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

Thank you Mandy Gerhard 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):

84%

75%

75%

78%

53%

37%

50%

25%

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:
My leadership skills began developing during my childhood. Being the oldest of eight children I had a lot of responsibility placed on my shoulders at an early age.
Due to the circumstances and experiences during that time I knew from an early age that I wanted to be in a position to make decisions and “make things better”. I knew that I had to work hard to overcome where I started in life and to break out of the cycle that my family members often fell into. That being said, the path and life that I thought I would have for myself is very different than what it is now and I am truly grateful to God for where he has brought me and for the skills that he has given me. I began leading groups of people in high school and continued into my adult career. I know that God has given me these gifts to serve others. When I look back on my life I realize that God began preparing me to lead from that early age. Sometimes I fought with God, not accepting that this is my gift, or needing a lesson in humility or needing something to keep my pride in check. However, I understand now that this gift of administration is not something to fight, but to embrace, be thankful for, and to use as God would want me to use it. On a daily basis I lead a program that serves 695 children and families living in poverty with over 100 staff. If God didn’t give me these skills I would not be able to effectively impact those lives to help make decisions that hopefully “make things better”.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
Ever since I can remember, we always shared what we had. There were times when without the generosity of others we would not have had food or working utilities. At one point we didn’t have a home and without a family member there to take us in I don’t know where we would have been. I have always felt led to give what I can to others, whether it is time, a meal, a home, use of my gifts…I always feel the need to give, especially since there were others out there that always gave to us when we needed it.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
God has done amazing things in my life. Even through the hardships he has always had a plan, even when I couldn’t understand or see it. I want to others to know that even though life is sometimes really tough, God loves you. At first I was surprised by this, but thinking about it, God has put me in situations where I was used to minister to individuals. I don’t always think of this as one of my gifts, but I am passionate about Jesus Christ as my savior and sharing that message of love and hope, especially when others need it.

[H]eart

1. My heart beats for my family. I get joy and fulfillment by supporting them and seeing them be successful in whatever they choose. Spending time with my family also brings me joy and fulfillment.

2. I love helping others discover their gifts and potential to help make a difference in the lives of those we serve. I want to empower others to have a voice and be decisive. I want to help others grow their ability to lead. I endeavor to do this on a daily basis. In order to lead large programs, you need to be able to develop leaders and allow them to help you lead.

3. I love music. I found comfort and joy in music as a child and grabbed onto that. Music is what lead me to Christ.

Starting out as a teacher, my favorite age group used to be preschool/kindergarten. However, over the course of many years, I prefer to work with adult learners. I want to be able to help them grow personally.

I do enjoy my time serving on worship team.

Homelessness
Poverty/hunger
Disabilities

[A]bilities

Director of the Berks County Head Start Program

Director of Health and Special Services
Specialized Preschool Teacher – Coordinator
Itinerant Special Education Teacher
Special Education Teacher

Administration, organization, presenting, creativity, analytical, procedures/policy development, delegation

Disabilities, computer software usage, program budget management, Head Start Performance Standards, general Head Start Program, Health Initiatives, children’s classes – various Bible lessons

My drive and determination

[P]ersonality

50-50 Extrovert/Reserved

Low Risk

50-50 Peace Maker/Challenger

50-50 People/Project Driven

Leader

Team

Routine

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

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

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

Growing up we didn’t go to church but my mom believed in God and told us we did to. I would read the Bible, once I found one, and I would pray. As I got older I wasn’t sure what I believed anymore. I would still pray occasionally, but I really started to feel lost. I felt like there was something to believe in, but not sure what. I spent a lot of time not really believing in much. When I lived in Baltimore, I worked with a woman who was married to the worship leader for a church in downtown. She invited us to attend one weekend. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to go because I didn’t even know what I believed in. We decided to go and the worship just grabbed me. I don’t remember the song or the words, but I remember the music pulling me in. The worship leader was dynamic and engaging with the congregation. I remember wanting to be on stage with the team because of how much passion and love they had for God. It was at that point that I knew this is what I was missing in my life. I knew that I needed to learn more, so we continued to attend church, learned more, and eventually I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior after a church movie night.

Children’s ministry
Streetlight Church, Baltimore MD
1-2 years

GEFC
Children’s ministry
9-10 years

Marrying my high school sweetheart. Nathan has been a consistent and steady positive force in my life. He has always believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself.

Having my children and being alive to be a mother to them has been an amazing blessing and truly shapes who I am today.

Being able to lead in the children’s ministry at church has truly made a huge impact on my life. It gave me the opportunity to grow in my walk with God as well as use the gifts that I have been given.

My childhood experiences – caring for my siblings and living in/close to poverty

Having a high-school teacher tell me that I wouldn’t go far in life, that I would “only be a housewife”

My relationship with my mother was challenging at best. That relationship truly helped to shape who I am today.

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. To be in a leadership position where I can grow others into leaders.

4. To create large-scale positive change not only for a small group of individuals, but on a large scale

5. Take music lessons to develop my skills.