Your Unique Design

When ADB and I moved, we were required to take this gifting test by "Your Unique Design". It is not your normal spiritual gift test, instead it focuses on personality traits. This test (or a similar version of this test) was used by NASA in the selection of astronauts because it was so accurate in assessing people. NASA needed to know compatibility of team members and how people were likely to react under stress. That information is to just give some validity to the test.

We all know that we have been "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139). The Lord has designed us to perform meaningful tasks of service to Him and to others. God has a plan for us. This test helps you to understand your unique design and how the Lord has gifted you. I wish ADB and I would have taken this prior to our marriage. It helps us to understand how we process information, what motivates us, the way we view the world and how we relate to others. Huge things in marriage I have found.

There are 6 different personality parts (that is the term they use for them). I will explain them to you since their titles don't really give you much. These will be brief explanations as each category has such depth. We all have certain percentages of them in our makeup, but certain ones are dominate.

Achiever: An achiever is logical, responsible, organized, have attention to detail and relatively task oriented people. They crunch information without emotion. Achievers view their world through thoughts. They would use a thinking first lens. Deal with the facts and figures. They would have this process, "I want to know the details and I use logic to solve problems." When they agree to do a task, they are faithful to complete it regardless of how long it will take.

Catalyzer: A catalyzer is persuasive, charming, love new things, and love it when a lot is going on. They are risk takers. Catalyzers call others to action. Catalyzers need a lot of action. They love challenge and opportunity. Catalyzers would view their world through action. They would say things like, "What can we do right now?" and "Strike while the iron is hot." They make things happen.

Dreamer: Dreamers are reflective and have a vivid imagination. They don't do well with systems. They need solitude, mainly for time to reflect. They need directives in order to perform a task, but once given direction get the task done. Dreamers like their own space and an easy pace. They are the ones that don't like to rock the boat. They view the world through their reflections.

Energizer: An energizer is playful, spontaneous, love last minute things, and expressive. Energizers don't like rules and have a kind of rebellious energy, a go against the grain. They love a playful contact and self expression. Energizers view their world through reactions. They would say things like, "I either like something or hate it." They love fun and to have fun. Energizers cry, laugh, sigh and jump for joy.

Harmonizer: A harmonizer is compassionate, sensitive and is great relationally. They are warm and nurturing and affectionate. They view their world through emotions. They would say something like, "I care about feelings and my emotions are important to me. They are how I connect and how I know things." They are feeling oriented, meaning they feel an emotion and they know how you feel.

Persister: Persisters are dedicated, conscientious and observant. They have a high value of truth (right and wrong). Experience issues from a black and white point of view. There are few gray areas. They don't compromise. Persisters view their world through opinions. They would say things like, "My values are very important to me." They have strong convictions. They make decisions based on truth and righteousness rather than on what is popular or convenient.

So, now that you know all of these, I hope that has given you insight into maybe who you would be and who others are. It is so important in life to remember that not everyone views things and processes things like you. It was such an eye opener to me. It helps you to look at the needs of others and not just yourself.

I also found that this test will help you to decide where you will best be used. If you are a harmonizer, you might want to choose something that deals with people. Achievers will do well with organization of events, etc. I know they used this for our current jobs to see if we would fit well with our positions. It is good to know you are where you will thrive.

Here is what I scored (not really surprising to me): 100% Achiever and 100% Persister.

ADB is a 100% Harmonizer and 100% Achiever

I could go on and on about how useful this information is, but will just leave it. If you want to do the test yourself then go for it. There is a $35 charge and I think the web address is www.youruniquedesign.com

Amazing!

This photo was taken in Memphis, just further south from where we live. All I can say is "WOW!". Somehow I don't think sitting in a bathtub with a mattress over me will keep me safe if that is heading my way.

As a few of us were marveling at God's Power in this picture, one of our friends remarked that it shows a picture of sin and its destruction since we live in a fallen world. This tornado did do some destruction as it went through. I didn't really think of it that way until he mentioned it. But it definitely shows that as well. The good news is there won't be any destruction from tornadoes in heaven!!

Neat Quote

"Find the things that stir your affections for Christ and saturate your life in them. Find the things that rob you of that affection and walk away from them. That's the Christian life as easy as I can explain it for you."

Matt Chandler

Tornadoes and Drake

After looking at the title, many of you are asking yourself, "Who is Drake?" Well, Drake is our neighbor's dog. The same neighbor who we rent our house from and hang out with all the time. Drake has been and continues to be our overnight guest. Our neighbor is an avid duck hunter and we have kept Drake overnight so he can hunt at a place in Arkansas. Drake is a 14 year old lab and really doesn't do a whole lot. He is the easiest dog to keep since he doesn't do anything. He just follows me around the house wherever I go, even if I leave the room for one minute. He is a pretty noisy sleeper. He sleeps on the floor at the foot of our bed and has some wild dreams. I wonder what he is chasing. We are keeping Drake while our neighbor is skiing in Colorado for a couple of days. We love Drake!! Here is a little photo:


Isn't he cute?? This is the face he gives me when I'm in the kitchen and he wants something to eat.

You may be asking how Drake and tornadoes go together, well hold on here comes the story...

