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

Thank you Rita McElfresh 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:

78%

56%

78%

84%

59%

81%

71%

34%

96%

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 enjoy researching ideas and then explaining them to others.

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I like to think that God will multiply whatever we give to meet the needs of others – and it is all His anyway!

This gift’s evident in my life in the following ways:
I like to speak truth into other people’s lives for their benefit, even when it may be hard for them to hear.

[H]eart

1. Create

2. Hike

3. Read

Younger adults who are open to being helped or mentored.

Helping troubled or confused people by speaking truth into their life and providing practical help for their needs so they can eventually do for themselves and others.

Homelessness
Abuse/violence
Educational

[A]bilities

Most recently a Math Professor.

Interior Design, Sewing, Management

Management, Sewing, Writing, Teaching, Coaching softball

Genesis, Marriage Prep for teens, Math up through 200-level college courses,

The ability to research a topic and pass on what I learn.

[P]ersonality

Reserved

High Risk

50-50 Peace Maker/Challenger

Project Driven

Leader

Solo

50-50 Routine/Variety

Your Primary was ‘The Beaver’, with your Secondary coming in as ‘The Lion’, 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

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

[E]xperience

I was raised number 7 in a Catholic family with 8 girls and 3 boys on a farm near a small town in Iowa. I always believed in God and creation. I was never close with either of my parents, and my teen years were difficult. I dabbled in drugs and sex, and when I turned 18 I went on the pill. When I left home after high school, I never wanted to go to Church again; I felt there was nothing there for me. I smoked some pot and dated, but never really connected with guys I met. I was “looking for love in all the wrong places”.

At 19, after a minor car accident, that and various other things made me decide to join the Navy. I met my first husband after boot camp and married shortly thereafter. Once stationed together about 6 months later, I began smoking pot daily with him, other than when he was out at sea. He owned two Bibles; a paperback that did not seem like a Bible, and a small black KJV. He mentioned once to me that he had been told Jesus would come again, and a few other things which I had never heard.

When I had an unplanned pregnancy, my then-husband suggested I have an abortion. It made no sense to me and I never considered that an option nor discussed it further. We decided I would be a stay-at-home mom and I left the service, but he stayed in. When my son was about one year old, I had a dream that I would go to hell if I died, and that made me start searching for answers. I especially wanted to stop smoking pot, but after trying a few times I found I was not able to stop. I always had been told there was no physical addiction with pot, and had easily stopped years before when it was just an occasional thing.

Over the next two years and three moves, I began to look at the Bible. My first attempt to read it began in the KJV in Genesis, but I did not get too far! When my then-husband was discharged from the Navy because of finally getting busted for pot smoking, I was pregnant again. We moved near Bellevue, WA, where he had been raised. During that pregnancy I had a lot of unfounded fears. After my second son was born, I began reading my Bible again, since I was nursing and sitting around a lot. One of my sisters had suggested to me that I start in John, but for some reason I started in I John. Of course I got to Revelation very fast that way, and read for myself about Jesus coming again.

One night soon after, I cried out to God because of my struggles and fears. My eyes were closed, but I saw Jesus with His arms out to me, as on some statues you might see. I was startled by that vision, as it was very real and my eyes opened fast! That was mid-summer 1984. I remember reading Scripture after that and feeling like I had new insight and understanding to what I was reading. Within a few weeks of that night, we happened to stay at an out-of-town hotel overnight. In the morning we smoked pot as usual, but for some reason the 700 Club had been turned on the TV. This was obviously God’s planning, as Pat Robertson spoke briefly about marijuana that morning, after which my desire for pot was immediately gone forever!

A short time later I was on the phone with the same sister and she finally asked me if I was “born again”. I had heard that phrase used once by Ronald Reagan, but I did not really know the meaning. After a while, she assured me I was, and we prayed together. I found a Bible believing body of believers, joined the women’s Bible study, and began my Spiritual journey with an uncommitted spouse.

My life did not get better, and I started hearing “maybe I should just leave” fairly regularly from my then-husband. Twenty-two years later that marriage ended after his second cheating episode, along with years of alcohol and drug abuse. Single again in my forties, I put myself through six years of college to earn my MS in mathematics. I have learned the hard way that God never leaves us or forsakes us, even when we are hurting and doubting His love and acceptance. He truly does restore the years the locusts have eaten.

K, 1st-2nd Lead Sunday School Teacher, The Neighborhood Church, Bellevue WA, ~1985-1989; Teen Precept Bible Studies Teacher, Christ’s Fellowship, Kent WA, ~1990-1992

Jack & Jill Christian Fellowship Softball League (CFSL, coach and later administrator too), Kent/Renton WA area churches, ~1990-2003

Women’s aerobics and prayer group, Kent Covington Church, Kent WA, ~1990-1994

Going back to school for 6 years in my 40’s to get my MS degree in math.

Running my own custom sewing business while a full time student and for a while after that.

Playing slow-pitch softball with other Christians and memorizing Bible verses and emphasizing sportsmanship.

Growing up feeling unloved in a large family and looking for love and approval where ever I could find it through my teen years and beyond.

Having been born again after I was married with two boys, and dealing with a rebellious spouse for many years after.

Finally ending up divorced after 22+ difficult years of marriage to someone who abused alcohol and drugs and cheated a few times.

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. Starting a business that could employ and train those who have roadblocks to employment.

4. Become a foster or adoptive parent to an older child.

5. Visit each of the children we sponsor in other countries.