Who Challenges Me?

Series: Mentors Who Changed Me
Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Who challenges you to use the gifts you have been given?

I have been reading A Year with American Saints by G. Scott Cady and Christopher L. Webber. The person featured for August 18 is Jacob Abbott, and I found myself identifying with him.

Abbott was born in 1803. He studied for the ministry at Andover Theological Seminary from 1821 to 1824. He became a professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at Amherst College and was licensed to preach in 1826.

But Abbott did not spend his entire life doing just one thing.

He became involved in education and founded the Mount Vernon School for Young Ladies in 1829. Later, he was involved in establishing a school for boys. He was a teacher, minister, educator, and eventually a remarkably prolific writer.

That is where I began to see something of myself in his story.

Abbott had many interests. He tried different things. His life did not follow one straight occupational path. Yet his greatest contribution came through writing. He wrote approximately 180 books and coauthored many more. He wrote juvenile fiction, histories, biographies, and religious works for general readers. Among his best-known works were the Rollo books, along with the Lucy, Jonas, and Marco books.

His life challenges me because I, too, have tried many things.

I have been a minister, teacher, administrator, accountant, and student. I have spent much of my life asking questions, learning, teaching, serving, and searching for understanding. And now I find myself writing.

Perhaps those different paths were not wasted time.

Maybe the experiences we gather along the journey become part of what we eventually have to offer.

I believe God gives us talents and gifts because they are meant to be used. We may not always recognize immediately how they fit together. Sometimes we may even wonder why our journey has taken so many turns.

Jacob Abbott reminds me that a varied life does not necessarily mean an unfocused life.

Sometimes one experience prepares us for another.

Sometimes teaching prepares us for writing. Sometimes ministry teaches us how to listen. Sometimes education teaches us how to question. Sometimes the many roads we have traveled give us stories worth telling.

And perhaps the question is not simply, “What am I supposed to be?”

Perhaps a better question is:

“What gifts has God given me, and how can I use them now?”

At this stage of my pilgrimage, that question challenges me.

And I intend to keep asking it.