You are uniquely shaped for serving God

Captain's Log, Stardate 12.20.2005

1 Peter 4:10 (LB): God has given each of you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to other God's many kinds of blessings.

What abilities do you have? Rick Warren divides them into:

1) Spiritual Gifts--Holy Spirit-given, supernatural abilities.

2) Passion--the areas that move you

3) Abilities--God has given each of us the ability to do certain things well. Everyone has something to offer. Every ability can be used for God's glory.

What I'm able to do, God wants me to do. You are the only person on earth who can use your abilities. No one else can play your role, because they don't have the unique shape (and experiences) that God has given you. The Bible says that God equips you with all you need for doing his will.

4) Personality--coupled with your abilities, it enables you to express yourself in different ways from anyone else.

5) Experiences--family, educational, vocational, spiritual, ministry, and PAINFUL. Share yourself so that God can use you to bless others.

First Novel Journey:
Gina Holmes interviews romance writer Jill Stengl tomorrow, Wednesday December 21st.

Special prayer:
Lord, please heal Mike quickly from his flu. Please help him to rest and recover. Please ease his suffering and help him feel better. Please give Dineen energy, peace and patience for all the things she needs to do without him this week.

Comments

Unknown said…

Okay, all of you who know me personally will get a HUGE kick out of this story....

My church did an "assesment" of the congregation's spiritual gifts. What, you may be asking, was mine? Sit down. Get this. According to the little questionaire thing and what the church staff members filled out for each member, I'm an.....wait...here it comes (guaranteed to give you a good laugh)...

AN EDIFIER...AN ENCOURAGER

Me? LOLOLOLOL

Anyway, you're so right, Camy...each person is called to use THEIR spiritual gifts in the way God directs them!

Additionally, I'm sending up prayers for Mike's healing as well! And special prayers for Dineen and her lovely SIXTEEN year old daughter! EGADS!

Wed Dec 21, 07:43:00 AM 2005

Ronie Kendig said…

What a great post. Thanks, Camy! It's good to be reminded in light of certain things...called rejection letters...that we are called to be what/who God created us to be.

Also - thanks for the prayer you said for my family on Sunday.

Wed Dec 21, 07:57:00 AM 2005

Heather Diane Tipton said…

great post Camy! That is so good. I love that.

Praying for Mike and Neen too.

Wed Dec 21, 10:43:00 AM 2005

Malia Spencer said…

Ooo great blog! I had to take a spiritual gifts test a few years ago. I wonder what they would be now? Then my top two were leadership and pastor/
shepherd! LOL Of course that's when I was still in leadership with the kids. I miss them but I think I'm where I'm supposed to be for the moment. :)

Wed Dec 21, 01:46:00 PM 2005

Paula said…

Good thoughts. Thanks. Goes with some stuff I've been chewing on today.

Wed Dec 21, 03:52:00 PM 2005

Dineen A. Miller said…

Oh, God bless you, Camy! Thanks for the prayers. Thank you, everyone! Wow, I'm so blessed.

Mike is doing much better already, praise God! I'm hanging in there. Making intentional acts of relaxation. I know that sounds weird, but it's the only way I can relax. LOL!

As for gifts, well, I took it once a long time ago. Mine were discernment, wisdom and prophecy. LOL! I wonder what it would say now.

Wed Dec 21, 07:21:00 PM 2005

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And

Grace Livingston Hill romances free to read online

I wanted to update my old post on Grace Livingston Hill romances because now there are tons more options for you to be able to read her books for free online! I’m a huge Grace Livingston Hill fan. Granted, not all her books resonate with me, but there are a few that I absolutely love, like The Enchanted Barn and Crimson Roses . And the best part is that she wrote over 100 books and I haven’t yet read them all! When I have time, I like to dive into a new GLH novel. I like the fact that most of them are romances, and I especially appreciate that they all have strong Christian themes. Occasionally the Christian content is a little heavy-handed for my taste, but it’s so interesting to see what the Christian faith was like in the early part of the 20th century. These books are often Cinderella-type stories or A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett) type stories, which I love. And the best part is that they’re all set in the early 1900s, so the time period is absolutely fasci

Tabi socks, part deux

Captain's Log, Stardate 07.25.2008 (If you're on Ravelry, friend me! I'm camytang.) I made tabi socks again! (At the bottom of the pattern is the calculation for the toe split if you're not using the same weight yarn that I did for this pattern (fingering). I also give an example from when I used worsted weight yarn with this pattern.) I used Opal yarn, Petticoat colorway. It’s a finer yarn than my last pair of tabi socks, so I altered the pattern a bit. Okay, so here’s my first foray into giving a knitting pattern. Camy’s top-down Tabi Socks I’m assuming you already know the basics of knitting socks. If you’re a beginner, here are some great tutorials: Socks 101 How to Knit Socks The Sock Knitter’s Companion A video of turning the heel Sock Knitting Tips Yarn: I have used both fingering weight and worsted weight yarn with this pattern. You just change the number of cast on stitches according to your gauge and the circumference of your ankle. Th

Camy's Big News about a new (old) series!

