{"id":292,"date":"2011-11-12T08:51:13","date_gmt":"2011-11-12T13:51:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/?p=292"},"modified":"2011-11-12T08:51:13","modified_gmt":"2011-11-12T13:51:13","slug":"gifts-gifting-and-giftedness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2011\/11\/12\/gifts-gifting-and-giftedness\/","title":{"rendered":"Gifts, gifting, and giftedness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>We, Mary Lou and Gary, when explaining part of our vision for ministry in Colombia, often mention how we are \u201cwalking alongside of the Covenant leadership and people\u201d.\u00a0 This accompaniment is a result of many years of ministry and life in Colombia.\u00a0 But, it is also a \u201cwalk\u201d in motion, in progress, a walk that is still taking place.\u00a0 We haven\u2019t reached the end of the journey or path or sidewalk.\u00a0 We are learning as we go and we are learning together with those with whom we are walking.<\/p>\n

A case in point is our continual learning as to how to best walk \u201cbeside\u201d the other.\u00a0 Does it mean to walk a few steps in their shoes?\u00a0 Can it ever mean to walk a few steps in front of them to show the way?\u00a0 Does it mean to literally walk \u201cbeside\u201d them and never \u201cbehind\u201d them? We try to take the necessary time and effort to \u201chear\u201d the needs and the concerns of others and take what we hear seriously, not judging or expressing opinion, just listening.\u00a0 Of course we want to encourage and help, but, we are finding that a part of that encouragement and help is the need to help the person be prepared for what is coming \u2013 to look ahead to what will be happening if the current plans are realized.\u00a0 One of our friends here has said it well, \u201cto prepare the people to receive the gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

So many that we walk with are looking for help, for assistance, for a \u201cway out\u201d of their current situation.\u00a0 Or they may be looking for a reason to hope for a better future.\u00a0 Especially when any level of desperation is involved, the looking to others, or the looking to something outside of oneself or one\u2019s situation is very often a given.\u00a0 When desperate, one often looks \u201coutside\u201d because they haven\u2019t found the resources needed \u201cinside\u201d of themselves.\u00a0 When we look outside of ourselves, we are hoping to \u201creceive\u201d something or \u201cget\u201d something that will provide the solution or help \u201clead\u201d us to the solution.\u00a0 We are \u201choping for\u201d or \u201clooking for\u201d a \u201cgift\u201d.\u00a0 But, are we prepared to receive that gift?<\/p>\n

Our experiences so far, both the good and successful experiences and the failed ones, have brought us to agree with our friend that it is necessary to include in our accompaniment of others the discovery of the steps of being prepared to receive what we hope to get.\u00a0 Otherwise, getting what we want\u2014receiving a gift\u2014only gives us what we wanted or hoped for.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t necessarily help us or assist us or show us the way out.\u00a0 Because, what we want isn\u2019t always what we need.\u00a0 And, we aren\u2019t always ready to receive and benefit from the \u201cgift\u201d we are looking for.\u00a0 So we end up in the same place we started because the gift was nice, but we weren\u2019t ready for it.<\/p>\n

Pray with us as we live and learn together about being ready to receive a desired or hoped for gift.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We, Mary Lou and Gary, when explaining part of our vision for ministry in Colombia, often mention how we are \u201cwalking alongside of the Covenant leadership and people\u201d.\u00a0 This accompaniment is a result of many years of ministry and life … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nGifts, gifting, and giftedness - Walking Alongside Gary and Mary Lou Sander<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/sander\/2011\/11\/12\/gifts-gifting-and-giftedness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gifts, gifting, and giftedness - 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