Day 23: Understanding who you are.... really

Wow... been awhile, hasn't it? I guess the normal thing would be to start out by apologizing, but in truth, I am glad for the delay. Because I have had to sort through what I am going to share here. So if an apology is needed... I'm sorry.
This is a bit of a long read... but what I share here was vitally important for me in the process of finding out why I am here on this planet.

The last blog post was about discovering the spiritual gifts that God has implanted in each of us. The results of my tests have been that I have prophecy, teaching and administration happening for me. Now these gifts can be applied in almost any situation. Prophecy isn't about telling the future. Biblical prophecy is more "forth-telling" than "fore-telling". Prophecy is being able to speak God's mind into a situation - kinda like a "Thus saith the Lord" deal. Teaching and administration are pretty self-explanatory, they are pretty much what the words mean. People who have gifts like these in operation tend to really excel in these arenas. Lots of people teach, but those who have the spiritual gift of teaching tend to really take it to the next level, seemingly able to connect with just about anyone and to take incredibly complex subjects and make them understandable and doable. Same with administration. Life is full of administrators... but when God's version is implanted in someone they have an innate ability to really see the big picture and to order things in a way so as to fit into that picture. And they like it... no - they love it.
At the outset, the three gifts mentioned, teaching, prophecy and administration seem to be the perfect triumvirate for a preacher. In fact, many great preachers indeed have these three gifts operative. But just because you have these gifts happening in your life makes you a preacher? Not hardly. I tried to be a preacher. And a Worship pastor. And a Bible school teacher. On paper, qualified for all. In reality, not so much.
In addition to knowing the spiritual gifts residing in us, we also need to know who we are. What kind of person are we? What is our temperament? This is important.
Gary Smalley has a personality test he has devised. A copy of it can be found at  the following url:
http://www3.dbu.edu/jeanhumphreys/SocialPsych/smalleytrentpersonality.htm

In this test, we are on a path to discover if we are like one of four animals: Lion, Beaver, Golden Retriever or Otter.
Here is a summary of their characteristics; positive on the left side, and negative facet on the right.

Lion

Temperament Characteristics

Likes authority. ………………...Too direct or demanding

Takes charge……………….…..Pushy; can step in front of

others

Determined. …………………... Overbearing

Confident. …………………..…. Cocky

Firm ………………………...…...Unyielding

Enterprising. ……………..….... Takes big risks

Competitive. ……………….….. Cold blooded

Enjoys challenges. …….…..…..Avoids relations

Problem solver. ………….….... Too busy

Productive. ……….……….…... Overlooks feelings; do it now!

Bold. …………………….……... Insensitive

Purposeful; goal driven…..….... Imbalanced; workaholic

Decision maker. ………….….... Unthoughtful of others' wishes

Adventurous. ………………… .. Impulsive

Strong 'willed …………………...Stubborn

Independent; self reliant ……....Avoids people; seeking help

Controlling. ……………………...Bossy; overbearing

Persistent. ………………….….. Inflexible

Action oriented. ………………...Unyielding

"Let's do it now!"

Otter

Temperament Characteristics

Enthusiastic. ……………….…… Overbearing

Takes risks. …………………..… Dangerous and foolish

Visionary …………………….……Daydreamer

Motivator. ……………………..… Manipulator

Energetic. ……………………….. Impatient

Very verbal. ………………………Attacks under pressure

Promoter. ………………………… Exaggerates

Friendly, mixes easily…………… Shallow relationships

Enjoys popularity…………..….…. Too showy

Fun loving. …………………..…… Too flippant; not serious

Likes variety. ………………..…… Too scattered

Spontaneous. ……………….…… Not focused

Enjoys change. ………….……..… Lacks follow through

Creative; goes for new ideas. .…..Too unrealistic; avoids details

Group oriented. ………….….…… Bored with "process"

Optimistic………………….….……Doesn't see details

Initiator. ………………….….…….. Pushy

Infectious laughter……….….…… Obnoxious

Inspirational……………….…..…. Phony

"Trust me! It'll work out!"

