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Stop hiding your gifts and talents · Mosaic Sparks with Lesley George

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: What we do with what has been entrusted to us.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: So welcome, welcome back, sparklers, to Mosaic Sparks with me, Leslie George.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: And around here, we pay attention to stories that stay with us long after the screen dark.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them help us recognize the choices waiting in our own lives.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: So in the parable of the talents, a master entrusts portions of his money to three servants before leaving on a journey.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Two put what they receive to work, and each brings back more.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: The third digs a hole and finds and hides what he was given.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: When the master returns, the third servant gives him the original amount back.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: He can account for every bit of it.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: He also explained that he was afraid.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: In this parable, a talent was an amount of money.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus told a story about entrusted resources and what the servants did with them.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: We can reflect on what it means to steward our abilities while remembering what the story actually says.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: The servants' fare is part of the story.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: He kept the money where he could find it.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: That is the detail I kept coming back to.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because fear can give us a plan.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: It can tell us to wait until we have more experience, a better connection, a cleaner story, or a guarantee that nobody will criticize us.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: The plan can also sound responsible, especially when we have people dependent on us.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: Then years pass, and the gift is still waiting for its first opportunity to serve.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel's situation has an important difference.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: He is a child living under his family's rule.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: He didn't create the ban on music, and his family is not trying to hurt him.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Their rule grew from an old wound and an incomplete understanding of what happened.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: As Miguel follows his love of music, he begins to uncover the fuller family story.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think many of us understand the weight of a rule like that.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe nobody said directly to you, you may not use your gift.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: They said, keep your head down.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: They may even said, be grateful that you got into the room.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: What about don't tell everybody your business?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes those words came from people who had learned through painful experiences that being visible could carry a cost.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, for me, as I was growing up, I would always get in trouble for talking.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Leslie had great, great grades, but she was too talkative in class.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: That was on all my rapport cards.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: I would get in trouble because I grew up in many different schools across the world.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so in the Caribbean, we have something called a headmistress.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we had prefects, and the prefects were the chosen few in each class that were, they were, you know, they carried out certain rules of the school.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I had prefects that were my friends, but I would get in trouble that my prefect friends would have to carry me to the headmistress office.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And up until I was probably about 16, because I graduated high school at 16.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So up until I was about 16, I remember times where I would be standing outside the office.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that was part of the punishment.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: The punishment was they took you to the prefect's office, and I'm sorry, they took you to the headmistress's office, and she would, you know, whatever she needed to do, but you would now stand outside for the rest of the day.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: I remember going through that many days.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I say that to say, isn't it ironic that now I have a podcast?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Not only am I on this podcast with all of you, Sparklers, but I also, as I've shared the different interviews I've been on, is I've been on other people's podcasts.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: So the same gift that I had for talking too much is now the gift that I use to multiply.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's kind of where I want us to talk about is I really want us to think of that idea of the multiplication.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because remember, the one server thought he was doing a great thing by hiding and keeping that talent in the ground until when the master came back.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: But the other two, they were able to multiply it.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And how are we using our talents and our skills and our gifts that has been given to us?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's been entrusted with us to us.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: How are we using that to multiply and help impact the world?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so we can honor what they survive and still examine what we are carrying forward.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: A warning that helps someone endure one chapter of life may need to be reconsidered in ours.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like I said, you know, I was told I talked too much.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: And for a long time that sounded like something I needed to fix, right?
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as I mentioned, I make a living using my voice, speaking, publishing, helping women use theirs.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the ability was there before I understood what to do with it.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to learn how to develop it, how to listen as well as speak, and where my voice could be useful.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: That is one reason Miguel's story reaches me, because he does not suddenly become a musician when someone approves of him.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's been practicing all along.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: The talent is already being developed, even while he keeps it hidden.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: And there's another part of Coco that makes this pairing meaningful.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel wants to follow his musical dream and he also loves his family.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: As the story unfolds, he learns more about the people who came before him.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: By the time he returns home and sings, he remembers me to Mama Coco.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Music has become a way to teach someone he loves.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: That scene gives us a picture of impact that has nothing to do with the size of an audience.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel uses his voice with one person in one room at the moment when it matters.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Here in Mosaic Sparks, we bring Disney picks our stories and characters into everyday leadership lens, and we look at the choices they make, the beliefs they inherit, and the moments that ask them to grow.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Then we bring the story home because leadership shows up in our families, shows up at work in our communities, and in the promises that we make to ourselves.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: So here's a question I want you to sit with.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: What gift have you been protecting for so long that the people who can benefit from it have never had a chance to experience it?