Yesterday we knew there would be some thunderstorms. It was 70 degrees and a cold front was moving in. I've been in some pretty bad thunderstorms and so wasn't really nervous. I just went about my day. My biggest concern was trying to get a run in before the storms arrived. ADB and I had just changed to go running and stepped out the front door when we saw lightening. There went that. Back inside we go. We had our screen door of the sliding glass door open. It was such a warm day especially in February. It has a little dog door on it. Drake hadn't been using it and we would yell at him if he even got near it.

So, there we are at our little abode. Andy is on the phone and I'm doing some stuff for this other part time job I have. The storm is building a bit now and there is rain and wind along with the thunder and lightening. We call Drake just to make sure he is okay. I mean the lightening was pretty fierce. No Drake. What are you kidding? Where is Drake? Now Drake has a history of straying off, but that is only when he is outside without a leash. Then it dawns on us...the dog door. We contemplate for a minute. What do we do? Drake's not our dog, but what if something happens to him? What will we tell our neighbor? So, ADB decides to do a little search around the homes around us. I wasn't sure about this...risking his life for a dog. My options...dog or husband. I mean I love dogs, but not more than my husband. The good news is after a few minutes Drake and ADB come in the door. Yeah, all is well.

Then, all of a sudden we start to hear what sounded like the Speculator fire siren. We do have a fire/emergency station down the road from us and so we hear the sirens all the time...(not to mention the train whistle that blows as well). But this one was a little different and it kept going and didn't stop. I asked Andy what it was and he said...a tornado siren. I started to get nervous and tried to remember what they told us in grade school about what to do during tornadoes. All I could remember was from Wilderness First Aid training at Tapawingo. Go to the nearest ditch and lay on the ground with your hands over your head. This sounded a little absurd since we were in a house. So, instead of doing what we should have (go in the closet and put pillows and blankets over us or get in the bathtub and put a mattress over us) we just looked out the window a lot to see what everyone else was doing and ate dinner. We probably should have gone into some inner rooom of the house, but instead sat in front of our sliding glass door (which was now shut in case Drake tried to escape again and because of the wind) and watched it all.

We were in awe. Probably not the smartest thing, but I've never been in a tornado path before. The siren kept going off. What a scary sound. We hadn't turned on the TV yet to see what was going on. It really didn't cross our mind to check on TV. We thought everything would be shut down anyway with the tornado siren going off. After the first wave of storms went throught, we turned on the TV to see what to expect next. Another band of storms was coming through. The siren went off again around 9:30pm. I was more scared at the night storm because you can't see anything except for the amazing lightening. These big storms always remind me of the Lord and his power. To think at a word the Lord could calm the storm. Amazing.

The guy on the TV even quoted some scripture in Nahum about storms. How the Lord is in control over the storms. I didn't think you were able to do that. I guess things are different here in the South. We didn't experience any damage, but areas around us were hit pretty hard. A mall was damaged pretty bad near us. There was a tornado that did hit down in Memphis, but not in our area of town. We got lots of rain, thunder and lightening and wind.

So we are fine. Another event where we say "Welcome to Memphis!"

Keep on Praying!

I don't know about you, but I have times when I become a slacker to pray for someone. In this instance I'm talking about someone who doesn't know the Lord or someone who has strayed from the faith. My faith gets small and I lose my fervor. Well, Scripture has reminded this week to not give up!! I love the fact that God's Word is living and active!

"And behold, they were bringing to Him a paralytic, lying on a bed; and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "Take courage, My son, your sins are forgiven."...then He said to the paralytic - "Rise, take up your bed, and go home."

Matthew 9:2, 6

What has given me a new fervor is the fact that it was the faith of the friends bringing the paralytic. In verse 2 above it says THEIR faith. It wasn't the paralytic, it was the people bringing the paralytic. So this scripture has reminded me the importance of interceding for others and to not let my fervor die.

On another note, I wanted to fill you guys in on what is going on down here. Well, the weather yesterday was lovely. It was sunny and warm...I think around 60 degrees, maybe. I was outside just loving it. When I went for my run, I was way over dressed. The day before it was 30 and so I just thought it was sunny, but cold again. I was wrong. I got a good sweat out of it.

We are looking for a house here and there. We are currently renting and need to be out of the house by August. We do have time, but it's good to get a feel for what is out there and learn what is in our price range. We are learning a ton about life and living for Jesus everyday with a God centered focus. I am reminding myself daily that my only expectation is to glorify Christ (Phil 1:20). It is easy to expect things that we think are good and right, but be misled in our desires. The heart is deceitful and desperately sick (Jeremiah 17:9).

We are still visiting different churches to find the one we would like to be involved in. There are several great Bible teaching churches here, which is a huge blessing. We just haven't settled on one yet.

For those basketball sports fans, ADB was able to go to another Memphis Tigers basketball game the other day. They are ranked number 1 and so he gets excited when he is invited to go. The last game was a close one. Go Tigers! That is a little summary of what we are doing. I will try to get some pictures on here soon. There just hasn't been anything exciting to take pictures of and I don't want to post pictures of myself all the time. That would get boring very quickly.