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

Thank you Pam Samuels 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:

43%

62%

71%

65%

68%

53%

71%

62%

100%

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 love teaching. I love lightbulbs going off in people’s heads and perspectives changed. I love the word of God and helping others to see God’s truths. My father was a teacher and I was a teacher my whole life. God has blessed me deeply in this realm.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I’m a natural encourager: enthusiastic and passionate. I can be very empathetic. Often, through the Holy Spirit, I’ve been able to put my finger on something in people’s lives to encourage them to see things in a new way so they can get unstuck and move forward. I love cheering people on and believing in the power of God to get them through.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
This is true of me to the extent of small groups. Discomfort in large groups. I’m more personal and relational. In an intimate small group setting, I have a heart to nurture and guide people to grow in the Lord. This area has grown in me because of my years of experience as a teacher and as a Christian and because of my pastor husband who has a huge heart for discipleship.

[H]eart

1. Studying the word of God and, contrary to natural skills, memorizing it. The word of God brings me much joy.

2. Seeing lightbulbs go off in people’s heads. Seeing perspectives and attitudes change because of God’s truth. On the other hand, it could be just a little thing like teaching someone a life hack or game or anything and have them get a moment’s pleasure from it.

3. Being able to encourage someone–particularly in the Lord, but other ways are true too. When someone feels more hope, more energy, more focused because we have talked, I feel more hope, energy and focus myself.

One-on-one or very small group most of all. Not so much little ones…enjoy them in little doses. The more they can talk and think, the better. Teens, young women, or anyone with a desire to know God more.

1. Prayer. This area has been central to my Christian life. In high school I took part in long prayer meetings with other teens . Since then, I have been on prayer teams and in prayer groups in very churches and have seen God do amazing things. A friend and I have been prayer partners for over 20 years. This ministry is near and dear to my heart.
2. Young people ministries (middle school through college). I have spent much time working in these ministries over the years (plus teaching in the public realm) and have a strong belief of the work of God in these young lives.
3. I love opportunities to teach women the word of God.
4. Foreign missions/international relations on the prayer end and encouragement from here. If there was a ministry for internationals at the church, I would want to help. This is an incredible way to touch the world.

Educational
At-risk children

[A]bilities

Retired English teacher: middle school, high school, and GED.

Supervised student teachers for San Diego State.

Lots of teaching skills and coaching teachers. A funny little side skill: cat’s cradle string games and figures. I know many. And I can use them to tell simple Bible stories or express simple truths.

English and history.
Small group Bible study.

Enthusiasm.

[P]ersonality

50-50 Extrovert/Reserved

Low Risk

Peace Maker

People Driven

Follower

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

The summer before 10th grade I asked a friend what it means to become a Christian. When she told me about asking Christ into your heart to direct your life, I went home and did so. My life immediately changed.

I have spent many years on prayer teams at both Orchard Community Church in Temecula, New Seasons Church in Spring Valley, and First Baptist Church in Lemon Grove.

I have taught many years teaching Sunday School classes of various age groups (nursery through college) at EV Free (then in Fullerton), Skyline Church (then in Spring Valley), First Baptist Church in Lemon Grove, and Bancroft Baptist/New Seasons in Spring Valley.

My sister-in-law and brother have had a long ministry with Chinese churches throughout southern California and I have helped at many of their retreats.

My husband and watching his heart and God’s work in his life. His seminary/pastoring experiences and his heart for discipleship have greatly affected me.

Teaching. It’s how I see myself. It’s taught me how to read and study God’s word, how to impart truth to others. The biggest moment was creating a program for helping poor readers and writers at my last high school. The program is somewhat unique and highly successful in changing kid’s lives. Working to build a team of teachers that could run this program (and with whom I could leave it when I retired) impacted me greatly.

Prayer…two major experiences: 1) high school every other Friday night at Mary Deatrick’s house…the living room and dining room crammed with high schoolers praying for one and half to two hours at a time. Maybe the most important thing of my life outside of accepting Christ because everything else hinged on my beliefs about God and prayer formed through those prayer times. 2) SOS. This was a prayer group called Save our Spouses. We prayed faithfully together for years and saw God do miracles in many lives–including my husband.

Husband…14 years did not walk with the Lord and he was ugly and mean. Christian counselors said to get out. Instead, standing strong and praying him back. Amazing transformation!

Youngest son is now 33. He has been a drug addict since 8th grade (first drugs in 6th). Alcohol addiction and homelessness followed. We mortgaged our lives away to put him in a facility in Mexico at 16 to save his life. He got to 18 alive and drug free but after a year went back to drugs. At the moment he has a roof over his head and is on disability. He is wrestling with his addictions and his high levels of anxiety and bipolar conditions. The hardest part is his hard hearted response to God. This has been a long long journey of heartbreak and prayer.

Celiac disease. When I was 29 (with a 2 year old and a 5 week old), I was in the hospital for 10 days and almost died…the doctor was calling at midnight of his day off to see if I was still alive. God had other plans. It took 3 years for my intestinal track to heal. It is pretty fragile at this time of my life, but I am still here and always trust God with each day.

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. Actively discipling and teaching women the Word of God.

4. Helping to build a praying church (like Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire), where prayer is not seen as relegated to a team, but instead is a vital part of the life of the church.

5. Establishing/participating in the building of an international ministry within the church to reach out to internationals and equip them to reach others in their home countries.