Crushin'

So I have a secret crush...or maybe I'm simply coveting...not sure which it is yet, but I thought I'd share.

Here it goes: I am in love with Shane & Shane's music. Not the men. Though they are pretty cool with their guitars and all, I am so totally in love with Hubby that there's not room for another guy.

See, it all started a few years ago with their song "Yearn". I stopped when it came on. Pretty sure the Holy Spirit was woven through their lyrics and coming out through their voices. Yeah. It's that good. And I added it to my 'Favorites' list. Take a listen:

But then I kept hearing their songs. Each time they'd play I'd run to my iPod to click the little thumbs-up on Pandora and find "Oh, hey, it's Shane & Shane"!

And so my crush began. On their music. On the way the Holy Spirit breaths through the talent God has given them. I desired it! Even tried to recreate it. See this little guitar here, it's my daughter's. Let's just say that I cannot make that thing sound quite like they do with theirs. (I blame it on the difference in quality of guitars.) But that didn't stop me from having grand plans to drop into the back of these jam sessions with Shane & Shane and Phil Wickham. I totally could!

But I've come to realize something. While God loves hearing me praise (I've got love, so I'm no clanging gong) and the Holy Spirit resides in the sound of EVERYONE's praises, I'm not gifted with the talent of music. Not like these guys. That's because God's given me other talents. And rather than try to squeeze myself into one that isn't meant to fit me, I need to develop the talents He has given me.

And not be mad about the ones He hasn't.

The pretty neat thing though is when I started to give myself over to developing the talents He's given me--even when it does stretch me some (or a LOT, we're talking Gumby-Girl here)--is that the Holy Spirit began to breath through what I was doing, too. And THAT's what using our talents is all about. God's given them to us not simply to draw us closer to Him but to reach others THROUGH them. See? Pretty neat, huh?

So. I'll keep crushin' on Shane & Shane's music and rockin' my daughter's purple guitar here at home. Because I do love music and praising. But as for developing my talents, I think I'll stick to writing, because clearly it is NOT playing guitar;)

What about you? What's one talent you really admire in others that maybe you don't possess? And what is one talent God's given you that you're working on developing? And don't try and say nothing, because we ALL have talent - mothering, baking, taking care of other's, gardening, sewing, business, numbers...you've got one, what is it? (And now, once you pin it down and share, go have some time with God and ask Him how He wants you to use that talent this week. Yep. That's right. I just gave you homework;) )