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

Thank you Ingrid Roelfs 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:

53%

37%

50%

56%

53%

43%

40%

84%

56%

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:
It doesn’t bother me to do the dirty jobs. I was brought up to work hard and have a humble attitude–not “too good to get my hands dirty”.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I have been blessed with “means”, i.e. good paying jobs, healthy bank account, frugal lifestyle, so the financial “giving” is not too hard, though as a frugal person I don’t want my gifts to be used frivolously. Giving of my time–I was raised to put little value on my time, so I feel that I can spend it freely.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I feel I am a lifelong student who learns something every day and I often share these lessons with my family and friends. One of my favorite sayings is “Knowledge is Power” and I feel like everyone should value knowledge as much as I do. So I share, in a limited way. Is that teaching?

[H]eart

1. Goofy as it sounds, I love to read and since part of my job for Vern is technical editing/writing, I love what some people call “wordsmithing” . I like to take a document and polish it to make it precise, clear and easy to read. Time just flies by and I get so absorbed in projects where it is my job to pick the best words to make a document clear, concise and readable. This gives me a certain amount of satisfaction. I also love to laugh and so I appreciate “word play”.

2. I love to be with my family and laugh and share activities and projects. The warmth, love and acceptance give me deep joy.

3. I like to plan get-togethers where relationships can be built. Picking a theme and carrying it through to all parts of the gathering is a fun challenge for me. And my fulfillment comes when friendships grow deeper because of this.

I enjoy working with my contemporaries and the older generation. They have such good stories to share while we work together and such insight into human nature. I also appreciate working with people who are thrifty and resourceful.

I worry about our single people, who often feel they don’t fit in with the families and couples.

Marriage/family issues
Parenting
Financial stewardship

[A]bilities

Technical writer, bookkeeper, wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter

Office help for a stamp dealer; clerk at a souvenir shop; USDA food inspector; quality control chemist

People say I am good with the written word; I used to sew a lot, but my current eyesight limits that;

Sunday school teacher when my kids were small; session on “Armor of God” at LWML function

Faithfulness and a good work ethic

[P]ersonality

Reserved

Low Risk

Peace Maker

Project Driven

Follower

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 married a Lutheran with a very accepting family. I went through premarital counseling with a very pragmatic pastor, who knew that it is hard for a science major to accept things on faith. His advice about becoming a Christian: try it, it’s a good life and the more you’re around it the more you will come to believe. He was right. No lightening bolts, just steady witnessing of others.

No ministry experience

Running out of gas at Muldoon exit with two small children. I was walking to a gas station with the kids in tow. A man stopped to offer help and I took a chance on trusting that he was not going to harm me. He drove me and the kids to a gas station, bought gas in a loaner can, took me back to my car, helped me fill the gas tank, and wouldn’t let me pay for it. He gave me a business card with the name of his church. I blieve people are basically well-intentioned and want to help.

I’m a bargain shopper and years ago found a deal on paint, “free tinting”. So I bought a gallon of white paint and asked for the tinting. They had a lot of reasons why they couldn’t do that, but none of them were conditions of the sale. So I persisted and patiently countered every one of their reasons with a logical solution. I got my tinted paint for the bargain price! Respectful persistence pays off. (Or, as Vern says, “Don’t stand between Ingrid and a bargain”.)

I was a very shy person in high school. I was a hard worker and did well academically. I ended up going to a small college run by Benedictine monks. While there I got involved in stuff I never had the courage to try in high school. I became co-editor of the school newspaper and actually won some scholarship money for my participation. The personal attention I received at that school really boosted my confidence and helped me to grow into the person I am today. I think that the personal approach is critical to human development and success.

In college, I was so hungry one afternoon that I snitched food from a roommate’s roasted peanut jar. Then I lied about it when confronted. The guilt I have carried has really impressed on me the sweetness of honesty and a guilt-free conscience.

In college, I was quietly defending one of my roommates from a critical boyfriend who was raking her through the coals. In retaliation he turned his venom on me and started attacking my personal appearance, and it made me back down. From this I learned that words can hurt, words can repel, and words said in anger can scar for life.

When Scott was a little guy, he was driving me up the wall and I would spank him. I did’t realize the impact of this behavior until one time I innocently raised my hand near him and he flinched, expecting a slap or something. I felt horrible. I felt like an out-of-control child beater. I was a lot more aware after that and to this day, I can see where a tired, exasperated mother can lose it. I try to give my son’s kids a break from their mom (or rather, mom from them) whenever needed.

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.

4.

5.