Strengths

One of the great things about this year is that it is a time to focus on myself. I am in an environment that encourages growth and I get to do cool things like take personality tests to learn a little more about myself and how my strengths/weaknesses function and work with others strengths and weaknesses.  We did a personality test awhile ago now. I am not sure its official name but the book (which you can buy at Wal-mart) is called Strength Finder. In addition to it giving you a link to take a personality test, it also talks about strengths.

The book discusses how much better people thrive in life and in their jobs when their strengths are being focused on. People do well and grow when they are able to do a job that suites what you are naturally gifted toward--even your weaknesses become stronger when you are focusing on your strengths. How true this I have found this to be in my own life.

I have been thinking about strengths a lot since returning from Christmas break. I am living in a house full of messy people. The youth here are troubled. The Bigs all have their issues as well, myself included. As I look at my co-workers, I truly love each and every one of them and can list off several strengths they have and all they add to the house. At the same time, I can look at them and see their flaws and the areas where they could grow. However, even with their flaws, I think...They are so beautiful! So and So is so incredible. WOW. I believe this is the first time in my life where I have been able to be really honest about another person's weaknesses/flaws/whatever you want to call it and be overwhelmed by the beauty in that person and appreciate them, flaws and all. 

This is probably the first time in my life as well that I can actually see how God can look at me, with my weaknesses, and see a beautiful person that He just loves. I am starting to understand this concept at a heart level. I have known it in my head for awhile--but I am grasping this a much deeper level. The Lord has been working on this for years--I am a little dense at time...but I feel like I am starting to grasp it. It's exciting stuff.

I have thinking a lot about the Littles and their strengths. In general, I don't believe that I have that gift to really see people for their full potential. I do to a certain degree. If I didn't, then teaching would be extremely discouraging. However, it is something I really work at and consistently seek the Lord about for revelation on. Here it can be easy to just look at the Littles and see their weaknesses. The Lord has been challenging me to consider if I am encouraging them in their strengths. Yes, I do a lot of things to help them grow in areas of weakness, but I am equally if not more so encouraging them in their strengths? Do I even see their strengths? I don't like the answer I get to these questions. I have really been seeking the Lord and asking Him to help me to see those strengths He has placed in each Little and to encourage them in those things more.

In case you are curious, I just found the e-mail I received after taking the personality test telling me my top 5 strengths. Each strength includes a short description below it. There are 32 different possible strengths. The book describes all 32 strengths. This test pretty much nailed me. Below are my top five strengths according to the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test.

Achiever

Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about yourself. And by "every day" you mean every single day--workdays, weekends, vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself, forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.

Responsibility

Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. When assigning new responsibilities, people will look to you first because they know it will get done. When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.

Consistency 

Balance is important to you. You are keenly aware of the need to treat people the same, no matter what their station in life, so you do not want to see the scales tipped too far in any one person’s favor. In your view this leads to selfishness and individualism. It leads to a world where some people gain an unfair advantage because of their connections or their background or their greasing of the wheels. This is truly offensive to you. You see yourself as a guardian against it. In direct contrast to this world of special favors, you believe that people function best in a consistent environment where the rules are clear and are applied to everyone equally. This is an environment where people know what is expected. It is predictable and evenhanded. It is fair. Here each person has an even chance to show his or her worth.

Learner

You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject, you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”

Arranger

You are a conductor. When faced with a complex situation involving many factors, you enjoy managing all of the variables, aligning and realigning them until you are sure you have arranged them in the most productive configuration possible. In your mind there is nothing special about what you are doing. You are simply trying to figure out the best way to get things done. But others, lacking this theme, will be in awe of your ability. “How can you keep so many things in your head at once?” they will ask. “How can you stay so flexible, so willing to shelve well-laid plans in favor of some brand-new configuration that has just occurred to you?” But you cannot imagine behaving in any other way. You are a shining example of effective flexibility, whether you are changing travel schedules at the last minute because a better fare has popped up or mulling over just the right combination of people and resources to accomplish a new project. From the mundane to the complex, you are always looking for the perfect configuration. Of course, you are at your best in dynamic situations. Confronted with the unexpected, some complain that plans devised with such care cannot be changed, while others take refuge in the existing rules or procedures. You don’t do either. Instead, you jump into the confusion, devising new options, hunting for new paths of least resistance, and figuring out new partnerships—because, after all, there might just be a better way.

We all have our strengths. These are some of mine. My strengths can com alongside another person's weaknesses and visa verse. That is why there is a body of Christ--we need each other. Together, when we are working alongside each other in love, the body functions well. It doesn't work so well when we try to do it all ourselves, fail to see our need for others, or fail to see others need for us. Are you walking in your strength? Are sharing your talents with others? I you allowing others to meet your weaknesses with their strengths? All good contemplations.

Awesome Day

WARNING: This is extra-long, but I felt it necessary to even try to capture all the cool ways God has blessed me today. If you don’t have time for the long version—just read the highlighted stuff and you’ll get the gist!

Today was a blessing from the Lord. Normally once the kids go off to school, we have class until noon. Today, once the kids were dropped off at school (8:30 am) we had off until 2:30! A huge blessing.

