Living Life with an Unfair Advantage

An old co-worker told me that I possess the “gift of gab.”  She said I can convince a parent, a student…a boss…of pretty much anything.  I have a way with words.

Growing up, I was painfully shy so I put words to paper.  English teachers have loved me for as long as I can remember…In my adult life,  I gained the endearance of coaches, co-workers, friends, family…extended family.  I am more of an extrovert, or so I have been told.  My energy is almost overwhelming…cue my gift…

“Gifted and talented” is the label they gave me in school…inherited from gifted and talented parents.  I am extremely good at ALMOST everything…I never made a C in any subject…ever…even when I deserved it.  All grades were negotiable.  Professors were people, just like me.  I loved them, and they loved me…my gift…people.

I am a people person, and not a people person all at the same time.

I do not understand anyone, and no one understands me.  I understand everyone, and everyone understands me.  My life is a consistent state of oxymorons.  I spend my career teaching the students on the opposite end of the spectrum because “I can reach them,” not because they are exactly like me…but because they are not.  They are just people.  Kids trying to survive life that forces them to learn math…the same way that I am a teacher trying to survive a life that forces me to be an adult…get a job…raise children of my own…pay bills…get married…be beautiful…and enjoy every minute.

We are all simply trying to survive, survive the responsibilities that life has thrust upon us, which is why I reach them…I get it.  If we all have to survive, why don’t we survive together?

Yet, really, deep down inside, I am well aware that I possess a distinct advantage.  An advantage larger than my gift or any passed down privilege of gifted and talented.  Bigger than my gift of gab, or my abilities to string together sentences on a page…

I am connected to a Source…

And that Source provides an unfair advantage.

I pray my way both into and out of situations.  Sometimes when I begin to speak, even I am surprised by how eloquently my points come together. I say things…I write things, and afterwards, I impress myself…not because I am cocky but because I try my best to stay connected to a Source that gives me an unfair advantage…

One of my favorite co-workers called me “superwoman” today.  And I laughed because I think the same thing of her.  Daily, I stand in awe of how she gets it all done.  And I wanted to respond that I am just an ordinary girl…living ordinary life…and that only God creates the extraordinary.

I wanted to tell her that at least once a day, I look at God, and I tell Him that I want to give up…that everything is too much…that three kids is too much…that the kids I teach are too much…that adulting is too much…these bills are too much…

I tell Him to let me out…Can he please allow me to return to the girl who was 24 years old, and her days were spent consumed in learning her notes to sing on the praise team?  When school work was a joke…and work was a joke…and life was about shopping…and what young man was treating her to dinner…

And God laughed, and He said, “My dear…You have forgotten you are the storm…I have a life of unfair advantages to give you…”

And before I can ask, while I look at Him still confused…He continues, “I know.  You are confused.  You thought you were weathering the storm.  You thought you spent your life trying to create peace and balance.  You had no idea.  YOU ARE THE STORM.  You see wherever you go, whatever you touch…it changes.  Only a storm can look at another storm and create calm…You walk into chaos.  You speak to chaos, and the chaos ceases…Storms – they hate to see you coming…They hate to see you arrive because they know that you invite Me…They know you will use your Advantage…”

It was then, we began to laugh together.  All this time, I thought I was timid and shy and lighthearted and peaceful. Instead, I declare war on confusion and disequilibrium.  I look lions in the face and I roar, and the more that life throws, the more energy I generate to show life Who is really in charge…

So life is actually better when it leaves me alone to talk of de-cluttering, and creating, and loving….because as soon as life attempts to kick up a fuss, I do not hesitate to call in the Big Dogs…

I am too small to play fair…too skinny…too inexperienced…You may call me a wimp if you would like.

I am simply an ordinary girl who does not think twice about calling on an Extraordinary God…an ordinary girl who knows she possesses an Extraordinary Advantage…an introvert unafraid to let God make her into an extrovert

A voice…to a God of unparalleled Power….

A girl who accidentally sang a song when she was 24…

“Use me Lord…To show someone the way….Enable me to say….My storage is empty…And I am available to You…”  (Source)

And God said…”Absolutely.  I am glad you asked.”

***

What are your thoughts on unfair advantages?  What unfair advantages do you possess?

Comment below or connect with me: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin.

Join me and receive unfair advantages straight to your inbox.