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

Thank you Michelle Walker 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 (in alphabetical order):

59%

84%

75%

68%

65%

59%

59%

84%

84%

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:
Most people who sit down and talk to me find me easy to talk to because I listen to them and I only share with them what I have experienced myself. You can share scriptures with a person but in my experiences, I’m more effective if I share how a scripture has helped me through dark or difficult times.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
This is the easiest thing for me to do. I’m not much of a talker, I shy away from verbal expressions. I’m soft spoken so I usually end up not being heard, anyway. I may not always be able to tell you that I care or that you matter to me but I can show you by serving you.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I enjoy teaching the 3-5 year olds. This group is very enthusiastic about learning. They are full of unconditional love and don’t mind expressing that love towards you. This age group isn’t for everyone. They keep you on your toes because they have a lot of energy. This group keeps my creativity flowing because I sometimes have to adapt my plans to suit what they need that particular day. But what I love most is the unconditional love that they give me.

[H]eart

1. Raising my daughters. I have a 25 year old god-daughter (that I partially raised and who now lives on her own) and a 18 year old biological daughter. It was my biological daughter who gave me a reason to love when I wanted to die. I wanted to see her grow up and become her own woman, in a way she saved me. She gave my life purpose, she needed me and I needed to be needed. Thankfully, I am in a better place now, but being her mom still adds joy to my life.

2. Serving God brings me joy. That wasn’t always the case. At one point in my life, I did it because I did’t want to go to hell. I still don’t want to go to hell but my reason to serve has changed. I was recently asked if I would serve God if there was no Heaven or hell. I explained that I would still serve because of the peace that I have experienced since I’ve learned to see Him for who He truly is. Understanding God’s true nature has helped me to discover who I am. I’ve learned and am still learning who Michelle is by seeing myself through God’s eyes. This is helping me to be at peace, not only with God but with myself. It’s hard to love yourself when you are not at peace with yourself. It’s hard to be at peace with yourself when you don’t truly know the authentic you. Having a better understanding of who God truly is has helped me to discover my authenticity.

3. I love spending time with my family. I am fortunate enough to have a very supportive family. We may not always see eye to eye but our love for each other is strong. When we all are able to get together, we are going to have a great time. We are going to laugh at and with each other. Even in times of sorrow, we are going to find a reason to laugh together before we part ways.

I have always been somewhat of a clown. I like to make people laugh. My silliness isn’t appreciated by everybody. The kids love my silliness. They eat it up. Thats why I love those 3-5 five year olds. Sometimes, I think I’m still a kid at heart.

It hurts my heart when I know someone has an issue or a struggle and they have confided in a church member and then their business is spread around and voiced through a sermon. That’s hurtful and damaging. That can cause a person to shy away from confiding in others and turn them away from God. Thankfully, I haven’t seen that here. I pray it never does.

Drug abuse/recovery
Poverty/hunger
At-risk children

[A]bilities

Family Service Worker

Preschool teacher, Bank Service Representative, Sales Associate

Writing

Great listener. I’ve had strangers walk up to me in the store or restaurant and bear their soul. I just listened. They always apologize at the end and say, “I don’t why I told you my life story but there is something about you that made me open up”.

[P]ersonality

Reserved

50-50 High/Low Risk

Peace Maker

People Driven

50-50 Follower/Leader

Team

Variety

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

Golden Retriever- Good at making friends. Very loyal. Retriever personalities do not like big changes. They look for security. Can be very sensitive. Very caring. Has deep relationships, but usually only a couple of close friends. Wants to be loved by everyone. Looks for appreciation. Works best in a limited situation with a steady work pattern.

Strength: Accommodating, calm, affirming
Weakness: Indecisive, indifferent, unable to express emotional, too soft on other people
Limitation: Seeing the need to be more assertive, holding others accountable

Beaver- Organized. Beavers think that there is a right way to do everything and they want to do it exactly that way. Beaver personalities are very creative. They desire to solve everything. Desire to take their time and do it right. Beavers do not like sudden changes. They need reassurance.

