What Can Be Learned From Siblings?

How Our Gifts Are Connected?

The Shoulders Upon Which We Stand – Part 6

Finding the gifts that God has created in others has become a lot of fun. It’s like going on a treasure hunt as I continue to search and sharpen this skill of mine to see the good in others and to find their gifts. While doing this I’ve noticed something interesting. I hinted at this in a previous post, but it has really made me think in this one. One person has the ability to activate the gift in another. That means one gift is connected and is even influenced by another. The scripture confirms this for me as it reads,”…for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan.” Who in your life is your gift influencing? Maybe you’ve not tapped into your gift because you’re waiting for that person who’s gifted to help you release yours?

They are assigned (gifted) to each other.
This was a new thought for me. Could it be that one gift is assigned to another? While you might not understand why you’re connected to the people you are, that’s not the most important question. The most important question is “how can I make the best of this partnership?”

For this web-post, I’d like to share with you two brothers, two sons, whom I’m highlighting as eXtra-men, even though they think there’s nothing extraordinary about themselves. The point of this message is to help you stop questioning who you are with but rather enjoy and take advantage of the gifts (of a person) you’ve been given.

The Hastener
Let’s begin with brother #1, here’s what I found in him as I examine his gifts.

“Boy, let’s just get it done.” This would certainly be a direct quote you’d find coming from his lips as he speaks to his brother, who we’ll get to in just a second. Let’s call brother #1, “Toe-ray.” When it comes to his gifts, he reminds me of two people: my brother (The Keeper) and a senior manager I once reported to in my working career. Like my brother, Toe-ray sees no reason why it [whatever must be done] should wait. Like my former office manager, he doesn’t like to have things on his plate even if he doesn’t have all the details. All he knows is there a task that must get done and he wants it gone. For this reason, I’ve decided to name him, “The Hastener.”

“The Hastener” hates to have lingering problems. I’d be surprised if he had any stress in life at all. Whatever it takes he rids himself of these problems, not giving himself time to stress over it.

My grandmother would often use this phrase “make haste”. In other words, let’s get to it. We don’t have time to waste. At the time, I didn’t know that it’s an uncommon trait for a person to naturally hasten or move quickly to get things done. You see procrastination is a “common” trait. To make haste is not normal.

“I made haste, and did not delay To keep Your commandments.” – bible.com/114/psa.119.60.nkjv

Hurry without delaying… This is an attribute of the uncommon. When we consider that life is short and time is fleeting, we should make it our practice to move quickly and to be like “The Hastener.”

The Over-maker
Let’s move to brother #2, here’s what I found in this brother and what’s funny is that they’re brothers but their God-given gifts, talents, and skills are uncommon to each other. Yet they are dependent on one another. Let’s call brother #2, Ty-rin.

“I see things not as they are but as they might be.” – Anonymous

Ty-rin has a special skill to make things greater than they are. For normal people seeing something differently than others can be frightening. Not this brother, his eyes will turn the what’s ordinary into something what’s-not-normal. This gift shows up strangely in a kitchen. Don’t let him in a kitchen, something great from something simple, natural, or ordinary will show up. While being able to cook in my opinion is a gift all of its own, doing more with a dish than what’s normal, that’s exceptional. This brother will take a bologna sandwich and make it a gourmet meal. He practices making culinary dishes for a Sunday afternoon meal his habit. Who delights in such things? I know who. Someone with such a gift.

“The Over-maker” takes what normal people see as simple and he sees it as it might be, more than a simple ordinary dish. This gift makes him afraid of very little, if anything. Most people find fear in what others think of them, not “The Over-maker.” If they could shed themselves of this, they’d find that they’ve been trying to fit into the wrong group. In other words, they wear the mask. This brother doesn’t fear taking off his mask. In fact, he’s more like-able, love-able, when he does. It’s in this ability that he brings life to serious and dead situations. He motivates others away from their comfort zone and out of settling for the norm. In order to make something over, you need to shed the fear of failing, but you also need to see it as it could become. This is a lesson you can learn from “The Over-maker.”

The two brothers aren’t much different than any other siblings, they’ve just learned how not to live without each other’ gift. In fact, they had to do what other normal people don’t, be okay with the fact that they are different. X-men? No. eXtra-men. Extraordinary men.

Thanks for reading my web-post at nolongercommon.com. We have just a few more of the eXtra-men to go, so stay with us and do me a huge favor, share this content with one of your friends.

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