Finding the Obvious: Gift from God

Wild Lupine
May, 2009 Illinois Beach State Park
Zion, IL

I was attending my usual Sunday church service, and our pastor was talking about how as Christians, we should be on a constant fire for our Savior and how the Holy Spirit has made us unique to not only praise Him, but also to spread His word to others. Some like praising and sharing Jesus with music, while others enjoy deep prayer. For myself, I realized that I fell into a different category when he mentioned, " Some of you enjoy hiking and being in creation..." A light bulb turned on, a hamster started running on his wheel, a spark what lit, the sun began to rise... well you get the point.
Now, I've known for a long time that God made me just a little different then the rest of the 5, 999, 999, 999 or so people currently on this planet (you'd be amazed how hard it is to find people to talk to about the different plant communities of the midwest), but I never knew why. For those of you who know me, You pretty much figured this out about me from when you met me, but I never knew how significant a spiritual gift can be in an individual's life. These examples were going through my head today.
First one, I always get a so called "seasonal depression" every winter. I'm usually not myself this time of the year, and I do not think clearly or have thoughts in my head about myself that I wouldn't expect from me. But once the snow melts and the weather warms, I go outside again to do all the activities that I love to do in the outdoors. Basically, God made me to worship Him with the great artwork that He has surrounded me with, and if I avoid that niche in my life, then I avoid crucial time in my hike with my Father.
Second, it seems like I understand a faith-based relationship with Jesus with different analogies that I pick up from nature... like this blog! For instance, I've always seen my christian life as a tree (I'll explain this in another post coming shortly), or faith is like photosynthesis: you need light (in this case, the Light of the world) in order to properly grow. A life with Jesus can completely change you forever like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly, or singing you heart out in praise like a songbird on a spring morning. It seems like God has shown me these things to get a better understanding of what my life should look like.
This seems so obvious to others that I have been gifted by the Holy Spirit for my love of creation and why I like it so much, yet it's taken me years to figure this out. God has given us spiritual gift for His glory and to help spread the ultimate gift, sufficient grace of Jesus Christ, to others. If you haven't found yours yet, then pray about it so that it may be revealed to you.