I have been sick basically since Christmas Eve. I was only a little sick for my visit to San Antonia, but by the time I returned to Branson on the 30^th I was really feeling bad. I finally went to the doctor on January 2^nd, but she just told me I had major drainage and to keep taking over the counter meds (Mucinex, Claratin, and Head Cold Congestion). I was glad a I went because I would have never taken all three at once. I would have thought the drug overload. Anyhow, she also gave me a prescription for an antibiotic just in case I wasn’t feeling better after a couple of days. Two days after visiting the doctor, I felt terrible. Every morning when I woke up my left eye would have eye junk all in it. On Monday it was really bad and it was hard to open my eyes, I was coughing like crazy and it hurt my head and my throat and my right ear. Anyhow, as soon as I had free time (1:30 pm) I went and filled my anti-biotic. All of this is just to give a clear picture of how even the timing of this day off was such a blessing. Today, is the first day since Christmas Eve, that I have had energy and felt good! So I used my time off to get done a lot of the task I didn’t get done over break because all of my off time was spent sleeping.

Then Chelsie, fellow big, texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Panera for an hour or so after lunch. Yes! I love one-on-one time with people and it blesses me even more when it is initiated by the other person. So it was just fun to be able to talk with her and catch up with her and all that good stuff.

On of our Littles, I will call her “Joy”, had a doctors appointment in Rodgers, AR (2 hours away). I volunteered to take and we had to leave at 2:30 pm. Basically, at 2:30 Joy and I get in the Uplander and head out. Four gas stations and 2 ½ hours later we arrive at the doctor’s—not bad considering we sort of stopped following the Mapquest (not by choice but because that is what sometimes happens when directionally challenged Amber drives).

After the doctor, Joy and I stop at Subway for dinner. A treat! We ate inside before starting our trek back to Branson—this time hoping to follow the Mapquest directions and cut a half hour off our travel time. Oh yeah, the drive to the doctor put it so that we only had ¼ tank of gas. Soo I am pulling into every Connoco/Philips gas station we are passing to see if they take a Fuelman card. By the way, the drive down to Rogers is a beautiful drive (even in winter) on curvy roads in the hills/mountains.

Anyhow, not too far into the trip we get behind a truck whose average speed was 25 mph—obviously a driver who is not used to hilly, curvy roads! What can you do? You cannot pass, so I just casually follow him. After a while, Joy and I start joking and coming up with reasons why they might be driving slow. Then we pass a sign that is advertising a McDonald’s in 6 miles. At this point I pray out loud that God would cause this driver to be hungry, or need to use the restroom, or need gas in his car. Anything, to get him to pull over so we can pass him and hopefully make it home in 2 ½ hours and not 5! Also, about 10 to 15 miles at this slow speed just feels like forever. There is an Exxon right before the Mc Donald’s and I quickly pull into it to see if they take Fuelman. They don’t so I drive right on through and get back on the road. Joy and I are surprised that we did not quickly catch up with the truck as it was a 30 second delay max. We soon realize we are on 187, not 62! However, we did get to see Beaver Dam in the pitch black so I guess it wasn’t a completely wasted effort. Thankfully the road eventually looped back to 62, only it looped back to a part we had already traveled on (about 10 miles back!) What can we do. Oh well, we figured at least we weren’t going 25 behind the truck. We figured in the end we didn’t loose any time and how could we not be near Beaver Dam and not visit (did you hear the sarcasm?).

Anyhow, after our 187 detour we get back on track and I accept that Arkansas doesn’t have Fuelman and just put $10 of my own money in the tank. Once we get back on the road, Joy and I laugh it off and start trying to figure out what the Lord has to teach us in all of this. Since I had prayed the Lord would take the truck on a detour and instead we were the once sent on the detour, we decided the moral of the story is: God always answers our prayers (we were no longer behind the slow truck), just now always how we think He should!

Long story shorter—we never did find the Mapquest route back, but returned home via the same route we came: 65 South to 412 West to 62. Therefore, returning home we needed 62 to 412 East to 65 North. We found 412 East, no problem. Shortly after getting on this road we start seeing signs that say 412E/65S. What!?! This is a contradiction. Aigoo! Not sure what to do, I stay on it because going to Arkansas we were on 412 for an hour or so. After continuing to see these contradicting signs for a time and passing through Harrison and recognizing things we pass when we got to the K-Life Barn swing (even though we didn’t pass through Harrison on our way to Arkansas)—we stop at yet another gas station for direction clarification. We were off track. We turned around and followed the signs for 65N. So we get on track once again, find a gas station that accepts Fuelman and fill up, and return to property right at 9:30—11 gas stations, 2 detours, lots of laughing, good conversation, and a 7 hours later.

Despite everything—the seven hour car trip with Joy was a fun trip with a lot of random things that happened, Joy and I had some great conversations, and we laughed a lot.

We get home as things are winding down for the night. I say hello to my girls who are settling in for the night and get my stuff ready for night coverage. Then Erin Conner, LeadTime Intern/fellow Big, lets me know that she is going to do my night coverage for me since I had it last night! Yet another blessing. Oh yeah, I also started this morning off with time with the Lord. Something else I hadn’t done in awhile. I typed long enough I am sure I could think of more little things the Lord orchestrated to just love on me—but I’ll stop.

I often share some of the harder moments here, so I just thought I would share with you this good day. I have several more posts in my head I am hoping to write tomorrow on my day off. I love you all. Not all days are filled with such obvious blessings from the Lord as mine was today, but it is my prayer that as you reflect upon your day that you will see the little and big things that God has done to love on you!