"How can I make a difference?" women often ask. "I have no special talent. I am just an ordinary person. I am not a pastor, nor have I had any training in how to spread the Word of God."

So with that thought in mind, things are left for others to do. But God wants each of His children to serve. Each one has a gift and, whatever the gift might be, it has been given to serve others (see 1 Corinthians 12). All gifts and talents are equally important, not just the most outstanding or noticeable ones. Christ shed His blood to wash us clean of sin so we can be used-flawed and ordinary as we are-to serve in His kingdom.

The Bible gives us many examples of how God uses ordinary, imperfect people to carry out His work. Peter was a fisherman, unschooled and with a terrible temper. God used him as a great leader of the church. In 2 Kings 5 God used a lady's maid so ordinary her name is not even recorded. This girl's faith lead Naaman, a great leader at that time, to be healed of leprosy and to find the one true God.

I know a 90-year-old woman who writes letters and sends cards to all the missionaries in her church. She is an ordinary woman who keeps people updated on things going on at home and gives constant encouragement. I have a friend who is a handyman, an ordinary man with the talent to smile and offer help to anyone who needs it. On Sundays he offers a loving hand of welcome and friendship to visitors.

I am an ordinary wife, mother and retired preschool teacher who barely passed my college English classes. But I ended up in Japan teaching English in a mission outreach program. For years I have painted as a hobby; I painted for my preschool children and made cards for friends. Last year God used me again in Japan for an art exhibition for the mission outreach program. Strangers who might have been afraid to come into church came for the art show.

If you feel hesitant about serving God as an "ordinary" woman, remember that God created you to be uniquely you, and God will lead you to areas of service that are just right for you. Your hands shaped me and made me (Job10:8). We all have been created with different gifts, abilities and experiences that can be used. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:1).

Let us not bury our talent in self-doubt, but rather use what has been given us to serve others and to glorify our Lord and Savior.

Sharon Murphy, from Hilo, Hawaii, is a member of Christ Lutheran Church. She taught ESL classes in Sendai, Japan for two years.