Gifts minus Envy plus Love equals Joy

Well it's that season again...football yes, cooler temps true, but the season I'm really talking about is the season of the College Application.  It's the time when all the sweet and hopeful children who would like to further their education try to put all the complexities of their attributes, gifts, desires, experience, intelligence, abilities and achievements onto a couple of 8.5 X 11 pieces of paper.  If I were running an admissions department at an accredited university I would definitely ask for everything they ask for...ACT, SAT, GPA, etc. but I hope they know they're really disrupting the chi.    This is the time when I hear, "What did the other Stoker's get on their ACT?"  "What was _____'s GPA?"  "What if I can't get into college, will I be the family loser?"  Now I always expect to hear a little grumbling of the sorrow of the damned, "Why didn't I STUDY MORE?"  But what breaks my heart a bit is the narrow measure of gifts and the envy of other gifts and blindness to own gifts.

When I plant a flower garden I seriously would never plant all of the same flower.  I need blooms in every season, cool colors, warm colors, delicate blossoms, bold focal points, dependable greenery, various textures, all coming together in marvelous beauty.

A football team only needs 1 quarterback (well, and maybe a couple of backups just in case the starter is stinkin' up the place.)  The main thing is whatever position you play be prepared, work hard, condition, practice, develop, improve.  You know, "What e're thou art act well thy part" and all.

Growing up in a large family we had a pretty abundant amount of sibling rivalry present.  I was acutely aware of the gifts my siblings possessed that I lacked.  When I watched "Gone with the Wind" for the first time I suspected that I was a little more like Scarlett and my younger sister a little more like Melanie.This was not an unhealthy recognition.  It gave me something to work towards.

A little harder to deal with perhaps is that family members have many gifts in common.  This is where I see some struggle for "How do I fit in?"  I noticed that one of my children played the piano less and less as the other played more and more.  They might have mistakenly supposed that we only needed one pianist in the family.  The truth is that everyone grows up and takes only themselves and their skills with them.  If a person can play the piano they should play the piano and use any other talent they can develop.

I'm always happy to go to Miller family reunions.  The first day is spent reveling in time spent with people like me.  We laugh a lot, dance, sing, laugh a lot, talk about movies and movie stars, laugh a lot, make treats, play charades, and then reality.  Bring on the in-laws because the Millers have lost their keys, forgotten the can opener and gotten lost. (I acknowledge that not every Miller has the same traits, but I'm speaking to trends not specifics.)  And that's what's so great about the plan.  Together we make it beautiful.

So I want my children to love their gifts and love their sibling's gifts and be thankful for the gifts of those that do the things we never could.  There's not only room for all, but a need for all.  Especially if we're trained and ready.  And if we have a pilot/warrior and an economist and a doctor and a dentist and a physical therapist and an educated mother and whatever anyone else wants to do, (or two or more of any of these)  that makes for a nicely balanced community and a very lovely garden.