I joined two Christian suspense multi-author anthologies that will release next year in May and October! The May anthology is Danger in the Shadows , and the October anthology is Don’t Blink . I have taken down Year of the Dog from my blog and will instead finish editing/rewriting it for the May anthology, Danger in the Shadows . I decided to do this because I was only working on Year of the Dog sporadically, and I wanted to set a deadline for myself to finish it sooner. To complicate matters, I’ve been unhappy with my decision to leave Sushi and Suspicions as a stand-alone rather than putting it in a series. And I’ve also been unhappy with putting The Lone Rice Ball as a 5th book in the Sushi series when it’s more romantic suspense than the other books in the series. Now that I’ll be writing Year of the Dog for the anthology, and because I haven’t yet released Sushi and Suspicions and The Lone Rice Ball as individual ebooks, I decided to switch things around. I’m rem

Jeremiah 33:8

Jeremiah 33:8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. Dear Lord, Thank you that no matter where we go or what we do, you will wash us clean when we turn to you. Thank you for your grace and for loving us even when we are hard to love. Please help us to live for you and for your glory. Amen エレミヤ33:8 わたしに対して犯したすべての罪から彼らを清め、犯した罪と反逆のすべてを赦す。親愛なる主よ、私たちがどこへ行こうとも、何をしようとも、私たちがあなたに立ち返るとき、あなたは私たちをきよめてくださることを感謝します。あなたの恵みに感謝し、私たちが愛しがたい者であっても愛してくださることに感謝します。どうか私たちがあなたのために、あなたの栄光のために生きることができますように。アーメン

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

Camille's Writing Progress

Join my newsletter to get regular updates in your inbox!

CWO - Reading quickly

Captain’s Log, Supplemental "Those who read fast reap no more advantage than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it, and extract its sweets." ~ Madame Jeanne Guyon ~ Update: I rewrote my post when I discovered Madame was talking specifically about Bible reading and not just reading in general. My point is essentially still the same. I admit I’m torn about this quote. I do enjoy meditating on the Bible. Certain passages deserve the time and mental energy to dwell, savor, contemplate, investigate, journal about. Those are some of my closest times with God. But I also started the Bible in 90 Days challenge last year, and it was the most incredible experience I’ve had in a long time. I had never read the entire Bible through before I did the Bible in 90 Days. I always lost interest in the normal books—the Pentateuch, usually around Leviticus somewhere. For the Bible in 90 Days, the point is to just read. Keep reading.

Keriah's Narrow Crescent Scarf

In my series Lady Wynwood’s Spies, my character Keriah is more emotional than her friend Phoebe, and so when writing about her in Lady Wynwood’s Spies, volume 6: Martyr , naturally I described her scarf as having more lively colors than the greens and blues that Phoebe favors. I didn’t really have a particular yarn colorway in mind when I wrote the scene, but when looking through my stash to knit her scarf, I found the Carnival colorway in Knit Picks Chroma Twist Fingering, and it was absolutely perfect for her. Chroma Twist Fingering is discontinued, but you could knit this in Chroma Fingering or any other color-transitional yarn. In the Regency era, a tri-color 3-ply yarn like Chroma Twist Fingering would probably not have been sold in shops, but it also may not have been completely unheard of. It is made by simply dying the wool rather than the finished yarn, and then the dyed wool would be split into 3 parts and each part spun into a single ply, before all three plies

Irish Tea Cozy

Captain’s Log, Stardate 02.16.2007 Blog book giveaway: To enter, go to the blog links below and post a comment there. Along Came Jones by Linda Windsor Two books for moms by Jenn Doucette I knitted a tea cozy! Here’s a picture of the original , and here’s the original pattern . I pretty much followed it, except I used a ribbon instead of a knitted tie at the top. I made it a little too big because I used the wrong size needles, so I also made two squares in garter stitch and sewed them to the inside of the cozy for a bit more insulation and better shaping. I’m so impressed with myself. This was the first time I did any complicated designs like the bobble/bubble/popcorn stitch and the diamond panel. Now when I host our local Christian writers’ group, our ginger peach tea won’t get cold so fast.

Search This Blog

Lady Wynwood #7 early release Kickstarter