Sunday Afternoon Tea - When your giftings cause others to go "Huh?"

One day during my blog break, my husband walked through our living room on the way to the kitchen and stopped to stare at me.  For I was stretched out on the sofa listening to the iPad with my rather large earphones on (they are actually his but I think he forgot that).

Hubs: What are you listening to?

Me: Hagmann and Hagmann... but only the first hour.

Hubs: How can you listen to that stuff?

Moi': It's a gift.

Okay, my reply was on the snarky side but it really is the truth.  I have always had the ability to read, watch, or listen to media that deals with conspiracy theories and other The End of the World As We Know It subjects.

Without blinking an eye.  Without losing sleep.  Without getting angry or upset or ready to move to the Cayman Islands.  With that gifting comes another... discernment.  I can usually cut through all the "stuff" and find the nuggets of Truth.  And there is usually more there than the average person likes to admit.

Now, my husband does not have that gift.  He is pretty much the opposite of me.  Five minutes into listening and he is ready to buy buckets of beans and bullets and flee to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  You know, where it snows a lot.  Where Bigfoot resides.  Allegedly. Where one can get way off the grid.

Which explains my really big earphones.  One is not to tempt the brethren into sin.

My special gift from God is one that tends to get a whole lot more smirks than smiles.  And when there is a smile, it is usually the look one is given when the person thinks the other is out of their ever lovin' mind.  Yes... even from my family and especially from my children.

Although I do remember my daughter telling a friend once that if Mom thinks she has heard from God... listen.  I try to recall that trust when she smirks.  But she is a loving daughter and tries to hide it behind her latte.

But here is the thing... people laughed at me in the 1980s when I quoted Francis Schaeffer, who predicted someday in America nurses and doctors will be fired because they refused to perform abortions.  Now when Christians lose lawsuits or even worse... are put in jail... because they do not condone same sex marriages... people are not laughing at Schaeffer.

Even other Christians talked about me behind my back when we lived in Holland because I pulled my daughter out of the drug education program that I felt promoted New Age practices. She was a trooper about it all.  I think it showed her it was important to stand up for what you believe for she is good at that today.

Plenty of people thought we overreacted for removing our son out of the Public Schools because they would not allow him to stay in classes unless he was drugged for ADHD.  This was after two years of watching what the drugs did to him.  "The school cannot require that, it is not legal", they said.  "You are overreacting."  Ummm... they did even if it was not legal to do so and we were not overreacting, we were following God and am I ever glad we did!

I was mocked by Non-Christians and Christians when I helped lead the fight against the Equal Rights Amendment in Iowa. For the average person had not read beyond the front page of the newspaper and had no clue as to the ramifications of that law on the books.  Yes, we knew we could not stop it eventually but we sure could slow it down.  We did.  Although when the newspaper called that evening and wanted an interview, I had taken two aspirin and gone to bed due to Clinton winning the national election.  ;)

I think perhaps my passion for studying the 18th Century, beginning with Edwards and Whitefield and continuing through the decade after we became a nation... has a lot to do with my equal passion for "the news behind the news"  My gift keeps me fascinated by the seeds of the Revolution and how it succeeded... as well as understanding how some people wanted everything to stay the same and not make trouble.

My gift is part of my Worldview.  It is part of my Theology.  It is how God weaves the tapestry of various giftings to use me for His Purpose.  Even if some scoff along the way.  That's okay.  For my purpose is to please Him and not those who would scoff when I talk about the results of what I have learned.

Do people laugh at you or mock you or think you are absolutely out of your mind?  Have you ever asked God why your gifting could not be something simple like oh... leading worship?  I mean, really... sometimes I think it would have been easier to be called as a missionary to Russia.  Christians are used to being looked at as crazy there.

When others are crying out "Peace and Safety", do you look around and wonder what universe they live in?  It is just fine, you know.  It is God's gift to you.  You have spiritual eyes that see through all the smoke and mirrors and illusions and see... Truth.  In the Book of James, God says if we don't understand something we can ask Him for wisdom and He will give it.  He wants you to know Truth.

So I will continue to slip on my headphones and listen to podcasts and radio broadcasts by people who may seem crazy to others.  I will write here at this Internet Address and sometimes people will ask, "Huh?".

But I will also bake bread and make soup and bake pumpkin bars and create Art and listen to podcasts about books and chat with a friend and enjoy cooler days and get my sweaters out of the closet and look forward to the turning of the leaves.

Everyday life.  Everyday living.  Doing the next thing. Occupying until He comes (Luke 19:13).  Quite amazed that He chose for us to live at this time and in this place and in this age in the History of the World.  Maranatha.