Golden Retriever

Temperament Characteristics

Sensitive feelings. ……..…….… Easily hurt

Loyal. ………………………….… Misses opportunities

Calm; even keeled. ……….….… Lacks enthusiasm

Nondemanding ………….…...… Weakling; pushover

Avoids confrontations. .………… Misses honest intimacy

Enjoys routine …………….…..…Stays in rut

Dislikes change. ………….….… Not spontaneous

Warm and relational. …….….… Fewer deep friends

Gives in. ……………….……...… Co-dependent

Accommodating. …….…….…… Indecisive

Cautious humor. ……….….…… Overly cautious

Adaptable. ……………………..… Loses identity

Sympathetic. ………………..…… Holds on to others' hurts

Thoughtful. …………….………… Can be taken advantage of

Nurturing. …………….………..… Ears get smashed

Patient. …………………………… Crowded out by others

Tolerant. ………………….……… Weaker convictions

Good listener. …………………… Attracted to hurting people

Peacemaker. ………………….… Holds personal hurts inside

"Let's keep things the way they are."

Beaver

Temperament Characteristics

Reads all instructions. ….….…… Afraid to break rules

Accurate………………….………. Too critical

Consistent. ……………….……… Lacks spontaneity

Controlled. ……………….……… Too serious

Reserved …………………………Stuffy

Predictable. ……………………… Lacks variety

Practical. ………………………… Not adventurous

Orderly…………………….……… Rigid

Factual…………………….…..….. Picky

Conscientious. …………….…..… Inflexible

Perfectionistic …………….………Controlling

Discerning. ………………….…… Negative on new opportunities

Detailed. …………………….…… Rarely finishes a project

Analytical. …………………………Loses overview

Inquisitive……………………...…. Smothering

Precise. ……………………..…… Strict

Persistent …………….………...…Pushy

Scheduled. …………………….… Boring

Sensitive. ……………………...… Stubborn

"How was it done in the past ?"

It's not enough to know you have a hammer in your toolbox. Does you no good if you are trying to build watches. Likewise  - if you have jewelers screwdrivers in your toolbox, it's kinda foolish to show up at a construction site expecting to get much done. And - to carry this analogy to its limits... if you love to work in the outdoors you will be miserable being an accounting temp. And if you absolutely LOVE working with numbers, being on a road paving crew won't be your cup of tea.

Throughout my life, I have been a sailor, electronics technician, communications engineer, LAN/WAN design engineer, worship pastor/leader and professional musician. But it has only been as a professional musician - as it currently is happening in my life - that I have found my niche. This square peg has found a square hole to plop down into. Why didn't the other jobs work out as well? Because my temperament wasn't really suited very well. I did well in all those other jobs, as my skillsets served me well in each of them. The difference is that today, I am in a place where all my spiritual gifts are used to their maximum, and my temperament is ideally suited. I know the tools that are in my toolbox, and I know where I am to be using them. I am an otter. And I am in a good place.
You have to know yourself.
So..... take a spiritual gifts test. Find out what tools God has put in the toolbox called your life.
Then take a personality test of some kind - like the Gary Smalley test. Understand more about who you are. With those two items under your fingertips, you increase your chances of being effective and fulfilled.
Mr G

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Day 22: Vision part Deaux... what's in the toolbox?

What's in the Toolbox?

As I mentioned in my previous blog on day 21, my former pastor Rodney H challenged me  to develop my vision statement. The first step down that path was to look in my "toolbox" to see what tools I had available to accomplish whatever it is that God has me on this mudball called earth to do. Doesn't it make sense that the God of this universe would supply me with what I needed to do whatever it is He wants me to do? What are the tools that God gave me? For me there were three things:

1. Spiritual Gifts  - those special abilities given to each Christian by our Creator to accomplish His will through us.

2. Abilities and aptitudes... beyond those specific spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible, the tendencies, temperament and abilities of an individual. How do you respond to different situations? What skills do you possess? Carpentry? Music? Art? Engineering?

3. Circumstances... look around you. Where do you always seem to find yourself? Look at relationships - what kind of people seem to gravitate towards you? Where are you living?


The rest of this blog post will deal with item #1 - Spiritual Gifts.

