Latest Posts (Click Here For More!)
UNWRAPPING YOUR GIFTS—in 2009
January 5th, 2009by Judy Dippel
Within each of us are God-given gifts and talents, as diverse as the gifts under a Christmas tree. Can you imagine the impact on the world if each of us decided, today, and throughout 2009, to unwrap our natural abilities and begin to take every opportunity to use what we’ve been given? All too often our gifts and skills remain boxed up, because we feel insecure or incapable of allowing our personal and distinctive strengths, shape, size or color to be seen by others, ignoring the purpose and impact of utilizing our gifts.
We can and should use our gifts and fulfill our passions, but we must first recognize them—then we must be willing to unwrap them, and take a risk to let them be seen by others! I challenge you to make that your New Year’s resolution.
What do our gifts look like? The answer—individually unique! For some, their giftedness can’t be missed. They resemble a flamboyant gift box, wrapped in red foil with a perfectly matched bow—naturally attracting people. Yet, right next to the striking, charismatic red box is the exact opposite —a tiny white jewelry-sized box, plain, without fancy wrap or a bow. Like each of us, the small box is as unique and valuable as the other. It simply takes more effort to see all that is inside—another velvet box, holding a precious jewel. Often this “gifting” may not be as easily seen and utilized. Too often it waits quietly, perhaps never allowing its’ beauty to be found and enjoyed. But with encouraging hands and hearts, it is carefully opened, blessing those who can finally feel and experience it. Underneath both of the other boxes is yet another, which represents many people. It’s a flat, squashed, and misshapen. Its’ corners are crunched, and the once blue-flowered gift wrap is faded and torn. The tape is undone and yellow, and for the most part, prefers to go unnoticed, safely hidden from sight. Even though the gifting inside has retained its’ original value, it sits unused, feeling unworthy and in ruin. Tattered and torn, it will remain so until God’s grace and forgiveness rips away the disheveled wrap disclosing the value that is within. Whatever the shape, size, or purpose of our gifts, they are vivid evidence of a loving, living and purposeful God.
…continue reading: UNWRAPPING YOUR GIFTS—in 2009
Find CWAHM on Facebook
December 31st, 2008CWAHM has a new page on Facebook. Come join us!
In The News: What’s Happening at the SBA? Small Businesses Don’t Know
December 31st, 2008From The Huffington Post:
“I didn’t even know they still exist,” Eric Segal, owner, Security Business Solutions, responded when I asked a group of small business owners if they thought the U.S. Small Business Administration was fulfilling its mission of helping small business.
The U.S. Small Business Administration was founded to strengthen the overall economy by helping small businesses start and grow. Does the SBA actually do what it’s supposed to do?
Senator Olympia Snowe, (R-Maine) ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship, recommending to President-Elect Obama that the position of the SBA Administrator be elevated to a cabinet level post so the voice of small business can be heard. In theory, Senator Snowe’s proposal seems to make sense. After all, it’s small business that will be the savior of our country’s economy. However, in practical terms, would a cabinet level post enhance the operations of the SBA and its effectiveness in helping small business?
