{"id":6219,"date":"2011-10-20T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2011-10-20T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=6219"},"modified":"2011-10-21T10:14:41","modified_gmt":"2011-10-21T15:14:41","slug":"spending-our-best-gifts-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2011\/10\/spending-our-best-gifts-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Spending Our Best Gifts First!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Halloween is almost here! Learn how you can celebrate with a Catholic focus, such as at the WilcoYA Festival of Saints! <\/p><\/div>\n

Halloween is coming! As a child, I loved to trick or treat. My efficiency-minded personality really shone in my Halloween planning – I made sure to use a strong pillowcase because they were bigger and stronger than plastic bags or bucket, and I strategically picked which streets I\u2019d frequent based on the number of decorated houses – correlating enthusiasm about Halloween to better candy! But you know what\u2019s weird? After all that effort to get the best candy, I usually saved it for last. I ate the not-so-good candy, eyeing the \u201cgood\u201d stack for yummy times to come. But most of the time, by the time I got to them, they were melted, or at least stale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sometimes saving the best for last is a great idea. Sometimes it just means that you end up throwing out the best instead of enjoying it. As Christians, we are blessed to know that the BEST is YET TO COME! We live our lives savoring our wonderful experiences, all the time knowing that these wonderful times are only a TASTE of the mountain of joyful tastes that God has in store for us.<\/div>\n
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Not only do we savor experiences, but I\u2019m sure I\u2019m not alone in also savoring possessions. While I would not call myself a hoarder, I do believe I have a certain gift to be able to use the things that other people throw away \ud83d\ude42 While I\u2019m working on living simply since my stuff isn\u2019t coming with me in the long haul (Luke 12:23<\/a>), I\u2019m also trying to take other gifts – namely spiritual gifts and talents – and make sure to use them NOW, and not save them for a later time. God will give us abundantly and always refills in us the love that we share. Whatever our place in life, we have unique gifts and talents that we can offer to others – whether being involved in time-intensive ministries, or activities that can be done at home, like writing letters to those who are imprisoned<\/a> or praying for others!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Captain<\/a>

What is your super power? (Image from captainplanetfoundation.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

God gives us gifts and talents and when we use them to do His will, we glorify Him. These gifts are like super powers, but don\u2019t always have to be the gift of strength, flight, or the ability to see through walls. Case and point – did you ever watch Captain Planet? I did and thought that Heart was the best hero! When I told a close friend that, he laughed and proceeded to say that Heart was his least favorite (and perhaps not even a REAL superhero). Well, everyone is entitled to his\/her own opinion (even the WRONG one…just kidding!).. But my point is – we can all use our gifts – even gifts that others might not view as gifts – to do GREAT things out of love for Jesus Christ, things that will be on our \u201cgood list\u201d (Matthew 25: 31-46<\/a>) when the final judgement happens. I don\u2019t think God is going to ask us why we didn\u2019t save the world or expect that we spend all the money we have on the least in our midst. I think He IS going to ask us what we did with the SPECIFIC talents, to see how we \u00a0invested them (Matthew 25: 14-30<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Do you have a talent that is strange? One that doesn\u2019t give you any business edge but might make a child smile? Or are you a strong leader among your friends, who can make decisions and get things organized? Or are you a fantastic listener, who people seek when they need close comfort? These are all gifts, and it\u2019s best that we spend, not save them! What unique gifts to you have? How do you share them? Please share in the comments section below!<\/div>\n
Halo Tip# 1: I told ya in the first post<\/a>, I\u2019ll be doing my best to write about practical ways to live a saintly life. An integral step to that is to recognize and remember God\u2019s blessings in your life. If I can\u2019t fit these steps in, I\u2019m just gonna include them as related \u201cHalo tips\u201d:) Feel free to add your own related Halo Tips in the comments – big revelations or teeny tiny tips. As my fellow ACNM contributor Chris Williston observes, \u201cPerhaps starting with huge first steps towards a living spirituality is unrealistic and smaller really is better after all.\u201d<\/a>The down-the-road plan is to start a shared google doc when we have enough tips and organize them so that we have a written strategic plan to Sainthood! In fact, why don\u2019t we give out Halo Points?! \u201cLike\u201d comments that will help you en route to Sainthood and I\u2019ll keep a running tally of the top Saint-makers \ud83d\ude42 Top Saint-makers will at the least get props from God and that the most get a cool prize if I can think of something..<\/div>\n
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Halo Tip #2: And if you are a hoarder – I have a solution that may work for you (yes this aside is relevant to my blog – remember, you can\u2019t take anything with you to Heaven, so you might as well get unattached to it on earth). For things that MEAN something to me, for example, things that were stored in my room at my parents\u2019 house, but things that realistically, I would never look at again, I took pictures of them and put them on my computer. My screensaver from Google Picasa<\/a>, my photo editor, randomly scrolls through pictures on my hard drive, so every so often I see the object and remember it fondly. For these things, I also have the satisfaction of knowing that I donated them and hopefully someone else can put it to good use and make new memories for it.<\/p>\n