The Bible tells us that God distributes gifts to all of us - look in 1 Cor 12,13 and 14 for the discussion Paul the Apostle is having with the Corinthian church. Not everyone gets the same gift(s), because not everyone is called to do and be the same thing. Now - lots of folks weird out a bit when you start a conversation like this, and somebody almost always bring up the subject of speaking in tongues. They will have a problem with it, because it does indeed seem a bit weird. And based on that, they throw out the baby with the bathwater, as the saying goes, and (many times) dismiss the topic of the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians altogether. For the sake of brevity, let's blow right past that one - and save it for another conversation at another time. It doesn't figure into my story, anyway, and I have no energy to enter into that conversation right now. I believe every gift from our God listed in Pauls' letter to the Corinthian church is valid and has its place in the Church. Remind me later to perhaps address the topic of tongues in another blog.

There are tests that have been written that ask a battery of questions that, when analyzed, give an accurate description about which gift(s) are at work in a believer. Just Google "spiritual gifts test" and look into what you find. Answer the questions and look at the results.

I took a Spiritual Gifts test after I had the conversation with Rodney. I had also taken several of these throughout the years and the results have always been very consistent.  I would recommend that you take several  spiritual gifts tests over time. For me, these top three gifts have always shown up when I take these tests... Teaching, Administration and Prophecy.

1. Teaching - an innate ability to communicate difficult topics is a manner that is clear and understandable.

2. Administration - the ability to bring order out of chaos, to schedule and, well... administrate. (I know it is bad form to use a word in a definition of the same word, but well - there is no real special extra spiritual definition for this word, as it is what it is). Not everybody has this gift, though many could use it, methinks.

3. Prophecy - one of the weird ones that folks tend to get all wrong, or get bent out of shape over. This gift isn't about telling the future - it's about speaking God's mind in a situation. It's all about knowing God's Word to the extent that when confronting a situation or person you can begin a sentence by saying "Thus says the Lord..." and then say what God says. It's not about foretelling as much as it is about "forth-telling".

The first time I took a Spiritual Gifts test and these results showed up, I jumped up and down... God wants me to be a preacher!!!! These three gifts are a pretty typical set of spiritual gifts that you would expect a pastor to possess, and I suspect that most pastors do indeed have these gifts operational in their lives.

However, knowing what the tools are in your toolbox and knowing what to build with them are two different things. Anybody who knows me knows I am NOT a preacher. What happened? Did I miss the boat when I pursued a career as a United States Navy sailor followed by another career as an IT engineer followed by a career as a musician?

First - God made it abundantly clear to me years ago that my becoming a pastor or even a worship pastor was totally out of the picture. I will you that story sometime. Suffice it to say, God spoke with a very loud and unmistakeable voice back in 1985 (or so). Second -  He has also made it abundantly clear that I am doing EXACTLY what He wants me to do now - be a music teacher. Hmmmmm.

The Spiritual gifts I possess as a Christian are indeed part of the puzzle, but they by no means tell the whole story. They are the tools in my toolbox that I  use every day as I pursue the fulfillment of the vision God has put in front of me.

In the next two blogs I will bring in the other two items that God used to help me craft my vision statement - my aptitudes, abilities and temperament and my circumstances.

I am such a tease... I know. But it is late and I must toddle off to the land of nod.
Blessings!
mr G

Day 21: Where there is no vision....

Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish....
Another translation says 
"Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained..."


When there is no vision - no forward-looking-goal-seeking-attitude - in a persons life, there are no boundaries and/or borders. You might say there are no restraints. You might go so far as to say that if you have no vision you are unrestrained.... oh wait... that's already been said. In Proverbs 29:18! 


So  - let's put wheels on that verse and see how it drives around, kick the tires a bit and check out the ride.


I had a meeting with a pastor/mentor about 7 years ago and he asked me two very simple questions:
1. Why are you on this planet?
2. What are you gonna do about it?

