I like many of these writing prompts, but the question, “What are you good at?” is a bit too general and is almost deceptively simple. I’ve thought about this many times, and I often come back with two answers: “Everything” and “Nothing.” I feel like my life has been spent getting pretty good at a lot of things, but never truly excellent at one thing. That’s made it a challenge to find a solid footing in a career, but hopefully I’ve finally made some strides to be excellent at least a few things.
If we were to start with the things I’m best at, the easiest place to start would be with communication and storytelling. Most of my life was spent in jobs where my livelihood was earned from communicating stories. That started in the newsroom at the newspaper where my Dad was the publisher, but it moved from there into three different colleges and ultimately to a daily newspaper in South Texas. A lot of years was spent editing ACTS 29 Magazine, but even today, I’m teaching future generations about the importance of reading and writing as I teach 8th and 9th grade English and high school journalism. With the amount of time I’ve spent communicating, I hope I’m good at it.
Tied to that is my ability to connect with people, often through song. I’m a pretty good singer, but not a great one. If I’d been smart, I’d have dedicated myself to learning a musical instrument. I can strum a few chords and plunk out a melody on a piano, but I can’t really play either. If I’d figured that part out, I’d probably be a worship leader at a church. I think that my ability to get in front of a group of people is what enabled me to become a decent teacher. I’m not afraid to talk publicly, especially when I’m confident in the material I’m communicating. I’m also fairly good at connecting with people one-on-one. Apparently, a lot of my students must think so. Just today, I saw one of my former students who was working the concessions at a local movie theatre. I called out her name and her eyes lit up. I think she may have even used her employee discount card to save me a few dollars. I’ve never thought of my professional skills as a way to save money, but it was good so see this student and to find out that she had recently made the Dean’s List at her university. I’m happy to have been a part of her educational story.
Of course, then there’s technology. I seem to have a knack for mastering new technologies, but I was never able to parlay that into anything lucrative. Mostly, I’m helpful to my friends and family when they are in a technological jam.
Hopefully, my greatest skill is my ability to live out my faith and to encourage others to do the same. That’s really what the backbone of this blog is about – sharing spiritual reflections that hopefully encourage readers in their effort to live out their faith in Christ. My relationship with Him is vitally important to me, and I hope that I’m able to share the peace and purpose that comes from that relationship with others – including you!
