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

Thank you Robyn Odegaard 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:

65%

56%

50%

43%

62%

43%

34%

59%

78%

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 really like teaching what I already know to be true in a small group or one-on-one setting. I find studying biblical truths/history/etymology really satisfying and am usually excited to share what I have learned.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I am a planner. I enjoy organizing and goal setting and I usually don’t have a problem delegating. My instinct in approaching a new situation is to evaluate its efficiency and what could make it work better.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I can see the need for mercy because I have been shown mercy, and am keenly aware of how undeserving I am in receiving Christ’s mercy. I wouldn’t say that I have always considered myself merciful, but that is something the Lord has changed in my heart over time. Because I understand that I am loved, truly, by Christ, I know that His love isn’t exclusive, but for everyone. I really believe that beginning to understand the love of Christ is life-changing, and I want others to know that truth for themselves.

[H]eart

1. Anything at all with my family.

2. Tutoring refugee kids and helping them see that they are welcomed, capable and important.

3. Being part of a team that serves God well. That can take many different forms.

School-aged kids in a small group or one-on-one setting, women of all ages from teens on up, and I’m generally comfortable with people of other cultures/languages

Mostly those that minister to marginalized populations. I’m excited that our church is moving in the direction of caring for the refugee population in Missoula. I’d like to be more involved in the foster care ministry, but I’m not sure where I fit. I have been a part of the MAC garage in the past, and am still so glad that MAC ministers to single parents.

Poverty/hunger
Abuse/violence
At-risk children

[A]bilities

I’m currently a stay at home mom trying to figure out what my next step is. I’m a volunteer EEL tutor in the public schools working mostly with refugee kids helping them learn English. I absolutely love spending time with these kids. I’m also currently discipling a college student.

I’ve been an RN, working in Cardiac Care and Recovery Room. I home-schooled my kids for 6 years and loved teaching them, learning with them and discovering things with them, as well as leading small groups of kids in book groups and educational and spiritual discussions alongside my own kids. I have been a BSF group leader. I was part of the Nursery Committee. I have taught Sunday School to young children. I have been an AWANA leader. I have led groups of kids during Summer Adventure Week in the nursery, as a guide, and in crafts. I have been part of a women’s ministry team. I have served as a hostess for the MAC garage. I have worked on several short-term mission teams treating patients in a clinic setting, doing food prep and service for 200+ people, doing construction work, leading devotionals and studying the bible with Christian and Muslim men and women, teaching sewing skills and participating in home visits with refugee families.

I’m organized, flexible, attentive to details, responsible, calm in distress, compassionate, usually able to quickly see needs that need to be met, can speak publicly when necessary

I have taught Sunday School to very young children. I have been a BSF group leader. I have led and facilitated groups comfortably using a book or given topic, but never taught a class or seminar independently.

My desire to serve and learn and to be part of a team that is passionate about serving God well and loving people well.

[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 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 was raised Catholic and attended church regularly all my life. I made an altar call at 13 but had no idea what I’d done and wasn’t discipled at all. At age 28, I was pregnant with my first child and had begun to think about what I would teach him about church and God, and attended a Christian church a couple of times during that time. 9/11 happened and I instantly knew that I didn’t have what it would take to keep him safe or guide him through how the world, as I knew it, was changing. We went back to church and there was an invitation to accept Christ the Sunday after 9/11 and I prayed that life-changing prayer at that time. Shortly thereafter, he was born and nearly died, which put my prayer to the ultimate test and gave God the perfect opportunity to prove His sovereignty and provision to me. It’s not brief, but it’s a great story.

1992-1994, Missoula, MT, Christ the King Catholic Church Search Board member, planning, organizing, and running retreats for University Students
2002-present, Missoula, MT, Missoula Alliance Church Nursery Committee member and leader, Sunday School teacher, Women’s Ministry Team member, AWANA leader, VBS/SAW volunteer as nursery leader, guide, craft leader and office leader, MAC Garage hostess, Connections facilitator, small group co-leader, prayer team member
2010? Missoula, MT, Bible Study Fellowship discussion leader
2015-present, worldwide, Youth With A Mission, Mission Builder, serving in whatever capacity is needed

Through prayer and studying the bible, coming to realize that my identity is defined by God and not any worldly construct or person. It has made the biggest impact on my life and truly changed how I see God, myself and other people.

Going on a “bare-bones” and kind of scary missions trip when my kids were still babies, that I was terrified to go on, but felt called to do. It taught me that God loves my kids even more than I do and can provide for them better than I can, that I can endure much more than I thought I was capable of, and that there is a world of both need and joy that He is very concerned with.

Marriage and motherhood have to make this list. They have changed me in more ways than any other type of experience could. Learning to put the needs of other before my own, and actually wanting to put their needs above my own-even when it’s painful- has taught me so much about human nature, my own nature, and the heart of God. Making the choice to love, over and over again, has made me want to love without question or condition.

Being raised by a strict, domineering father and a very submissive mother made me question if I was loved for who I was or what I did. After getting married and choosing to follow Christ, I had to really wrestle with what marriage was supposed look like, and what it meant to a woman who loved Jesus, but didn’t want to be like her mother in many ways. Through His healing, I have greater understanding of my parents and am not bitter(most of the time, if I’m honest). It has definitely given me compassion for women especially, who are not valued and loved for who they are, especially those who are oppressed and abused. It has also shown me the importance of loving children well and providing them with security.

Growing up and into my adult years, I was a perfectionist relying on my accomplishments to define me. It was a very defeating way to live, as I had a hard time extending and receiving grace. I relied solely on my own resources to get me through circumstances because I didn’t trust others to do things as perfectly as I thought I could do them. I held myself and others to impossibly high standards. It was through a time of complete failure-a very painful break-up and flunking a college course-that I started to see that I absolutely did not have what it takes to make it through life “successfully” on my own. I went through a time of self-loathing and shame that was pretty dark. It was a slow process of learning to be gracious with myself and others, learning to ask for help and accept it, learning to persevere, admitting that I was very prideful, etc. that I began to heal. Years later, when I began to seek the Lord, this was all brought back to light and I could finally see how He had been working those circumstances for my good.

Probably the lowest point in my life was right after my daughter was born. My marriage was going through a hard time, I had a toddler, I had a really rough delivery that affected my health for several months after the birth, she was a colicky baby who never slept, and I developed postpartum depression. I was still a pretty new Christian and didn’t have very many believers in my life to lean on, and was still trying to figure out what it meant to be a Christian wife and mother(see above). I felt really isolated, confused and ashamed because I thought that if I believed in Jesus, I should be able to tough it out, pray it away and not complain. It wasn’t until a couple of years after I went through it that I could see how much I needed to reach out for help and not feel ashamed. That experience has made me compassionate towards those who feel like they are on the outside looking in, and those in hard circumstances who can’t see a way out. I’m not always good at knowing exactly how to help someone who needs it, but I am definitely compassionate towards them, praying for them, and willing to help.

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. That God would somehow use me to impact the lives of vulnerable children so they would know their value and identity in Him.

4. That God would somehow use me to impact the lives of vulnerable women so they would know their value and identity in Him.

5. That I could somehow have a job that incorporated those dreams so I could spend time doing what I am passionate about and contribute to our family financially.