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

Thank you Jennifer Vaughan 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):

71%

62%

53%

31%

21%

53%

34%

78%

68%

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 am able to anticipate needs and implement solutions ahead of time. I enjoy helping support ministry in various and sundry ways.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I can maintain a big-picture understanding and hone in on minute details and workflow connections all at the same time. I can organize, prioritize, delegate, equip, troubleshoot, etc. I can be equally people-oriented and project-oriented. And I really enjoy serving in this capacity.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I’m very analytical and a deep thinker. I love meditating on truths and applying them specifically. I enjoy the process of discovering where a person is in their understanding, what they truly need, what communication challenges may hinder understanding, and then tailoring a teaching to each individual or group in a way that resonates most deeply with them. However, I’m slow to commit to responsibility in this area, as I’ve been burned out before with minimal support and tend to be selfish.

[H]eart

1. I love the intersection of creativity and logic. Finding fun and creative solutions to achieve goals. Applied arts. Design, editing, curating, organizing. Fashion, home, gifts, storytelling, videos, music, writing, performance. I can spend all my time styling outifts, people, interiors, exteriors, and more, tailoring for specific personalities, situations, budgets, etc. I can spend all my time visualizing/curating footage and editing videos to tell a story, or experiences for people, tailored for a particular audience, purpose, or challenge. It can be a struggle, as I tend to escape into my imagination where I can enjoy full creative control with no real obstacles or disappointments, while neglecting the frustrating reality of an imperfect world.

2. I love enjoying nature and the wonders of God’s creation. Fascinating. Glorious. Scenery, animals, food, art, music, science, beauty, ethics, order, truth…I’m so curious, and riveted by every detail. Makes me cry. This ties in with my first thing I listed, but I love observing, savoring, discerning, and then expressing. Bringing order and beauty from chaos and cacophony. Inspiring others and sharing mutual joy as we go!

3. I love to sing. Especially harmonizing with others. Music lights me up and electrifies my whole person, both sides of my brain, all the feelings, all the abstract, all the intricacies, all the logistics, all the technical stuff. Also makes me cry. I want to observe from the outside and be immersed on the inside all at the same time. Very formative moments over my past.

I’ve typically connected more with people older than I am. I’m intimidated by my peers and lack experience with children. I can chat easily with most adults, and I really enjoy connecting through conversation.

Single adults, those who feel disconnected or alone, one-on-one conversations, aligning every endeavor and action with clearly communicated purpose and parameters for maximum fruitfulness, efficiency, and enjoyment all around. Top to bottom. In every detail. Evaluate, strategize, energize, mobilize, optimize, multiply, repeat. Always checking alignment and health of organism.

Other – Depression, loneliness, identity

[A]bilities

Ministry assistant (publications and communications)

Administrative support

Design, writing, organizing, singing, reading music, typing, critical thinking, enough tech savvy to help teach basics, interpersonal?, communications, speaking up

Apologetics, various Bible teaching with teenagers

Empathy?

[P]ersonality

50-50 Extrovert/Reserved

Low Risk

50-50 Peace Maker/Challenger

50-50 People/Project Driven

50-50 Follower/Leader

50-50 Routine/Variety

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

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

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

[E]xperience

When confronted with offensive and opposing worldviews in college, I sought absolute truth I could establish my life on. I read the Left Behind series, which stirred my interest in and curiosity about true Christianity. I read The Case for Christ, which addressed questions I didn’t even know I had. And I read God’s Word and believed I found the absolute truth and Person I’ve been searching for my whole life, and somehow all of a sudden realized was always there. I believed Christ’s sacrifice alone paid my debt and reconciled me to God, and that God now saw me in Christ’s perfect righteousness and would help me live up to that over the rest of my life. I knew I wanted my desires, thoughts, and everything to conform to Him, even if I found it unpleasant or uncomfortable. I saw His sovereignty in circumstances, His answer to my prayers, and His presence in true believers. I was baptized and began serving in my church.

