003: WHO DO YOU WANT TO SERVE?

-Did you know that we are all blessed with spiritual gifts? Did you also know that we should be using these gifts to serve others? It's true! Just ask my boy, Paul. He writes all about it in Romans 12: 4-6. You may find your gift through teaching, healing, missionary work, hospitality, knowledge, mercy, leadership or a handful of other ways. A spiritual gift is a God-given ability, distributed to Christians through the Holy Spirit. We are to use them to help others see Jesus through our works. They often work hand-in-hand with our natural talents. For example, my spiritual gift is encouragement being expressed through the vehicle of artistic talent.

For me, these gifts took years to recognize and I am still such a beautiful hot-mess-work-in-progress. I just know that the stronger I become in my faith, the stronger these gifts grow. In retrospect, it really is an amazing thing to watch unfold. My encouraging/artistic combo is what has lead me to write a children's book. It has helped me identify whom I am best equip to serve. In the world of sales, this can be translated into "Who Is Your Target Market". It doesn't really give you the warm fuzzies, does it? And in all fairness, I use that term when developing a brand for my accounts. It is simply asking, "Who are you trying to sell your product to?" From a business standpoint, you can find the answer to this question by asking the following 3 questions:

1. What problem does your product or service solve?  Does it help calm an anxious pet? Does it make women feel beautiful? Does it help organizations garner more publicity?
2. Who is most likely to have this problem? This is where you start breaking down who you should be focusing your marketing efforts on. Is it individuals, businesses or families?
   
3. Are there different groups with different needs? There may be various market segments based on how they use your product or service. For example, a sporting goods store may help young families choose safe hockey equipment. Meanwhile a 60-something retiree may want advice on the latest white sneakers for speed walking with her lady friends. #lifegoals

From there you would break it down even further and get specific about what your product does and who typically needs help in that area of life. But when we are talking about a target market for your spiritual gifts, things look slightly different. You need to ask yourself, what has God clearly blessed me with and who am I drawn to help.

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Finding Your People

Let's break this down into 3 steps

1. Identify your spiritual gift and your top 5 natural talents. As I stated earlier, my spiritual gift is encouragement. I love lifting people up and helping them see the positive side of things. (Note: Pessimists do not see this as a gift. But I am not a people pleaser, I am an encourager and there is a major difference. So, to all of the positive people in the world... you do you!) My top natural talents are: creativity, sensitivity, my artistic skillsets, a love for writing and I am a world-class hugger. Take a few minutes and evaluate yourself in this way. If nothing else, it a wonderful way to boost your moral for the day.
2. Who are you drawn to help? Are you the awesomely strange lady who makes conversation with 3 year olds at Target? Do you love going to your grandmother's house to drink coffee and hear all about her favorite memories? Are you in the medical field? Are you a teacher? Do you love empowering women to follow their dreams? How you spend your time and who you spend it with can speak volumes about who God is nudging you to serve. Personally, I am the strange lady at Target making friends with toddlers. I am also drawn to families when they are going through something very difficult. I want to write them cards, paint them pictures and burn them CDs with inspiring tunes. (I am devastated that CDs are being phased out of our world. They are my love language.)
3. Get more specific about this group, or groups of people. Is your future tribe made up of a certain demographic? Meaning are they defined in terms of gender, age, income level, education level or marital status? Or perhaps they are best categorized by their internal attitude and values. Maybe you can can narrow it down further by what life stage they are in, whether it is post-college, retirement, young parents, newly weds or children. 

Once you piece all of these elements together, you should be armed with a pretty clear understanding of who you should be serving with your spiritual gifts. You can now begin to create a life that allows for you to use your gifts to help others. Don't' look at it as yet another thing to do on your list. Look at it as a way to fulfill God's plan for you!

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Recently, I sat down with an extremely successful author/illustrator and we looked at my children's book in the big picture of life. Marianne Richmond encouraged me to really establish my target market for this book. She also challenged me to consider, "What is the purpose for this book?"
I explained to her that the past 2 years of my life have been spent heavily involved in a nonprofit organization. The INDY Foundation has introduced me to an abundance of families battling cancer. I want to equip these parents with a book that calms the heart of their little one after receiving a scary diagnosis. The library is full of books on this topic, but there are few that are done well (they often feel quite cold and disconnected).  I am going to use my spiritual gift to fill that gap with a picture book that is both encouraging and beautiful. 

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MY BOOK IS WRITTEN FOR:

• Young Christian Families Facing a Serious Diagnosis (Not Specific to Cancer)

WHY WOULD IT BE HELPFUL FOR THEM:​

• When a child, or their parent, is diagnosed with a serious health concern, there are so many questions and anxieties. The hope for this book is to help them lean not on their own understanding but to trust in the Lord and His angel army for comfort.

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I know this is where God wants me to be and that is an incredible feeling. I hope you are able to find your own spiritual gift and your "target market" to make the world a better place. God made you YOU for a reason. 

Grace + Peace,
​Kate

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