God Loves Variety!

Did you know there are over 9500 species of birds in the world? Each and every species is unique in its coloring and features. We do not live in a world of brown sparrows alone. The humble sparrow is just one of the kinds of birds that God made to show forth His glory.

The same is true of people. The other day I remembered a line of a poem written by a friend of mine up in Northern Wisconsin, and I had to go find the two books she had written. This inspired me to get in touch with her by email. Margaret Bean** writes lovely prose and poetry about nature and every day things in life. When she writes, you can hear the fire crackling, see the frozen lake, smell the rich fragrance of coffee, or feel the soft wool of a newborn lamb. Margaret has a way of taking the mundane and making you appreciate the beauty of those simple things. If I had to think of a word to describe what people like Margaret are like, I would say, color. As I sat on the east side of Milwaukee yesterday waiting for my son’s piano lesson to end, I looked up at the high rise apartments and the concrete jungle around me, and then I started reading some of Margaret’s writers’ newsletters she had sent me. Instantly gone were the gray, overcast skies and the dirty gutters filled with a mid-winter’s collection of trash, and I was transported into a world of beauty. That’s what people like Margaret do. They beautify.

God created all kinds of people. It is obvious why He did. He loves variety, and He knows how much the body of Christ needs people of different giftings. My mother, Freda, is gifted with the ability to help. She has spent her entire life helping others and praying behind the scenes. I don’t just mean short, perfunctory prayers, I mean prevailing, earnest, when-everything-is-dark prayers. Mom lifts burdens, remembers all the little needs of others that most everyone else would forget. Mom never forgets. That is her spiritual gift, and so many have been blessed by her.

My sister, Lisa, is gifted in similar ways. She has a way of finding the neediest person spiritually or emotionally around her, and showing concern and love. She is never too busy for that one person who is falling through the cracks at church or that person she meets at the Y who is going through a difficult time in life and doesn’t know Christ. She opens her home and heart at a moment’s notice. She is without pretense, and she is priceless.

My brother’s gift is his technical understanding. God blessed his mind to be able to build transmitters, develop computer programs, and do complex math to be able to do these things. He is brilliant, and he has used his mind his entire life to keep the Gospel going out over VCY America Radio and Television. Andy is the kind of person who knows more about more subjects than anyone I know. Interested in lighthouses or sailboats or tall ships or submarines or the history of broadcasting or Spanish? He can tell you more than you ever want to know. Need a Spanish document translated? Call Andy. He’s studying Galega now. It’s a morph of French, Portuguese and Castilian from northwest Spain. He’s very quiet and reserved, but once you show an interest, he’s a walking encyclopedia.

Dad is an extrovert and a builder. Like his Viking forbears, he has a drive to conquer difficult things and do things with his hands. As a Christian radio pioneer, he forged ahead through a myriad of technical and financial challenges to get Christian broadcasting on the air in our city and the Midwest. God made him fearless and one who likes a challenge. What others said could not be done became a challenge to him. With God’s help, the job was done.

I see this variety in people all around me. That’s why I don’t like it when some Christian teachers and authors describe women as though they should all fit the same mold to be “godly”. God loves variety! One women may be gifted in making the most gorgeous things in the kitchen. Another may be gifted at painting and decorating or sewing. Some women make wonderful music. My grandmother was good at actually building things. She made her own greenhouse so her vegetables would have a better chance in the cold Minnesota climate. Some women are good at teaching, others are good with horses or handling dogs (like my friend Penny with her bloodhound) or any number of other things.

I can’t make a greenhouse or sew beautiful quilts or make beautiful pastries or paint a picture, but I love to write. Writers crystallize some of the things that people are feeling and put it down in words. Writers can share information, comfort, exhort and warn, lift up hearts for those who need encouragement, and we can point out the beautiful things around us that God has made. In a world that has been made so dark with sin, we can still see that little wildflower by the side of the road, or hear that snatch of lovely music, or smell the aroma of homemade soup simmering on the stove, and encourage readers to praise God for mercies received.

Each one of you readers reflects the Lord’s love of variety. He has gifted you uniquely, so enjoy your hobbies and interests. You are part of that beautiful human tapestry God has made of so many colors and hues. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might to the glory of your Creator!

**Margaret Bean edits a writers’ newsletter called The Writers’ Bistro. She has also written Painting Your Canvas: Artful Reflections for Keepers at Home, a book of personal essays that approaches homemaking from the aspect of its potential for creativity. Email me at ingrid@vcyamerica.org for more information.