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: You may already know what came to mind.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: It might be the book you kept outlining but have never begun.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: It might be your ability to lead a conversation that everyone else avoids.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: What about the skill that you use freely for friends, though you hesitate to put it into a workshop, a proposal, or a business?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: It might be your story and the care you could bring to telling it.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is not to put every private part of your life on display.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we need time, care, and boundaries.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: The question is whether fair has made all your decisions for you, including decisions about a gift you are ready to use.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is where the brag becomes very practical because brag means to be responsible for amplifying God's gifts in you.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Responsibility begins with recognizing what is there, and it grows through action.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I teach five practices that help us do that.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Recognize the gift, record the proof, respect its value, raise your voice, and reach back.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now I recognize the gift where Miguel knew music mattered to him.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: He paid attention to it and he kept learning.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the abilities people constantly come to you for, the work that holds your attention and the contribution you want to develop further.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Name it, give it a name.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: A gift you can name becomes easily to nurture with intention.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now record the gift.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel practice.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: You may have proof in a different form.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: A person who helped, a project you completed, a room that you led, or an idea that worked, or a hard season you navigated with care.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: What about writing that down?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: Memory gets selective when we fear, when fear starts talking, and a record helps you see what you have already done.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Respect its value.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: There is an effect when you contribute something useful.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it changes a business.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: It can change one person's afternoon.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel's song to Mama Coco reminds me that reach and impact are different.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Respecting a gift means giving it the preparation, the boundaries, and the attention that it deserves.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now raise your voice.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Tell someone what you can do.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: Submit that proposal.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: What about asking to lead a session or share the work that you have been developing?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Raise your voice, may feel uncomfortable.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, do I understand that?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Especially if you learned that being quiet kept the peace.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: You can take a thoughtful step without waiting for every trace of discomfort to disappear.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now reach back.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: Use what you have learned to make a path easier for someone else.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: Teach the person who is starting.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Share resources.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Tell an honest story that helps another woman see the possibility for her own life.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: The gift reaches further when other people can grow from what you've carried.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now I want to be careful with the word multiply.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: It can make it make people think that I'm asking them to work every hour, turn every skill into a product, or prove their worth through constant output.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's not the invitation that I'm making here.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: A gift can grow because you practice it, its impact can grow because you share it at the right time.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it can grow again when someone you help uses what they learn to help another person.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: You are allowed to rest.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: I am a huge napper.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: But while you are allowed to rest while you develop what has been entrusted to you.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: I also want to acknowledge that some people have real reasons to move carefully.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Families, workplaces, and communities do not all welcome a new voice in the same way.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel's family carried pain.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: And the story becomes richer when we see that.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Responsibility, responsible action calls for wisdom.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: It may begin with one entrusted person, one well-prepared conversation, or one small opportunity you can build on.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: What I don't want for you is a life where fair gets to make every decision.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Think about the servant who buried the money.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: He had an explanation ready when the master returned.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: He could point to the place where he had kept it fair, had convinced him that keep it untouched, keeping it untouched was enough.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now think of Miguel returning home to Mama Coco with a song.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Together, they help me think about the distance between possessing something valuable and putting it to use.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Miguel's music reach a person he loves because in that moment he let her hear it.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: That is the action I want to leave with you for this week.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Choose one gift you have been developing quietly.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Look at the proof that you are ready to take a step, then choose one person or place that could benefit from it.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: Offer the idea.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: Make the call and share the draft.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: What about starting that conversation and let the step be specific enough that you can do it this week?
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: Your gift may not have been waiting behind a family rule or some kind of past disappointment or a long habit of putting yourself last.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: You can treat that history with compassion while deciding what happens next.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: The people who taught you to be careful may have loved you deeply, and you can carry that love with you as you learn to use your voice.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is what Bragg teaches.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Recognize what God had placed in you.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: Take responsibility for developing it and allow it to serve beyond you.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: That is how a gift becomes begins to multiply.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: So, sparklers, thank you for joining me today on Mosaic Sparks with me, Leslie George.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: And until next time, pay attention to the spark and give it somewhere to grow.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I will see you back next week for another episode right here on Mosaic Sparks.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: In the meantime, please leave us a review.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Share this episode with someone that you feel would benefit it, or even go back into the catalog and share another episode with someone that you love and care about.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Share, leave us a five star review so that we can continue multiplying to others that may need to hear this message.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: So until next time, bye for now.