Can you make a bow? I can't. I can barely tie my shoes! I have never been a bow maker. I see these gorgeous bows that people have on their mailboxes, banisters, inside their homes and when I hear they made them I just want to stomp my feet because I can't do it. I have tried and tried but bow making is not my specialty. Honestly, I can't even pick out ribbon that good. If you came to my house and demanded that I give you a ribbon, you would be out of luck. We would have to take a pre-made bow, tear it apart and only use the sections that didn't have staple holes in them! Seriously, can't make a bow.
So, they invented these new gadgets called "bow makers." Yeah, I'd like to talk to the guy who invented that because the bows I make on this alleged "bow maker" look awful! I can't get the ribbon to pull together right and I just end up with a sad, pitiful bow. My bows, they are the ones for Charlie Brown's sad little tree.
But, my Mom can make a bow. She makes gorgeous bows. They are full, flowy (if that is even a word) and just breath taking. I love to watch her make them. She will get that ribbon going in every direction and she twists it somehow and then grabs some more and before long what was once a straight piece of flat ribbon is now puffed up and intertwined to make a gorgeous bow. I love to watch her make them. She does them with such ease as if she has been making bows her whole life. Amazing this talent that she has.
But, you know what? Not everyone can be a bow maker. Some people, have to be the bow hangers. That's where I come in. I go to my Mom's house and she whips me up a bow and I'm all over it when I get home. I can look at a basket or a post and know just what size bow needs to go where and exactly how it should be positioned. I can bend the laces of the bow and place the streamers just so to where it looks as if the bow was made just for that spot. I can move bows from place to place and re-use them over and over again season after season. I have the talent of bow hanger. That's MY job!
So, naturally, I'm thinking about bows today. I have them everywhere at my house and see them everywhere with it being the holiday season. They are on mailboxes, banisters, fence posts, packages and I have even seen a few on some cars. I began to think about bows as an analogy for talent. Did you know God has designed a talent specific to each one of us? In Romans 12:6 he says "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us."
Do you know what this scripture says to me? It says that God creates some people to be the bow maker. They have a way with their hands and can twist and turn and pinch and hold and take something that was just laying flat on a roll and turn it into something beautiful. Something that others can admire and enjoy. You often don't know who made the bow. You see them hanging everywhere but you just aren't too sure who the "bow maker" is but you appreciate their work nonetheless.
Then, God creates others to be the "bow hangers." They take the wonderful work that the bow maker did and work with it, mold it, shape it, place it in just the right place so that everyone can see it. If the bow needs to be re-used, they will dust it off, move it from place to place constantly encouraging it to be all that it can be. They never undo what the bow maker did because they know that they cannot recreate the bow itself but they can take what was done, hang it with pride and watch day after day as this bow adds beauty to the world.
And last but not least God creates those to be "the bow." The bow's job is to be the image that everyone recognizes. The bow knows that just a short time ago it was simply a piece of ribbon wound up on a spool with nothing to do. It waited patiently for someone to pick it up, run loving fingers through each piece and mold it into what it knew it could one day be. Once it was formed into a beautiful bow it knew that God would place a bow hanger in it's life to place it in just the right place time after time to be enjoyed by all. It knows that as THE BOW it is in the spotlight. But it never forgets the bow maker nor the bow hanger. It's gift from God was to be in the front of the crowd, to shine each and every day and it takes this talent and does it to the best of its ability.
God has given each of us a talent to glorify and magnify him. Are you the bow maker? Are you the bow hanger? Or, are you the bow?
So, they invented these new gadgets called "bow makers." Yeah, I'd like to talk to the guy who invented that because the bows I make on this alleged "bow maker" look awful! I can't get the ribbon to pull together right and I just end up with a sad, pitiful bow. My bows, they are the ones for Charlie Brown's sad little tree.
But, my Mom can make a bow. She makes gorgeous bows. They are full, flowy (if that is even a word) and just breath taking. I love to watch her make them. She will get that ribbon going in every direction and she twists it somehow and then grabs some more and before long what was once a straight piece of flat ribbon is now puffed up and intertwined to make a gorgeous bow. I love to watch her make them. She does them with such ease as if she has been making bows her whole life. Amazing this talent that she has.
But, you know what? Not everyone can be a bow maker. Some people, have to be the bow hangers. That's where I come in. I go to my Mom's house and she whips me up a bow and I'm all over it when I get home. I can look at a basket or a post and know just what size bow needs to go where and exactly how it should be positioned. I can bend the laces of the bow and place the streamers just so to where it looks as if the bow was made just for that spot. I can move bows from place to place and re-use them over and over again season after season. I have the talent of bow hanger. That's MY job!
So, naturally, I'm thinking about bows today. I have them everywhere at my house and see them everywhere with it being the holiday season. They are on mailboxes, banisters, fence posts, packages and I have even seen a few on some cars. I began to think about bows as an analogy for talent. Did you know God has designed a talent specific to each one of us? In Romans 12:6 he says "We have different gifts, according to the grace given us."
Do you know what this scripture says to me? It says that God creates some people to be the bow maker. They have a way with their hands and can twist and turn and pinch and hold and take something that was just laying flat on a roll and turn it into something beautiful. Something that others can admire and enjoy. You often don't know who made the bow. You see them hanging everywhere but you just aren't too sure who the "bow maker" is but you appreciate their work nonetheless.
Then, God creates others to be the "bow hangers." They take the wonderful work that the bow maker did and work with it, mold it, shape it, place it in just the right place so that everyone can see it. If the bow needs to be re-used, they will dust it off, move it from place to place constantly encouraging it to be all that it can be. They never undo what the bow maker did because they know that they cannot recreate the bow itself but they can take what was done, hang it with pride and watch day after day as this bow adds beauty to the world.
And last but not least God creates those to be "the bow." The bow's job is to be the image that everyone recognizes. The bow knows that just a short time ago it was simply a piece of ribbon wound up on a spool with nothing to do. It waited patiently for someone to pick it up, run loving fingers through each piece and mold it into what it knew it could one day be. Once it was formed into a beautiful bow it knew that God would place a bow hanger in it's life to place it in just the right place time after time to be enjoyed by all. It knows that as THE BOW it is in the spotlight. But it never forgets the bow maker nor the bow hanger. It's gift from God was to be in the front of the crowd, to shine each and every day and it takes this talent and does it to the best of its ability.
God has given each of us a talent to glorify and magnify him. Are you the bow maker? Are you the bow hanger? Or, are you the bow?
No comments:
Post a Comment