Sunday, January 23, 2011

How Does She Know You Love Her?

My future husband will take cues from this Enchanted clip:



;)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Spiritual Gifts: the gift of administration and how to administer it.

I just took my Spiritual Gifts Assessment and as usual I got the gift of Administration.  Just what I needed; another person to tell me that I am an OCD, perfectionist, control freak who likes telling other people what to do, or better yet, just getting it done myself so that it gets done "the right way."

Well, as you may discern from my tone, I wasn't too excited about my results.  I have probably taken a handful of SG tests within the last few years, for one reason or another, but this time was different because I anticipated and prayed about it in advance and really thought through my responses.  So when I received this result I was somewhat unsatisfied to have seemingly wasted my time...

Then this thought crossed my mind; it is a great thing that I have this consistency in my results, and it is a wakeup call to me since I have obviously not been using it!  So now I am pondering where I can use my gift of administration within (or outside of) the Body so that I can give back what has been given to me.

The results had this to say about those with the facilitating gift of Administration:
"You have the special ability to strategize a plan of action from goals to completion. You like tasks that can be measured and derive satisfaction in seeing your work done well. You are able to identify and communicate key components of a project, breaking out and prioritizing tasks for optimum efficiency. You are not easily distracted and can focus attention on objectives as you patiently facilitate the daily work and details. Others may have the idea, but you are the one who can make it happen."

My first reaction is to think office work.  Can I help in the offices or with any kind of paper-pushing/organizing if it will help others who are not equipped to do that?  I cannot lie...that idea does not sound thrilling.  My second thought is that I should be organizing events, and that would be exciting except that my abhorrence for people who commit to things, and consequently flake out, drives me to madness and has deterred me from heading up event committees.  What then shall I do?  I am leading a small group, I am working in a job where my ideas and suggestions are [or hopefully soon will become] valued and recognized, and I feel like I conduct my life like a business in the sense that I am extremely organized and methodical almost to the point of insanity when it comes to maintaining certain routines and rituals.  I don't know where to jump in and begin to use this better.

Do I continue being people's mom and telling them what to do?  Shall I nag and direct them to what I think might be best, even if the recipient does not agree?  Maybe the reason why I am perceiving this so negatively is because for most of my life I have been told that this "gift" is not a gift but rather something that annoys people.  My eye for detail and my steadfastness when it comes to upholding commitments and practices has often made people see me as unapproachable, critical or judgmental.  But something that is a God-given gift is never a bad thing, and therein lies my struggle; to see it as such and to exploit it for Kingdom work.

Anyone have any suggestions?

"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration..." (1 Corinthians 12:27-28 NIV)

Friday, January 21, 2011

February is coming! (I don't really love February, I just really don't like January and I'm glad that it's almost over)

I think that for February I am going to do a lot of biographies.  Maybe that's the wrong wording... I am going to do character analysis/character evaluations.  On my blog!  Lol...watch out all you who interact with me!  :P

Thursday, January 13, 2011

"God speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world" --C.S. Lewis

Today was a first-in-a-long-time that I have been waiting for, for a long time.  You know the uncertainty involved when you ask God for something to be revealed, or you ask for His Spirit as you embark on something you wouldn't otherwise be able to do, or when you ask God to reassure you of a decision you've made?  Well I was in a combination of all three of those things this morning, and by the afternoon it was clear as day what God was showing me, and it was beautiful.


When people write like this I have a tendency to either roll my eyes or else sigh in hopes that one day I could feel that sure of something.  But today it happened for me.


;)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Monday morning came too soon, it's entering my forgotten room

I am definitely having Study Time ADD right now... I can't focus on my slides, so why not write in the blogger?


Last night was pretty great, in the simplest of ways, and I feel great about the things happening in my life.  I truly do love having Debbie here as a roommate because not only does she provide a great outlet and a shoulder to cry on, but I am learning from her (I bet you don't even know it, Deb!) and by us growing closer it is also helping me to feel more comfortable and close to Erin, my roommate of 6 months.  I now enjoy having "the boys" over every night, and I'm learning to do this college kid life a lot better.  Um...a few points from last night: 1) Chinese takeout is awesome; always has been, always will be 2) Everyone needs a Mama bear (and Papa bear, and Boyfriend bear) to make sure you are making right, safe decisions in life 3) Burning firewood smells really good 4) Taylor Swift might be too pretty and good-at-everything for her own good 5) Hippophobia (Don't Say Hippos) = fear of horses 6)God is great and provides the best peace, not the world's peace.


And with that, I give you the best relationship advice ever given to girls, from hunky men:

Sunday, January 9, 2011

You can't see the Forest through the Trees

Umm..hello 2011.  I guess you didn't hear me when I asked you to be gentle.  But in a way, I suppose I'm already at work on those resolutions?


God has an awful sense of humor.  He has an amazing way of humbling me and putting things in perspective.  Things that mattered to me 48 hours ago do not matter to me anymore.  


Breathe in  Breathe out




Psalm 34
"17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; 
   he delivers them from all their troubles. 
18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
   and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 The righteous person may have many troubles,
   but the LORD delivers him from them all; 

20 he protects all his bones,
   not one of them will be broken."








Thursday, January 6, 2011

In All My Dreams It's Never Quite As It Seems

So, today I bought my first full-year planner, thanks to Debbie.  (Debbie, my new roommate!)  I started filling it out with my upcoming plans for the month, and maybe February and March, but when I ran out of immediate events I started doing the usual fill in of all my family and friend birthdays that I must remember, along with anniversaries, memorable observation days, and anything else that I can already peg long-term.  Then something bizarre happened... I got sick to my stomach and really sad and uncomfortable doing it.  I flipped to October 24th, to write in "Dad's 61st!", but with trembling hands.  I flipped to July to fill in for my mom's birthday as well, and I accidentally, absent-mindedly wrote "Mom's 23rd!"...err...56th?  I had the most uneasy feeling about it and I think it was because I am scared they won't make it.  This doesn't make any rational sense, because they are both fairly healthy, but I had the worst pit in my stomach thinking that they would be dead and that these birthday prophecies would not come true.  Don't even get me started on anniversaries and such...

I have only felt this feeling one other time that I can remember...kind of.  I relate it to the feeling I have when I'm driving.  I have only ever been in two car "accidents," one of which was more of a fender bender and the other was the legitimate accident that wrecked my baby from behind.  I have never been T-boned and I have never totaled my car, but for some reason I feel like it's imminent.  It's coming.  I feel it when I pull up to intersections and when I turn left on a left-turn-yields.  I feel it when I'm pulling out of parking spaces and I feel it when I drive through small side streets.  With the rate of drunk driving and now text-driving I am scared at how much of a real possibility this is, unlike the aforementioned family-birthday-fears.  It's not the normal nervousness that people feel when driving in risky situations, it is like I-know-this-is-going-to-happen-to-me-one-day.  Sometimes it's enough to keep me inside for the day; it gets overwhelming.  A more spiritual person might say that's a guardian angel telling me not to drive...but that's not necessarily the kind of thing I buy into.  God has protected me thus far, but I know plenty of well-meaning innocent Christian lives that have been taken by car crash and I don't feel any safety aside from the fact that I know where I'm going after the pain is over.  I realize this is incredibly morbid, but if I'm spending the night inside feeling bad about it I thought I'd at least vent online.  Lol.

Cheers...DNR!
 
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