Spiritual gifts

I am not one to claim to know very much at all about spiritual gifts. I know God gave us spiritual gifts, I know everyone is unique, and yet at the same time, you can find many in your local body of believers with the same gifts. My pastor's wife at my old church (who I love! and consider to me my spiritual mentor and sister) once handed out some sheets of papers on discerning your spiritual gifts. Now these things were not cut and dry, they were just information and suggestions, but I figured out mine and it really made sense. My problem was, I didn't know what I should be doing to USE my gifts. I know everyone should be using what God has given to them for the kingdom of God, but I didn't know then what it looked like in my own life.
A few months ago God showed me something and I realized that you will know for a fact your spiritual gift because you will swell with love for people when you are doing it. For instance, if your gift is teaching, your will love those in whom you are trying to teach, even if you don't know them, God's love will consume you for them. It may look like this; say you are gifted in Exhortation, then your heart will swell with Godly love for someone who just an hour before totally annoyed you because she is always messing up her own life and never listens to anyone, blah blah blah. Then all of the sudden she rings your door bell and truly wants you advice so you sit her down and cry with her and hold her hand and speak truth into her disheveled life. You want nothing more in the world in that moment than this one person to find wholeness in the Lord and work everything out.
I may not be making any sense (I usually don't) but what I am trying to say is that I have realized lately, especially TODAY, that you are never more fulfilled than when you are using your gifts in the way God has designed you to use them.

I had a planned lunch today with two young girls (15) who I used to teach in Sunday School. I wanted to get together with them before I left for Oklahoma. I had not invested much time into them at all since I had quit last year. Sadly, my typical selfish self was not really excited about going. I had a lot of homeschooling to catch up on, and a house waiting to be cleaned. Not to mention my husband switched someone shifts so that he could watch the kids while I went. Honestly I sort of wanted to just stay home with the hubby and kids. But instead as I got ready this morning I prayed that God would be with me and that He would give me words of love, truth and encouragement for them. WOW! little did I know how much I would need that prayer! As I sat and talked with them over lunch I realized (sensed) that things were not right with them. Now I am not saying all my girls were always easy and right with the Lord and they had just not been doing their quiet time. On the contrary. Most of the girls I taught the two years I did, were very troubled and had numerous sinful behaviors, and I doubted the salvation of 90% of them. But these two girls looked really different. I could see it in their countenance. They were distant from God. Really distant. As I got to talking to them, I realized just how distant. I was lead by the Lord to speak about true salvation to both them (two girls I had taught EVERY SUNDAY for two years about the Lord). They opened up to me about their doubts about God, his existence, His goodness, and His calling for righteousness. IT was AMAZING! God is so good. At that moment, when I was doing what God made me to do on this earth (Exhortation and Prophecy), I felt so much love for those two girls, they could have been my daughters and I would not have loved them more. It was God's love. Beautiful and unconditional. It had to be with some of the stuff they were telling me. I say all that to say, Get out there! Use your gifts, you will never regret that lunch meeting, or inviting that odd neighbor over, or teaching that class, or speaking truth to someone who needs it. Just do it. You were made for a purpose.
P.S. In no way am I saying that being a mom and wife is not a purpose. Its clearly biblical that it is. I am saying, however, that while you are a wife and a mother, God will strategically place people in your life that will not interfere with that, but will stretch you to step outside the home on occasion to do it. But with me many of the times have been having a desperate women in my living room that badly needed a friend and a shoulder to lean on. So in that case you don't even have to physically leave your home! :)