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Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

strengths

Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: Know Your Strengths

April 15, 2013 By Michelle

A few months after Noah was born I decided to make him a scrapbook.  I scoured the aisles at Michael’s for stickers and dye-cuts and fancy papers and special scissors with ruffled edges. And then, every night after Noah was finally settled in his crib, I sat at the dining room table, construction paper littering the floor at my feet, and I scrapped.

The problem was, I hated every minute of it.

Nothing turned out like I had envisioned. I didn’t have a creative eye for matching papers and pictures. Everything I cut with the fancy scissors turned out crooked and off-kilter. My handwriting was messy, and the magic marker smudged and bled. I had envisioned Martha Stewart magnificence, and what I created looked like the work of a ten-year-old. Scrapbooking, I learned the hard way, was not my thing.

As I paged through that rag-tag scrapbook a couple of days ago I thought about the verses we read for this week from Acts 6.

Because the twelve disciples were struggling to maintain order within the rapidly growing church, they called a meeting with the larger group of followers to decide what they could delegate and what they would continue to focus on themselves:

“We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program,” they announced. “And so, brothers, select seven men who are well-respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.” (Acts 6:2-4)

The disciples recognized their strengths and their mission – teaching and preaching the word of God. They focused on their God-given gifts and then delegated those responsibilities better-suited to the strengths of others in the group.

I think sometimes we feel obligated to do it all. And instead of focusing on the special abilities God has given us, we run ourselves ragged funneling our energy into areas in which we don’t especially excel. Sometimes we say yes to something because we feel like that’s what’s expected of us.  Like me with the scrapbook. As a new mother, I thought that was what I was supposed to do: make a scrapbook of my baby’s first year. Regardless of whether I was good at it or not, and regardless of whether I even enjoyed it.

A few years ago the director of children’s ministries at my church called to ask if I might be willing to teach Sunday school. A wave of guilt washed through me before I took a deep breath and informed her that I didn’t think I would be well-suited for such a role. “Frankly I don’t even really like kids that much,” I blurted to Faye. Thankfully she laughed.

There are times you do need to try something new in order to grow or to step out of your comfort zone. But there are other instances in which you know saying yes would result in a cataclysmic disaster.

Sometimes, as with my ill-fated foray into scrapbooking, a period of trial and error is necessary in order to discern our strengths. But sometimes, like the disciples, we simply know what we’re good at and where we need to focus our energy. And in those circumstances, it’s okay to say yes, or no, with confidence and without guilt.

What about you? Do you know what your God-given strengths are? Have you ever said no to something you knew wouldn’t be the best use of your skills?

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Welcome to the “Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday” community, a place where we share what we are hearing from God and his Word.

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Filed Under: gifts, strengths, Uncategorized, Use It on Monday Tagged With: Acts, Hear It on Sunday Use It on Monday, Knowing when to say yes

You’ve Got God-Given Strengths…Yeah, YOU!

March 16, 2012 By Michelle

image from Dayspring
When Holley Gerth mentioned the StrengthsFinder test in her new book You’re Already Amazing, it prompted me to dig out my profile sheet again. Years ago I took the StrengthsFinder test at work as part of a management initiative to encourage team-building and productivity. Last week I grimaced as I reviewed my top five categories: Achiever, Competition, Discipline, Focus and Responsibility. I remember feeling sheepish when we revealed our results in a staff meeting. My officemate, Michaella, had scored high in categories like Empathy, Fairness and Inclusiveness. I was concerned that my co-workers might think I was out to steal their jobs.
I’ve always been efficient, organized, deadline-driven and punctual, but I also always considered those qualities personality traits…or flaws. I certainly didn’t consider them strengths, talents or gifts.
That’s one of the reasons I loved You’re Already Amazing: Holley reminds me that what I consider as mundane and somewhat annoying personality traits are actually strengths, gifts really, given to me purposefully by God:
“It turns out that God has physically wired me with strengths that let me fulfill his purpose for my life. And he helps me do so by strategically creating certain weaknesses, too. It gives ‘power made perfect in weakness’ (see 2 Cor. 12:9) a whole new meaning. Our divinely created strengths (fueled by God’s power) are actually supported by our weaknesses, because if we were good at everything, we wouldn’t focus on anything.”
{Phew! So there’s a divine explanation for why I can’t keep the checkbook balanced!}
Holley also reminds me that just because I have certain God-given strengths doesn’t mean I have to be perfect:
“The goal is not perfection. It’s simply to be in an intimate relationship with Christ each day, to fully embrace who he created us to be, and seek to fulfill the purpose he has for us.”
I also loved how concrete and practical Holley’s book is. Right out of the gate she asks, “Who am I, Really?” and, instead of writing around the answer in eloquent but ultimately not very helpful prose, Holley gives readers the tools to figure out the answer. (She’s a counselor, you know – and I love me a good counseling session!).
You’re Already Amazing is filled with questionnaires, interactive tools and exercises to help the reader discern everything from her strengths, her skills and her social comfort zone to her approach to emotions, where she is on her life map (Egypt, encamped, setting out or the Promised Land) and how she can figure out her next steps.
Here’s a snapshot of what I learned:
My strengths: capable, determined, efficient.

My skills: communicating, maintaining, organizing, writing

My emotional style: head (hands-down, as opposed to heart)

My social comfort zone: One-to-one or one-to-few {as opposed to one-to many – this would have been good to know before I went to the Relevant conference last year and had to retreat to my hotel room a sweating, knee-shaking bundle of overwhelmed nerves!}

My current place on my life map: moving out of encampment (never thought that would happen) and setting out

I just love this stuff!

Really, Holley Gerth’s book You’re Already Amazing is chock-full of wise, graceful advice and hands-on exercises to help the reader explore, discover and grow. I learned a lot about myself and how I might grow in my relationship with God, and I know one thing for sure: you will, too.  

You’re Already Amazing by Holley Gerth is on sale right now at Dayspring for $9.
Disclosure: You’re Already Amazing is published by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, which provided a free copy for my review. The opinions expressed here are my own. This post contains no affiliate links, an I do not earn any compensation for purchases of this book.

Filed Under: book reviews, Holley Gerth, strengths

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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Triple Type A, “make it happen” (my dad’s favorite mantra) striver and achiever (I’m a 3 on the Enneagram, which tells you everything you need to know), but these days my striving looks more like sitting in silence on a park bench, my dog at my feet, as I slowly learn to let go of the false selves that have formed my identity for decades and lean toward uncovering who God created me to be.

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