JOURNEY WITH a GIANT: Drawing Closer to Godනියැදිය

GOD-GIVEN QUIRKS

Many of us have a hidden passion we’re hesitant to share with others. Consider Fred Rogers. How many hours did he play make-believe with his puppets in his attic? How many ventriloquist voices did he create? Do you suppose he dared to tell his teenage friends how he spent his free time?

After graduating from college, Fred realized he was passionate about television. Combining his love for children and education, he allowed his puppets to take center stage on The Children’s Corner, the first chil­dren’s show at a newly formed television station. The show revolved around the host, a young girl named Josie Carey, connecting to the hearts of children by pouring out her dreams, hopes, and fears to the puppets.

As Josie faced the camera, Fred knelt below the stage, out of sight, animating the puppets. The conversations between Josie and the pup­pets felt so real that, afterward, Josie would often repeat what she had told them to Fred backstage, forgetting that he was the puppeteer and had carried on those conversations with her.

Those puppets spoke about the hard and exciting things in life not only to children but also to the adults watching with them. Later, they would become a vital piece of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, one of the most beloved and powerful children’s programs of all time.

Clearly, the quirkiness that most would have scoffed at or quashed was the very thing Fred used to reach millions. Isn’t that comforting?

Perhaps you’re like me and you’ve never been the cool one in the crowd. Although I want to be the polished professional or smooth public speaker, I tend to be the overly friendly girl, which makes me feel like a little kid in a fifty-five-year-old woman’s body. But no matter how incapable or insecure I might feel sometimes, God designed all these quirks in me just as He designed the ones in Fred Rog­ers. I may not be the sophisticated professional I often wish I could be, but I will happily let that go if I can be an ap­proachable friend and good listener instead.

The good news is that God purposefully designed that quirky side in each of us, and He can use it for His purposes! As the psalmist writes, “I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking” (Psalm 139:14, TPT).

What quirks might you be hiding that could become blessings to those around you?