Saving it for "special" occasions

I was listening to a song the other day about Grandma's crystal. Grandma had received some beautiful crystal glasses--12 in number, which sparkled so, but spent most put away in a box because they were sort of fragile, much too fragile for everyday use. When Grandma died they were passed on to the daughter, who left them packed up for 10 or more years, but when she finally unpacked them used them regularly, not just on special occasions. She had received 10 glasses (2 had been broken) and when she passed them on to her daughter there were only 4 left. But she had enjoyed them and their sparkle in the light, which Grandma only rarely did.

Brethren, what do we do with the abilities the Lord has given each of us? Do we save them only for special occasions, or do we use them every day? Some preachers just can't preach regularly for a small congregation. Are you only willing to help others when it: a) benefits you or b) you get praise and glory from it? There's not much "glory" preaching in small congregations and there can be many heartaches because of the immaturity of the brethren there, the lack of leadership, etc. You're not going to be asked to preach too many Gospel meetings, Lectureships, etc. but the Lord needs men in those situations too.

We bought some new bath towels before we finished our temporary house in St. Croix. Dana put them until we got finished because she didn't want to ruin them. We finally got to the point that all we lacked was 3 sheets of sheetrock for the bathroom ceiling, but before we could finish it Hurricane Marilyn came calling and I guess she needed towels because she took those brand new towels with her--she scattered a couple of them through the brush on our hill but we never found some of them. We decided we would never hold anything back again like that, because who knows what the future will bring.

What about you?

Tol