Address to the Nation: Giftings

What is your gifting?

Gifting is a term used a lot in church, but I think it’s useful whether you’re religious or not.

My gifting is the ability to talk to people, to pull out the best in players, to be able to talk to you. It’s something I’ve always had. I gel with kids. I see something in them that they don’t even see in themselves and I have the ability to call that out.
Yes, I have to work on it, but I’m already better than 80-90% of the world at what I do. And you’re better than 80-90% of the world at what you’re meant to do.

Your gifting cannot be bought and it can’t be taken away. It’s not something you’ve earned, but it’s been given to you by God to use for what He wants you to do. I don’t like the word ‘purpose’ because it’s used so much, but whatever your gifting is, it’s been given to you for a reason.

Maybe you don’t know what your gifting is yet, but when you do find it you’ll face certain challenges. So often, we want things now. I want things now. I don’t want to work nine-to-five. I hate it; it’s toxic to my bones. It’s not because the work is so bad, the people are so bad, or that I hate my boss. No, they’re actually good people. I hate it because it’s not what I was meant to do.

When you don’t know what your gifting is, maybe you can live with that. But when you know what you’re meant to do, it’s so hard to do anything else. I was meant to be on the ice. I’m good at it. It makes me feel good. It’s what God gifted me with. And I can fulfil His purpose for me in so many ways, just by being on the ice, just by sharing my love and passion with kids.

Don’t be afraid your gifting is going to go away if you don’t use it. It won’t. But also, don’t let that gifting sit unused. For so long, I was on the other side, where I was so afraid that if I didn’t use it, if I didn’t go for it, I would end up being pushed to the side. Someone else would get my spot. But that’s just not the case.

Even if I’m not currently the ‘best’ skills coach by technique, I am the best person to get the most out of kids, to believe in them and to show them who they truly are. If I take two years away from the ice and come back, because I’m gifted at what I do, I’ll still be better than 80-90% of the people out there. Then I can fine-tune myself to being the best.

I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what’s in store for the future of my marriage. I don’t know what’s in store for the future of my business. I don’t know what’s in store anywhere. I don’t know.

But what I do know is that I don’t have to be afraid of the future, or that I’ll lose everything I’ve worked so hard to get. I won’t. I can’t control what people might do around me, or the way the market shifts, but at the end of the day, I know who I am. I know what I’m capable of. I know what it takes. And if I didn’t do this, if I didn’t follow my gifting, I wouldn’t have known those things.

I’m such a flawed man, but if there’s one thing I am proud of it’s that I don’t give up. I’ll have moments where I’ll lapse, where I’ll feel over it, but to actually say “I quit”? I have a hard time saying that. And because of that, I know I’ll get through a lot of things I wouldn’t have.

Be yourself and let your gifting shine. It’s what makes you special in this crowded world, and the world needs what you have.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

— JFK