God Given

There are a few people who are going stir crazy during this shutdown.  If you know her, you’d probably guess my wife is one of them.  Always full of energy, I jokingly say living with her is like living in the house with a pulsing nuclear reactor.  It’s why I’m balding with gray hair!  I joke about the speed with which she goes about doing.  She gets things done and can rarely sit still.

I had a secretary once who was excessively orderly and fussy.  She had to have everything on her desk sitting just right.  If I moved it a millimeter, she would quickly see it.  I used to prank her by moving little things around and almost without thinking, she put it back in order.  That woman could catch every mistake on my letters--even a margin that was off by a single space.
​
There are people we all know who have little quirks--strangeness that we might make fun of, or that drives us nuts.  If we open our eyes we’ll realize that everyone has their own unique brand of crazy.  Often that “strangeness” is more than annoying or funny.  It can be a God given gift.  

The apostle Paul writes,

 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. (Rom. 12:3-6a)

We are the Church.  It is made up of sinners, flawed characters, and a few strange rangers.  It is filled with people who mean well, and those just looking for a place to call home.  All come with their needs and their gifts to share.  All are to be appreciated.  Praise be to God! Amen!