Halo Tip #3: If you love TV (and pay for it), I recommend a DVR of some kind. Why? Because with it, you get to CONTROL the TV and not be subject to a show\u2019s schedule. It frees you to go to great stuff like Catholic events around the Diocese<\/a> without wondering what show you\u2019ll be missing. I remember being shocked in college (before my tv watching started) that people would reject FREE FOOD because their favorite shows were on. Secondly, read my first aside again. If your TV lets you show your photos (either through its hard drive, the DVR, or by connecting your computer) try it! Again, Google Picasa<\/a> is what I use to set a picture slideshow as a screensaver or show. Instead of watching TV shows, watch pictures of the fun times with your friends and family – re-remember all the fun you have when you\u2019re not watching TV. This will definitely put you in a good mood. Next, try playing some of your favorite music while you watch the slideshow (Pandora<\/a> will create music stations based on what you like with amazing accuracy!). Before long you\u2019ll be Singing – and then remember to turn that Singing to the Giver of All Good Things (including TV, jams, DVRs, trick or treating candy, and everything else…)<\/p>\n

Note: Reflections in this blog are my own and do not represent the positions of my employer.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Halloween is coming! As a child, I loved to trick or treat. My efficiency-minded personality really shone in my Halloween planning – I made sure to use a strong pillowcase because they were bigger and stronger than plastic bags or bucket, and I strategically picked which streets I\u2019d frequent based on the number of decorated… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[4,90],"tags":[40,127,94,304,262,168,74,303,143,306,305],"class_list":{"0":"post-6219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"category-faith-blog","8":"tag-austin-texas","9":"tag-children","10":"tag-current-events","11":"tag-gifts","12":"tag-heaven","13":"tag-holiness","14":"tag-prayer","15":"tag-saint","16":"tag-saints","17":"tag-simplicity","18":"tag-talents","19":"entry","20":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56478,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/10\/catholic-roots-halloween\/","url_meta":{"origin":6219,"position":0},"title":"The Catholic Roots of Halloween","author":"Rita Suva","date":"October 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Every year the questions about the acceptability of celebrating Halloween arise in Catholic and Christian circles: Can my family to celebrate Halloween? Is it okay for my child to dress up and trick-or-treat? Is Halloween a pagan, satanic or secular holiday? These, and a myriad of other questions about Halloween\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Carved Pumpkin with Text by Rita Suva","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Carved-Pumpkin-with-Text-332x124.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":42033,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2013\/10\/local-catholic-halloween-event-families-oct-26\/","url_meta":{"origin":6219,"position":1},"title":"Local Catholic Halloween Event for Families Oct 26","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"October 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This place is really into Halloween. It\u2019s growing in popularity across our culture as a source for revenue for business, but also a cultural fascination with death, zombies, gore, and many other dark things. Catholics have a much different approach. I recommend a post from Catholic Lane titled Holiday Hysteria:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Family"","block_context":{"text":"Family","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"StJerome","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/StJerome.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25876,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2012\/10\/how-to-make-a-family-litany\/","url_meta":{"origin":6219,"position":2},"title":"How to Create a Family Litany","author":"Lauren Gulde","date":"October 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"All Saints Week - here we are! A week of beauty, starting with Halloween full of fun costumes and candy, All Saints Day with our holy heavenly friends, and ending with the ever hopeful and solemn All Soul's Day, praying for those we love who have died. What a great\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"create a family litany of saints","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/All-Saints-300x201.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55829,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/10\/jabba-hutt-sexy-costumes-things-distract-souls-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":6219,"position":3},"title":"Jabba the Hutt, “Sexy” Costumes and Other Things That Distract from All Souls Day","author":"Britt Echtenkamp","date":"October 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"All Saints Day and All Souls Day are coming up this week, and instead of basking in the rich history and awesomeness of these days, I find myself looking at what constitutes for a female Halloween costume these days and fending off negative self-talk. So, yeah, I'm pregnant. I'm 25\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Halloween costume","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Britthalloween-127x190.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63509,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/11\/challenge-advent\/","url_meta":{"origin":6219,"position":4},"title":"The Challenge of Advent","author":"Rita Suva","date":"November 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cJesus said to his disciples: \u2018Be watchful! Be alert!\u2026\u2019 \u201d Advent is a challenging time for Catholics. 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