Nebraska Synod ELCA

What does it mean to recognize the opportunity to be “new” – to be who you are called to be – vocation focus – discovering gifts and talents – you are uniquely you. It means to recognize the opportunity to be “new” – to be who you are called to be – vocation focus – discovering gifts and talents – you are uniquely you.

by Deacon Sunni Richardson, Director for Leadership Development

I love home shows, house hunters, DIY articles, online searches for new ideas, and paint samples. I have hardwood floors, so I can move furniture around by myself, and I hang on to bedspreads, shower curtains, towels, and rugs to easily change things out and have a new look. Creating, discovering, and morphing into something new is a woo-woo for me. So, it is no surprise the August Cultivating New excites me. Cultivating love by discovering what’s new in me and seeing new aspects of family, friends, and neighbors motivates and, at the same time, challenges me.

Clifton’s Strength Finders was one of the first tools I used that focused on strengths and helped me identify my gifts and lean into my vocation. There are many tools available to help you discover your strengths and weaknesses, spiritual gifts, leadership style, and personality characteristics. Living Your Strengths inventory helped me identify my strengths, talents, and skills and build on my bank of knowledge, and they all connected to faith.  Who doesn’t want to be the best you? Being “the best me” requires prayer, adaptability, lifelong learning, and community. It requires open eyes and an open mind to see how God can help you re-create yourself and function in new ways using your God-given gifts and talents. Discovering the who we are most often happens in community where we get to test new ideas and skills and get feedback.

Vocation is a word we are using more often in the church setting. Vocation might best be described as your DNA or the thread that connects your life experiences. It is not the same as occupation. Occupation is how you live into your vocation. Need an example?  Someone who is a teacher at heart may teach in a classroom, work as a nanny, be a stay-at-home partner, rock it as a high adventure guide, or be a storyteller. The vocation thread is teaching. Discovering your God-given vocation helps guide decision-making, what you choose as your occupation, what spiritual practices will feel right, how you serve, and/or how you find the joy of new in your daily life.  The same is true for a congregation when they identify their congregational vocation and connect their vocation with God’s mission in the world.

Matthew 7:7-8 shouts NEW.  “Ask, and it will be given you, search and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” (NRSVUE)

Being a new creation in Christ requires asking, searching, and knocking. Sometimes, we discover we are knocking on the wrong door. We may be trying to fit in, which means you need me to be who you expect me to be. It happens a lot. As God’s people, we need to focus on belonging – come as you are. You get to bring your full package of me to the table.

Cultivating isn’t a one-step process. Cultivating New challenges us to remember and live into God’s invitation to discover new ways to serve, new talents and new skills. God invites us to meet new people, see with new eyes and dig deep to gain new understandings as we connect with others. God invites us to be real, to be open to who we are, and to find joy in knowing we are created in the image of God. God says get out the paintbrush and try a new color of paint. You might discover you really do like bright yellow.