As overwhelming as this season can become, I thought it would fun to turn the stress of shopping and gifting into something more positive. The gifts I’m talking about are ones we can offer the world all the time, just by living out the talents God has given each of us! Whether we realize it or not, we all have really special things to offer the kingdom of God.

As the fire began to burn more deeply in me to DO something for God, I began to evaluate what I could even bring to the table. To be very honest…initially, I felt like there weren’t many job-openings in God’s kingdom for a stay-at-home-mom.

Sadly, I feel like this is something many Christians can relate to. We let little lies settle in like “Who am I to do that?” Or “Im just a _____, I could never do what they do…” It’s like we get stuck thinking the only quote-unquote qualified people who really make a difference are preachers or evangelist…and that’s just not the case!

Today, I wanted to share a concept I learned about a few years ago that helped change my perspective on this. And…since it helped me, I figured…chances are good this could help someone else, too! You may or may not have heard about this concept before. It’s called the Seven Mountains of Influence. In essence, these are the seven facets of society that have the MOST influence. The exciting part is that we ALL fall into one (or several) of these categories. Now, I’m a very practical thinker so having categories to look at immediately made me feel like I DID have a space to make a difference.

So, without further adieu, want to hear what they are??

They are: Government, Education, Family, Business, Arts & Entertainment, Media, and Religion.

I mean…its genius! And so simple. Of course we all have a place. Of course we ALL have a role to play. We are, after all, the body of Christ. We can’t all be preachers! And while God does give us a list of special giftings in the Bible, known as the Grace-Gifts of Christ: Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers..(see Ephesians 4:11), chances are, we aren’t going to feel like we fall into one of those categories. I’ll jump into those gifts another time, because they are wonderful and worth learning about. But again, words like apostle and prophet and preacher are a bit intimidating. I prefer to look for the more practical ways our gifts can serve. And that is exactly why the seven mountains of influence was such an eye opener for me. It gave me a jumping off point.

It allowed me to ask myself what group (or groups) I fell into. And then, I could review even more closely the things I brought in those areas that were unique to me. For example. I knew I was a stay at home mom and felt very much that my fist sphere of influence was the Family. But beyond that, I knew God had given me a gift for writing, art, and photography. I also saw God had given me a platform on social media (because of my husband, who’s career is on a world stage). The more I mulled it over, I thought, well… I can influence my family for Christ AND I can use arts/entertainment to encourage others in the media sphere.

In a weird way, it was like using a key to crack the code of how to use the natural Gifts God gave me. Not just how to use them but where to use them, too!

With allll of this in mind, my hope is that this series equips you to look at your own gifts to see how and where you can live for Him…influencing the Kingdom in ways only You can! After all, it is the season for gifts!

So, lets start right off the bat today with a big one: Media…

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