Before we headed out on this trip, our leaders assured us that even if we didn't quite know where we would fit or what our gifts wer, we would discover it as the trip unfolded. They were absolutely right. I discovered I have a moderate level of skill with puppets, that I have more patience than I thought and confirmed that my gifts do lie in working with children.

But, there is more. I have also learned on this trip about doing things you are not gifted in but that are needed and working through your weaknesses. I am the world's messiest house painter, I get extremely cranky when I am sick and I am not much use in the kitchen whether cooking or cleaning! And yet, these things need to be done. So I have slogged through, painting as cleanly as I can, making guacomole (or trying to...) and being as gracious as I can in my crankiness, and asking forgiveness when I don't quite manage it.

And I have discovered that while the blessings that come from using my gifts are huge, sometimes the blessings that come from using my non-gifts are even greater. It causes you to stretch, and grow, and learn. It strengthens relationships, makes for great stories and most importantly, gets the work done. "That's where I am gifted" is certainly a reason to do something. But "I just don't have that gift" is not an excuse not to do it anyway if the circumstances call for it. Another mission trip lesson I am grateful to have learned.