This was his way of saying I needed to develop a "Vision" statement for my life and a "Mission" statement for my life. His reasoning for walking me down this road was to give me boundaries, a framework (if you will) within which I can make decisions. You see, I had come to Rodney and told him how crazy my life was. I am a self employed musician, and I was taking advantage of every opportunity that came along to make a dollar. On the surface, that makes sense. But in reality, before long you can become like a hamster on one of those spinning wheel-thingies. Going real fast, but getting nowhere. I had become that hamster. Ergo - those magical two questions - "Why am I here" and "What are you gonna do about it". Their scientific names are "Vision Statement" and "Mission Statement".  
Rodney told me that once I answered those two magic questions, then the framework was in place to help me say yes or no to "opportunities" that presented themselves. He went on to remind me that the enemy of   excellence was not "bad", but "just good enough". And if I spread myself too much, I would accomplish alot of "good enough", but sacrifice excellence in the process.
Without a vision for my life, I would be unrestrained... running this way and that, accomplishing nothing but keeping myself really busy. That was a pretty good description of my life back then.
If I could nail down why God has me here, then I could (with God's help) lay out a plan to work His plans for me. That was the challenge.
 Nailing down God's vision for my life took some time, alot of counsel and some tests. I will cover that on my next blog-post. But suffice it to say that "God knows the plans He has for us - they're good plans - not evil.." (Jeremiah 29:11); and wouldn't it make sense for US to know the plans He has for us? I'm not talking about knowing the future - I prefer NOT to know much about that, to be honest. But I can tell you that knowing the task He has for us to do NOW is a very advantageous thing. That knowledge (or vision, if you will permit) gives you boundaries - it restrains you. And that is NOT a bad thing. 
There are boundaries in my life due to the fact that I am married. There are certain activities that are easy to say "no" to because of the boundaries and restraints on me due to my being married. I like those boundaries and restraints. They keep me out of trouble. Anything that helps me make a wise decision is a good thing for me.
So the next blog will deal with how I arrived at my personal "vision statement". It changed my life. It focused my life. It focused my future. It guides my present. It brings peace into what may appear to be a difficult decision. It set up boundaries for me to run between. And I am off that stupid hamster wheel-thingie.




Mr G out.

Day 20: I love you

Pretty powerful words - "I love you". I doubt if a day goes by when my wife and I don't say those words to each other.  And every time we speak with our grown kids, we tell them we love them. Every time I see Millie the Wonder-Dog, I tell her I love her.
Here is what occurred to me today - My wife knew 35 years ago that I loved her. After all, I told her so. How stupid it would be for me have never spoken those words to her again- because after all, didn't I tell her I loved her in 1976? Those words are food for her soul. She like to hear me say those words. My kids like me to say those words. My dog likes it when I say those word. And they NEVER get tired of hearing me say I love them.
About 15 years ago, I took a trip to Russia to play a series of concerts and to work in some orphanages. I was going to be gone for about two weeks. I arranged with a local florist to send my wife a bouquet of flowers every day that I was gone. So even though I was not able to call her during my time away, I managed to tell her I loved her through a stranger with some flowers.
So as I just finished reading my blog posts (nineteen of them!), I realized how often God has affirmed to me that I am doing what He wants and that He loves me through students, parents, colleagues,my family and even complete strangers. You see - I can't see God... physically. But He still manages to communicate to me His love for me... kind of like the way I did with my wife way back when I was in Russia. And the message is ever the same..."Paige - I love you. I love it when you play guitar. I love it when you teach. I love how you connect with kids." Every time a parent or a student or a stranger tells me any of these things, it's like that florist showing up with a bouquet of flowers at my wife's classroom. A complete stranger being used to communicate my love to my wife.
The message never gets old. The words never fail to encourage.
I love you.
Pretty powerful stuff.
Mr G

Day 19: Full Tilt Boogie!

