Relevant Blessings (Unused Skill Sets)

My friend Poptart & I at the Big Splash! Event

Writing, I think, is not apart from living.  Writing is a kind of double living.  The writer experiences everything twice.  Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits always before or behind.  ~Catherine Drinker Bowen

Happy October, dear Reader!  After a very creatively-productive summer, I must admit to feeling a tad deprived as we hit that time of year when the flow of creative work begins to slow down.  Then today, came along a little shining moment to remind me all is not lost and I have not yet reached artistic hibernation for the winter (or longer).

I came upstairs to my office this afternoon and heard the news that my 'little article that could' had made it onto page 16 of Vitamin Retailer Magazine's October 2012 issue. Yes, there it was in my hands, in full color on glossy, trade magazine paper and accompanied by a few of my photos.  (I've never been glossy in full color before!)  True, it's only a little re-cap piece about my company's 50th Anniversary Big Splash! event this past August.  Just a little blurb thanking the vendors and staff who participated and made the celebration a rousing success at all 11 of our stores.

But, you know, it felt really good to do all the familiar, necessary stuff for writing up a press release or local event: gathering company facts and figures; asking for a few quotes; visiting several stores on the big day to photograph all the fun; and writing clean, informative copy for a deadline.  I haven't written for a deadline (other than my own bedtime) in a very long while and it felt pretty darn good to play writer again.

When the article made its way, along with some photos, into our parent company's September newsletter, it was great to see my coworkers, supervisors and the staff at our stores recognized for all the hard work and effort they put into making our 50th anniversary such a success. But that was the limit of any aspiration I had for the little piece.  Somebody said something about maybe submitting it to Vitamin Retailer, but I got busy with other projects and promptly forgot all about it.  Until this afternoon.

It just goes to show, dear Reader, in those moments when we're caught up in the busyness of work and life, that those might be the moments God uses to remind us the skills we've developed over a lifetime (but maybe aren't using right now) are not just wasting away on a shelf in the back of our brains.  He has given us these skills and the reoccurring opportunities to use them for a purpose.  We won't always know what that is.  But, when we do finally recognize these moments for the relevant blessings they are, we're one step closer to embracing His plan for our lives.  Maybe today I'll be a writer.  Maybe tomorrow, I'll be a data entry whiz or just a photographer.  Whatever I am, I'm always a child of the living God and able to choose to walk in His perfect will for my life.

God Bless you, dear Reader, and may you sleep tight tonight!

Quote courtesy of the Quote Garden.