The call to stewardship looks different for everyone

Each one of us represents a different color in God’s perfect painting. It takes each one of us using our gifts and talents to fulfill God’s plan for our lives. I am not an artist, so think of a giant color-by-numbers painting. The picture is not complete unless all the colors are filled in, making each one of us equally important.  
Since everyone is blessed with such different gifts and talents, how can we all be equally called to stewardship? Stewardship looks different for each of us because God made each of us unique. He blessed each of us with the perfect amount of each gift and talent to fulfill His purpose in our life. The Bible tells us that we are called to share proportionate to our blessings. The story of the poor widow’s mite or the parable of the talents are perfect examples of how it pleases God when we give proportionate to the gifts He entrusted to us. The Bible gives us numerous examples of how we are called to give proportionately.
“As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” — 1 Peter 4:10
Have you experienced Vacation Bible School at your parish? There are numbers ways to help with VBS. No, not everyone is blessed with the gentleness or patience required to work with or lead a group of young children. However, I bet there are many opportunities to help that don’t even require interaction with children. Preparing snacks for children, donating snacks for volunteers or preparing crafts from your home are all ways to use your gifts and talents and help make VBS a success.   
If a typical Sunday Mass was a color-by-number picture, how many different color numbers would you need to represent each gift that is shared? Whether we are serving at the altar, singing, greeting fellow parishioners as they enter the church, taking up the collection, bringing up the gifts or participating in the Mass as part of the congregation, every one of us adds to the celebration in a special way. In addition to the many ways to serve at Mass, take a look at the list of ministries at your parish. Chances are good that you have a gift or talent that is needed by one of these ministries. 
It can be difficult to recognize our gifts and talents. It can be more difficult to share them with everyone we encounter. God is the perfect artist. His plan for our life is beautiful. It is our job to have faith, listen, and trust in the Lord to fulfill His purpose in our life. 
“All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.” — James 1:17
— Shannon Roh is the Executive Director of the Office of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Mobile.