putting things together. I am more of a stylist than a crafter which I did not realize until I had my own home to style. I have wondered why I don't like to sew, create photobooks, and make my own art. All things I do and enjoy but definitely not passionate about. It is the moving things around and trying different placements that I love. It is a very specific evaluation of my creativity which I find in my home decor and photography. Makes sense that those are my two favorites areas of creative expression.
I also crave order. I want things to have a place. I used to spend hours organizing my room as a kid. Creating order in my home brings me peace.
Edie later maps out "5 Clues to Your Calling." These three stood out to me the most:
You have been actually called to do it.
The more I write from my heart, the more confirmation I get that I am on the right track. It has been always so much easier to write about safe things like decorating but it has been finding the courage to be more open and transparent from my heart that my blog has grown and readers give living testimonies of how my words have meant something to them.
I recently was asked to speak for the first time based on my blog content. And I couldn't be more thrilled (and a little scared!). Another confirmation that my passion is matching my calling. I am being asked to continue to share my message.
You'd do it for free.
Yep. I make very little money blogging. I may just break even at the end of the year. But I would still do it for free. And I have been doing it for practically nothing (except for this of course!) for over five years.
You have been gifted in this area.
People have told me it is my writing that is my true gift. Not my decorating. Not my hospitality. And yet my writing feels beyond me sometimes. It's not something I necessarily work on or, on the surface, see it as a passion. But it comes within me in an unexplainable way. It has been given to me to fulfill my calling. I believe myself to be a communicator. I now see how my college education in teaching has helped me to be a better communicator. I used to think it was just to prepare me to be a strict parent! I now see it matching my calling as a blogger.
As I look into the future, I wonder how this will all change when we have children. We hope to start a family in the next year or so which has resulted in much thinking about our future. As I seem to be settling in my voice and calling with this blog, I wonder how that will change come children. I also wonder if I will get a greater sense of that calling through my relationship and time with them. Time will only tell and I look forward to sharing it with you all when the time comes!
If you have been challenged with putting your finger on your true calling, I encourage you to check out Edie's post and jot down your own thoughts on where you believe to be gifted and called.
// How has your life so far shed light to your calling or vocation?
