Sharing your knowledge and learning from others

What do you do when you get together with friends?  Do you meet for coffee?  Do you drink an iced tea at your kitchen table while watching your kids play and talking about your favorite homeschooling curriculum?  Do you go for walks?  Or maybe you do really exciting things like camping, travel, or seeing fantastic concerts.

Have you ever thought about how you and your friends could bless and encourage each other by teaching each other?  Think about this:  God has blessed each of us with our own unique talents and abilities.  Some people are born organizers.  Others are meal-planning pros.  Some people have a knack for fixing and maintaining cars.  Others have an eye for design and decorating.  Still others have a gift for working with their hands, like sewing, crocheting or gardening.  What else do your friends know a lot about?  Music?  Writing? Art?  History?  Science?  What subjects do they have a lot of knowledge about?

Think about your group of friends.  Now consider the things that each of them does well, or knows a lot about.  In my case, I have a friend who is much more musically talented than I am.  My mom and mother-in-law are both homemaking pros, and I gain much insight and information from them on cooking, cleaning, being a wife, and preparing for future pregnancy and motherhood.  I have several friends who are really excellent writers.  I even have friends who I don't know in person who share information on their blogs that's really helpful to me, in the areas of cooking, homemaking, natural living, and marriage.

Now consider yourself.  What talents do you have that you could use to bless others?  Perhaps it's hard for you to think about that objectively.  Ask your husband or a close friend for suggestions.  Perhaps you're a pro at saving money grocery shopping.  Maybe you have a knack for growing things.  Is your bathroom perfectly spotless and organized?  Do you have a great method for organizing your kitchen?  Are your kids always well-entertained on car trips because you know how to prepare?

Take that information and use it to bless those around you.  Become a teacher and a student at the same time!  Next time you're with a friend, use that time to share your knowledge with each other.  Plan ahead and ask her to show you how to do something you've been wanting to know, like baking homemade bread, for example.  Then offer to teach her something you know how to do, like embroidering a dishtowel or canning strawberry jam.  Or you could share knowledge on less tangible things:  tell your friend about what you learned earning an English major in college, and ask her to explain to you how a pipe organ works (or whatever).

We all have strengths in various areas of experience and knowledge.  It would be wonderful if we learned from one another, and how much more fun to learn from a friend!

Have you ever taught a friend something new?  What's one thing you've learned from someone else who was knowledgeable about it or good at it?  What talents and knowledge do you possess that you could share with others?