Playing Our Positions
Written by Cara Coleman of The Front Porch Ramblings

If you haven’t had a chance to watch 4 year olds play t-ball I highly suggest doing so at some point. There is really nothing quite cuter than a tiny kiddo in baseball pants that are 2 sizes too big and a helmet that makes them look like a little bobble head running around. Every little boy would step up to the plate but wouldn’t dare swing the bat before yelling, “Momma, are you watching me?” Melted every heart every time.

One thing that didn’t go unnoticed was the players abilities to play every position…every time. For example, someone from the opposing team would hit the ball (I use that term loosely) and within seconds the whole team would be in a dog pile fighting for that baseball. I take that back. There were a few kids that were slightly distracted by the dirt castle they had been diligently working on for 7 innings and that one kid who was chasing the butterfly. But you get the picture. No one played his position. Now I completely understand we are talking about 4 year old here. But I learned an important lesson that day. To play my position and play it well.

I couldn’t help but wonder what that looked like for us ladies. I know that within each one of us is a God given gift. They look very different from one another but we have them. We are great cooks, writers, teachers, encouragers and the list goes on and on. And in my eyes those gifts began to look more like appointed positions that the Lord has given us to play. But what often happens is we get distracted because someone else’s position looks more fun. So we leave our spot on the field and run over and try to be the first baseman too. Or the short stop may be getting more action so we want to run over and be the short stop as well. We may be like the kid who just sits down in the dirt and doesn’t even want to participate in the game. (Lets hope not though). You get the point, right?!

The team never functions as it should because everyone is leaving the position they excel at to be a little of everyone else’s.

I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. I am the first to say “yes” to any and every opportunity to volunteer my time, minister to others through bible study or fill a role in some committee. While they are all great things to be involved in and worthy of my time, I feel complete burn out and a little bitterness halfway through the experience. Why? Because I cannot play all of those positions and play them well. I began to realize that my “Yes” was probably taking someone else’s position from them. But we do this over and over don’t we? It makes us feel so important.

I have a feeling we all know what our given position is. It’s that thing that stirs your heart. It’s that thing that your mind wonders to when at rest. That’s the place where we should spend the majority of our time and be giving our best efforts.

So lets hike up those baseball pants, throw our hair in a ponytail on top or our head, get our glove and head out on that field to play our position and cheer all of our teammates on as they play their positions too.

Cara Coleman was born and raised a delta girl but now lives in Mountain Home with her husband and two sweet munchkins, Whitten and Ford. She enjoys the Razorbacks, fashion, the outdoors and bringing awareness to mission opportunities around the state.
You can catch me at http://www.thefrontporchramblings.net rambling on about His goodness in my life.