Strength: High standards, order, respect
Weakness: Unrealistic expectations of self & others, too perfect.
Limitation: Seeing the optimistic side of things, expressing flexibility

[E]xperience

I grew up in a christian home but I didn’t give my heart to the Lord until I was 14. Up until that point I did’t think I was ready. I grew up under the notion that christians were forbidden to listen or participate in anything other than christian entertainment. We couldn’t go to movies, attend sporting events or listen to secular music. I thought christians were the most boring people in the world. It wasn’t until I was older and my parents decided to let me enjoy being a kid (because they trusted me to know how far to go) that I realized that I could be christian and still have fun. I also realized that I would probably never be ready because the devil was going to make sure I wasn’t ready. I just decided that I wanted to serve God. At the time I was seeing someone who told me that I wouldn’t last a week. I was determined to prove him wrong. That was in 1990 and I’m still here.

Prior to joining Radiant Church in Greenwood, DE – I was a member of Clarence Street Church of God in Seaford, DE. I was born and raised there, I left in 2016 because God released me. I got involved in the youth ministry at 15. I was asked to teach a VBS class one summer. The teacher had a family emergency and was unable to finish the last three days. My students were three years younger than me. From that moment on I was involved in youth ministry until I left. I was a Sunday School teacher, Children’s Church leader, Youth Board Member/Leader, Youth Director, Sunday School Superintendent, and Kids Bible Study Coordinator.

Getting my Associates Degree in Education increased my confidence and self worth. I was so proud that I accomplished something and my daughter was so proud of me. When she saw the grades that I was bringing home it inspired her to work harder. She wanted to be like me and I was so honored. Some of my friends sent me messages to let me know they were inspired to return to school. I want to do it again to work on my bachelors and masters in education.

I took my Praxis 1 examination in 2012. This exam consists of three parts (Reading, Writing and Math). Most people have to take at least one part twice. I studied so hard for this test for months. I was confident that I’d pass the Reading and Writing portion (I’m strong in those areas) but math has never been a strength. I pulled low C’s in math (algebra and higher levels). I was worried. I took practice test after practice and failed every last one of the math sections. I was encouraged not to take all three tests in one day, but I was stubborn and determined to try. On the morning of the test, I drove over icy roads (Seaford to Georgetown) to get there on time. I left an hour early because I knew I had to drive slow. I made it 30 minutes before the test was scheduled to start – only to find the test was delayed due to the road conditions. They made the call after I had hit the road so I never got the update. I had to sit there for two and a half hours in agony. The fear was written so deeply on my face that people walking by kept stopping to tell me I’d do fine. A month later, I learned that I had passed all three parts. I did’t just pass, I excelled. My scores were among the top 15% in the nation. My Dean bragged all over campus about my scores because they hadn’t had a student perform that well in years – she was especially impressed because I had taken the entire test in one sitting. And my math score – four points from being a perfect score – it was my highest score of the three sections. I was pleasantly shocked because most of it consisted of algebraic calculation. This examination showed me that with determination and perseverance, I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to do.

I was molested and raped between the ages of two and seven. My memory only goes back to age 4, but it was my mother who pieced together some missing memory and showed me that it happened initially around the age of two. For as long as I can remember, I heard this story about how afraid I was of one of my family members. It started around the age of two (maybe a few months shy of turning two). All of a sudden, I wanted nothing to do with this person. No one knew why but Im sure he did. I just remember the incidence at age four with him and then the incidences with his son between the ages of 6 and 7 and then the attempt at 12. I kept this buried in me until 2010. I thought it was my fault. I’m not sure why but I blamed myself. In 2010, God told me that I needed to deal with it or it would destroy me. So I began the process. It was the darkest moments of my life. I did’t think I would survive it. I came close to having a nervous breakdown. I begged God to stop but He said, “I can’t leave you like this. I love you too much. We have to keep going.” Sometimes, I don’t like talking or remembering that time frame. The process took four months (to come to terms and admit what happened). I am slowly learning to trust God and others. It’s not easy for me to trust. It was hard to admit that I did’t trust God, He knew but it was hard to admit. I felt like a hypocrite. How can you be a christian and not trust God? Thank God for His grace and unconditional love. He knew my truth and still loved me to allow me to slowly place my confidence and trust in Him. It’s a process that Im still learning to master.

It hurts my heart when I hear people criticize women who have been sexually victimized. They don’t understand what it does to you emotionally and psychologically. I cringe when I hear them say things like it happened a long time ago get over it. It’s not easy admitting what happened. I wish people had more compassion for women like myself.

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. Starting a fund that would assist single moms or dads with financial obligations.

4. Starting a support group for sexual abuse survivors.

5. Starting a safe house for women and children experiencing domestic violence