S.H.A.P.E. Assessment Results

Thank you for taking the SHAPE Assessment. We encourage you to meet with a Church Leader that you respect, to go over your results, so that they can help you discover a place to serve in the church and/or community, and also to help you fine-tune your 5 Main Focuses/Priorities listed at the bottom of this email under the ‘Wrapping it up’ section. May God Bless You!

[S]piritual Gifts

Here is how your spiritual gifts scored:

68%

71%

59%

68%

28%

50%

46%

43%

53%

To see descriptions on the Spiritual Gifts and how you can use them to further Christ’s Kingdom on earth, visit this link.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I love God and believe Jesus is our hope! It is only through Jesus we can have eternal life. Jesus and eternity is much more inportant than the now.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I believe I am able to apply business skills I have learned and improved over the past 30 years to different areas of the church body.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I have been blessed by God abundantly. Perhaps that has made it easier to give over the years. I believe all of what I have is because of God and is God’s.

[H]eart

1. Mentoring and coaching others on a one on one basis.

2. Spending time with those I love, family and close friends, doing just about anything.

3. Encouraging others.

Those I have a common interest with. Wide age range but I am comfortable and enjoy being with young adults.

One on one ministries.

Marriage/family issues
Financial stewardship
Policy/politics

[A]bilities

Sales, coaching, speaking, elder, teaching Sunday class

Sales, coaching, speaking, elder, teaching Sunday class

Some computer skills. Some handyman skills. Master of ceremonies at some events.

The Bible, sales programs

Communication

[P]ersonality

Extrovert

50-50 High/Low Risk

50-50 Peace Maker/Challenger

People Driven

Leader

Team

Routine

Your Primary was ‘The Otter’, with your Secondary coming in as ‘The Lion’, and here are the descriptions of your Personalities, and how they can be used for God

Otter- Otters are very social creature. Otter personalities love people. They enjoys being popular and influencing and motivating others. Otter can sometimes be hurt when people do not like them. Otter personalities usually have lots of friends, but not deep relationships. They love to goof-off. (They are notorious for messy rooms.) Otters like to hurry and finish jobs. (Jobs are not often done well.) The otter personality is like Tigger in Winnie The Pooh.

Strength: People person, open, positive
Weakness: Talks too much, too permissive
Limitation: Remembering past commitments, follow through with discipline

Lion- This personality likes to lead. The lion is good at making decisions and is very goal-oriented. They enjoy challenges, difficult assignments, and opportunity for advancement. Because lions are thinking of the goal, they can step on people to reach it. Lions can be very aggressive and competitive. Lions must learn not to be too bossy or to take charge in other’s affairs.

Strength: Goal-oriented, strong, direct
Weakness: Argumentative, too dictatorial
Limitation: Doesn’t understand that directness can hurt others, hard time expressing grace

