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

Thank you Jane Mayo 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):

78%

71%

53%

87%

78%

37%

50%

81%

59%

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:
As a child I saw my parents freely give of their resources to the church.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
Serving is a way to share my blessings with others and follow what God has led the way for us to do.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I do like to organize and stay on top of things.

[H]eart

1. I love to relax with family and friends.

2. I love to spend time with children and to teach.

3. I love to do small acts of kindness to those who need a boost or just know that someone cares.

I love to work with preschool and elementary school age children.

I am appreciate of the outreach ministry to homebound people. I am excited about Christian Education for all ages.

Poverty/hunger
Educational
At-risk children

[A]bilities

retired

Teaching third grade
Insurance education instructor/coordinator

Cooking pies
Fast reader

Insurance
Math, Reading, Writing

Enthusiasm

[P]ersonality

50-50 Extrovert/Reserved

Low Risk

Peace Maker

People Driven

50-50 Follower/Leader

Team

50-50 Routine/Variety

Your Primary was ‘The Retriever’, with your Secondary coming in as ‘The Otter’, 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

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

[E]xperience

I don’t remember ever not being a Christian. My family started in the Congregational church and transferred to the Episcopal church when I was in ninth grade. We had moved from New England to an area with no Congregational churches.

I taught Kindergarten Sunday school in Falls Church, Virginia from 1980 until 1983.

I taught Kindergarten Sunday school at St. Michael’s and All Angels in Dallas from 1987 until 1992.

I taught Kindergarten Sunday school at St. John’s Episcopal/Dallas from 1993 to 2012. I was also on the Vestry for five years.

I had loving parents and grandparents who gave me a stable childhood. I think that gave me the confidence to welcome challenges and face life with optimism. As I get older, I realize that so many others did not have that support as a child. It makes me want to see the best in children and help them feel good about themselves.

I was blessed to be able to teach at a church school. Starting the day in Chapel with my students was a great beginning for each of us. It was a perfect way to combine my love of children with my love of God.

My husband and I moved a lot when he was in the Army, law school, practice, working for a court, and finally moving to Dallas when he began teaching. I understand what it’s like to be uprooted to a new place and not know anyone. I would like to be of help to newcomers to our church.

When I was twenty-two, my fifteen-year-old sister was diagnosed with acute leukemia. She was given a 10% chance of living five years. I was across the country with my husband, who was in the Army. All I could do was pray to God to help the doctors treat her, not being able to be with her myself. She beat the odds and is still in remission. I think I have a better understanding of what families need when faced with a cancer diagnosis.

My first son David was born 4 1/2 weeks early and his lungs were not fully working. The doctors did not know if he would survive. One lung collapsed, so a tube was inserted to keep it inflated until the lung was developed enough to work on its own. He also needed a complete blood transfusion. Six days after he was born, on Christmas Day, the hospital called to say that he would make it. My husband and I had been to childbirth classes but had not been prepared for something like this. I decided to train as a volunteer childbirth instructor to train expectant parents. Going through the experience helped me talk with parents who lost babies as newborns.

At the end of March last year, my mother was unresponsive and had to be taken to the hospital. This was at the start of strict Covid precautions. Only I was allowed to be with her at the hospital. The doctors said she had a major stroke and would never recover. I had to make the decision to stop nutrition. Two nights later the hospital forbid any family members to stay. I was able to take her back to her apartment two hours before the restriction went in place because I had already hired a nurse to be with her at home. Hospice came and was a big help until she passed away three days later. Services were not allowed at her Florida church or at the national cemetery where she was laid to rest beside my father. My three sisters and I have not been able to get together or travel to her gravesite. The experience gave me an better understanding of what some families are through during the pandemic and also of importance of the caring individuals who work for the VNA hospice program.

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. I would like to help older adults transition to the challenges of growing older. Our church once had a speaker series geared at older adults. Perhaps there is a way to have something for that age group again.

4. I would like to help children feel valued and loved.

5. I would like to make newcomers to church feel included. When I first joined St. John’s, it seemed as if everyone had been going there for years and were not interested in making friends with new people. This has changed greatly through the efforts of our rector. I would like to help with that effort.