Talents & Gifts

This cartoon used to hang on the wall of a former co-worker's cubicle, such that it was. He actually worked in an open area fondly referred to as “The Pit” and scattered with rulers and X-Acto knives, snacks, and monkeys of various sizes and types.

I work with an amazing group of people. In our Marketing Department – essentially an in-house ad agency – there is a director, a trade show coordinator, a marketing traffic coordinator, a photographer, an intern, technical and advertising/pr writers (me), and four graphic designers. And while everyone is good at their job, I stand in absolute awe of our graphic designers.

When you’re working for one company, you’re locked into creating the corporate image, and carrying that through in piece after piece you design. It’s all about branding, and so a designer’s work must have the same look and feel as another’s in order to get the desired image across to the customers. This may not seem like such a big deal, but every designer I’ve met has their own style, and sometimes a preferred medium, which they have to sacrifice when they go to work in the corporate world.

One of our younger designers would rather make a living painting, but until then this job pays the bills. She loves art that encompasses high fashion (and will marry our favorite intern this weekend!). I’m still trying to figure out our newest designer’s style; she's a recent college graduate and very well taught professional with a meticulous eye for detail. Our more experienced (i.e., closer to my age) designer has a classic, clean style that appeals to me, and she’s able to impart valuable wisdom to the other from her career experience. We joke about our Creative Director’s OCD, but his impeccable design and quest for perfection pays off in beautiful work that makes us all proud to be working with him.

And the one who knows how to draw a chicken? He’s in graduate school in Savannah now. We miss him, but know he will emerge from his schooling a talented and well trained graphic artist. (To see his style, visit his website: http://www.innospiral.net/ … warning – it’s not for the faint of heart.)

Apart from the graphic designers, I know I’m not cut out to do technical writing, so I depend on our detail-oriented technical writers to provide a solid basis for my “fluff,” and I appreciate them more than they know. Our photographer does incredible work in a world of his own, and our traffic coordinator keeps everything flowing smoothly so our director can be free to do upper management sorts of things. And when I see what our trade show coordinator is responsible for, I thank God I don’t have her job!

I enjoy my job for a lot of reasons, but especially because I love the people I work with. Did I mention these are incredibly talented people?

In the Biblical sense, “talents” refers to a measure of money, rather than a God-given aptitude. Talents are not the same as gifts in the Bible, but I have no doubt that my co-workers have been richly blessed with their artistic talents. I also have no doubt that we have all been gifted by God, for His purposes. 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NIV) reads,

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”

Do you know what your gifts are? If you don’t, you might want to do some exploring:
http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1355371/k.9501/Spiritual_Gifts.htm

When you know your gifts and are using them for His glory, things tend to fall into place, much like letting your own individual style shine through your work.