[E]xperience

I believe my story is one most of you have heard before. Please raise your hand if you are familiar with the story Jesus told about the “Parable of the Lost Son” that is found in Luke 15: 11-31. Ok … it looks like you’ve all heard it … thank you. Alright, perhaps I can add a little more detail and put a modern twist to it. First, I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home with loving parents. My parents were both believers and made sure we were regular attendees at a church not far from here, Wesley Chapel United Methodist church. I have always considered myself a Christian … it was all I knew since my earliest years. There was not a specific time in my youth that I can point to for my conversion; it simply was a part of who I was. My early years were fairly uneventful spiritually. Then, like the parable goes, it came my time to leave. I was off to college with the parties and the drinking. It was as though I lived for each weekend’s party. I was consumed by the alcohol and sin of the world (all I needed was a golden calf). While I still attended church occasionally, my heart and actions were far from what God or any other observer would describe as “Christ like”. I was so very fortunate to meet my wife, Michelle, in college and we married soon after graduation. I’m still unsure what she saw in me at the time. In those first years after college, I must admit I abdicated my spiritual responsibility to my wife. Fortunately for me, Michelle has always been a spiritually grounded person. We soon began attending church on a regular basis but still something was missing. I was going through some of the right motions but lacked the relationship God had in mind for me.
During those first ten year after college I experienced many challenges … some may be familiar to you. There were times when the money was not there to pay the bills. I vividly remember taking the change cup off the closet shelf and counting out pennies to deposit so our checks would not bounce. There were other tough times …as Michelle and I started trying to have children we were hit with many set backs. Before being blessed with 2 beautiful children, we unfortunately experienced 2 miscarriages that were very painful. While I soon found out it was not an uncommon experience, it still left us both devastated. There were also the many surgeries our oldest daughter Stephanie faced at a young age. It was heart breaking to watch our precious child being carted down the hospital hall for surgery. As I reflect back on those hurdles and others, I can see my heavenly Father never left my side even though I was far from deserving of His love and support. It was during those times I would run to Him to be rescued. I always knew of Him and knew He could bail me out when needed, even though I was still far short of the relationship I needed with Him. I know now that God can use those difficult times to draw us close to Him … a lesson he is still teaching me. While God had helped me find some direction at this point, I was still missing the personal relationship He longed for me to have.
By the fall of 1995, God had placed me in an environment where many of our friends were Christians. One of these couples invited Michelle and I to attend a weekend Christian retreat where the men went the first weekend and the women the second. After some prodding from Michelle, I reluctantly agreed to go. I now believe my reluctance was because God had been calling me for some time and I feared the unknown and what I might be “required” to give up. During this weekend retreat, God provided ample time for me to slow up and for the first time in many years listen to him. He showed me many things that weekend in Dallas, GA but what I remember most is His unwavering love for me all these years. It also became clear I had not reciprocated the kind of love my Father and King had been lavishing upon me for all these years. It had been a one-way relationship. Like Jesus’ story in Luke, it was at this time I came home to my heavenly Father and entered into a 2 way relationship with my Lord … an everyday relationship.
I have found that living a life with God did not mean sacrificing the fun I once feared. Quite the contrary, I found a Father to carry me through the tough times, to advise me with the tough decisions that have to be made, to make my life purposeful. Even after some of these experiences, at times I still like to try and take control and do the “driving”. I recently had several major decisions surrounding work, my spiritual journey, and my children. They seemed to be hitting all at once and despite my best efforts the answers were not coming … only anxiety and frustration. God once again reminded me he was always available to do the driving. It was amazing that once I relinquished control the answers I sought quickly fell into place. He delivered again! I love my Lord and Savior. I am thankful He died for me! I’m still a work in progress but I know He loves me, I knows He’s there for me.

CCC – 14 years – Elder, teacher, goof ball

Acts Christian Fellowship – 3 years – Elder, teacher

Fellowship – Teacher

Mission trip to Guatemala. One on one evangelism.

Attending a men’s retreat called Walk to Emmaus.

Awesome wife who has led through example.

My wife’s fight with cancer could be called a negative experience but at the end was positive. The way Michelle faced this battle with courage and a Christ like attitude was a tremendous witness.

Early in my adult life we attended Mountain View UMC. A vibrant church body until they appointed an un-Godly man to lead this church. Very sad. Lesson learned was to focus on Jesus and not man.

Early in my career we were faced with having more expenses than income. Valuable lessons learned.

Wrapping It Up

The Challenge: Based upon your S.H.A.P.E. Assessment above (the way God wired you), If you knew you couldn’t fail … and ‘lack of money, or time’ was not an obstacle… list your Top 3 Things you would ‘Focus’ your Life on, next to #1 Loving God & #2 Loving Your Neighbor (these would be your ‘3 God-Sized Dreams’ for your life)?

1. My Relationship with GOD

2. My Relationship with Others

• Putting Your Spouse First
• Your Kids Second
• Everyone Else After those

3. Spending time coaching and mentoring others. Doing this by listening, learning about them and asking leading questions. Ultimately helping them understand God’s truths. about God’s life lessons.

4.

5.