Volunteer ministries with First Baptist Church New Braunfels, TX. F.A.I.T.H. Evangelism for a couple years. Which then morphed into G.R.O.W. visitor follow-up visitation and evangelism for a couple years. Taught middle school girls Sunday school for a several years. Awana Leader for same age group for one semester (felt overwhelmed and spread too thin). Short-term mission trips to Mexico (3x, supporting Spanish-speaking missionaries, kids events, grocery handouts), Vietnam (3x, prayer-walking, divine appointments, spiritual conversations, teaching Bible via English clubs), Ecuador (VBS-type events thru translators), and Wales (prayer walking, conversations, funnel to long-term missionaries). Returned to Wales the following summer for 7 weeks serving as a prayer-walking team leader. What a privilege! Choir and praise team, off and on. Set design, painting, team-leading, and prop prep for church musical productions. Socializing with homeless families through our partnership with Family Promise. Student group leader for discipleship weekends several years. Youth camp leader one summer. Preschool childcare on a few Sunday mornings a year for a couple years. Purchased “wow” items for Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Party. Packed my own shoebox gifts for O.C.C.

Vocational experience on paid staff at FBCNB, TX. Administrative, office support, website maintenance, church membership database software, writing, strategy, communications, design, troubleshooting, reception, benevolence requests, serving in crises (bus crash killed 13 members including the husband of my fellow ministry assistant, who also died days later; press and logistics with emotions; teen suicide), serving in the midst of sorrow (aforementioned; staff member and wife murdered at home; other teens suicidal and depressed), and grieving/comforting alongside others grieving divorce, single parenthood, loss of loved ones.

In personal life, with neighbors, classmates, coworkers, I sought opportunities to cultivate deeper relationships and share Christ.

Experiencing music with relatives, plus school band from grades 5-12. Music lit me up and colored my world. Marching Band especially took it to a whole other level artistically, physically, and logistically, where I lit up over every nuance of the entire immersive experience. Certain I would not be the same person today without having been in band. Also very formative: Hanson’s debut album in 1997. Ever-engaging variety of musical styles I love refracted through an organic, soulful pop prism with velvet harmonies (I love harmony!), infectious melodies, diversity, musicality, passion, purpose, grit, and integrity. Always familiar and always fresh. They’re still going stronger than ever and continue to inspire me as artists and as humans.

Time with both sets of grandparents, who lived very close my whole life. Music, art, nature. I’m always drawn to styles and things that evoke those happy memories for me. Nanny teaching me to read music and play their organ. Papa playing the organ and autoharp, and Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” over his AMAZING audiophile stereo (one of my earliest memories). Nanny teaching me to paint. Camping, hiking, card games, croquet, dominos. Birds, flowers, plants.

My parents modeled righteousness and integrity and disciplined my brother and I to help us flourish. They modeled how to do what is good and right, even and especially when it’s unpopular. They were both teased in school and supported my brother and I, helping us endure short-term pain for long-term rewards.

Emotional abuse from dad and brother, and some enabling behavior from mom. This has driven me to perfectionism, control, defensiveness, isolation, a critical spirit, and self-condemnation. Always reading the terrain, analyzing, fixing, calculating, controlling, always on the defensive, ferociously protective, and whiplashing between haughty superiority and crushingly low self-worth. Shame and guilt. Pride and fear. Codependency, anxiety. Struggling with boundaries and conflict resolution, whiplashing between pit-bull punisher and imploding martyr. And struggling to allow myself to hurt because I was always blaming myself, ashamed as though I was negating everything I was grateful for.

Various awkward, embarrassing, or hurtful moments where I was and/or felt rejected and ridiculed, particularly in school or among trusted “friends” (and my brother).

Several times I rose up to “crusade” for what I thought was right and was immediately or later humbled (or mortified) by perspective and experience. God has often convicted me of self-righteousness, and I believe He has grown me in wisdom, compassion, empathy, gentleness, humility, grace, and love through those moments, and more. And He’ll continue that the rest of my life.

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. Sing sing sing and make music (and artistic extravaganzas) that brought heaven to earth and people to God!

4. Bring the Bible and gospel to life through video and create movies and television that captivated people with God and what intimacy with Him looks like in our world.

5. Help every single person own and express their fearfully-, wonderfully-crafted, God-given uniqueness and purpose through fashion, styling, lifestyle/home design, and personal discipleship that brings flourishing and fulfillment of their God-given purpose for His glory and our enjoyment!