Wow... where does the time fly off to? Oh well - glad I'm not trying to blog every day like I started out to do. I know, I know - I said I would try to look each day and see what God was doing and share. But the truth is - I am going full-tilt boogie (as I used to say in the '70s) and between college (oh crud! got another paper due tonight!!!!!), teaching ... (awww man - gotta get ready to bludgeon my kids with a test tomorrow) and all that life is tossing at me right now, when I get home at the end of a day, my pillow calls my name and I drop off to sleepy-by land. But... I am still here, God has indeed been present every day and visible, so let me give you the highlights since my last post:

1. I got a glimpse of what love looks like. I get a chance to go into deep thought with all the driving I do when I am traveling to a school to teach. I was thinking about 1 Cor 13 - the "love" chapter in the New Testament. The thought hit me - I know what loves look like. I see it every day when I wake up in the same house with the same woman I married almost 35 years ago. There is almost no greater comfort than to know when I come home, she is there. There is no greater comfort than knowing that she would defend me to her last breath, that she is mere seconds away from helping me in any way she can. And she does this by choice. She chooses to be this way. And I would do the same for her, and indeed it IS my choice to live my days with this woman. That's what love looks like. I cannot imagine waking up and her not being there.

2. I get confirmation almost every day concerning my vocation. It seems I hear about or from current or former students almost every week who are now involved in teaching music, leading worship, or going off to study music in college, recording an album - gosh, you name it. And when I heard a young man tell another student of his (he didn't know I was listening) that "Mr G taught me all of this - and this is important, so you need to pay attention..." I almost started crying. I really needed to hear that. And when I heard from a former student that he just got hired to teach at a private academy and wanted me to know  that he got accepted because of what he knew and also because they knew he had been a student of mine... wow. Break out the crying towels.

3. I have learned to quit saying "I can't" and to stop giving credence to those who tell me I can't do this or that thing. I have loved jazz for years, especially the songs from songsmiths like Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein etc. I have assumed for years that to play solo guitar gigs performing jazz tunes like these was out of my reach. Others have told me that I couldn't realistically expect to do this - especially since I only seriously started studying guitar seriously a little over 10 years ago. After all, I am almost 55 years old  - isn't that a bit late to get into playing a genre that is as complex as jazz? I don't know exactly when the idea occurred to me to quit listening to idiots tell me what I can or cannot do. But I know this... I have now played two solo jazz guitar gigs, the audience loved it, I was ecstatic, and am no longer listening to naysayers. I am finally taking my own advice that I hand out to young musicians all the time; namely that the contest in music is not between players of differing skill levels, but instead is between the artist and himself. After a gig - ask these questions... did you like what you did? did the audience like what you did?

So there you have it - you are now caught up with the life of Mr G. God has shown me that I am living in the middle of what love looks like (1 Cor 13); that I am in the middle of His plans for me and that I am making a difference (Jeremiah 29:11); and that I can indeed do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phil 4:13).
It is truly epic being me right now. I kind of dig it.
Be encouraged and be blessed!
Mr G

Day 18: Shared Joy

Ok - just got the news yesterday that my wife and I are expecting!!!!! A grandchild, that is. A granddaughter, to be more specific.

I personally find it amazing how God has set things up, allowing us humans a peek into the Creator's joy, when a single cell from each partner in the marriage combine to bring forth a child that will contain traits and likeness of both mother and father. Kind of like when God said in Genesis "Let us create man in OUR image..." and so mankind has traits of the Trinity within it. And just like my son's son and soon his daughter will at times reflect their mother or their father, so it is with us. At times we reflect certain aspects of God's character and form. Sometimes when Roran (my grandson) turns his head this way or that, or smiles in a certain way, it's like looking at my own son (Rorans father) when he was a baby. It's easy to see that he is the son of my son.  And I expect the same will be when my granddaughter makes her appearance in June of this year. At times I am sure she will reflect her mother... and at other times her father.  And the joy this will bring that house is akin to the joy our heavenly Father must feel when He sees us reflecting this part or that part of His character. When we act charitably, and love unconditionally; when we give with no thought of benefit or return; when we respond in true righteous indignation when our Father's Name is sullied or misused - all this comes to mind as I look at the picture of my grandson today and anticipate seeing my granddaughter in the very near future.
I am so grateful to the God I bow my knee to that He gives us this gift of seeing our children and then our children's children come into this world. I am in awe and very much in love with this God Who creates... and then lets us share this joy.

Joy is a good word.  It's the perfect word for how I feel right  now.

Mr g