Looking back...
Its been a wild 48 hours. As a reminder part of my sabbatical is being spent in sessions with Bev at the Giftedness Center. These sessions center around looking at my life "map" along with my giftedness profile. The goal of these sessions is to do a "where am I" in my life right now analysis along with looking at how am I living out my gifts that God has given me in my life now. The outcome of the sessions all together is to have a life map, a plan that details what things I need to shore up and improve upon to live out my life fully as God designed and gifted me to be.
So with that said I started Thursday off thinking it would be just a “normal” day even with my first meeting with Bev at the Giftedness Center that afternoon. However when I left their building at 3:30 I was feeling overwhelmed. There were so many things to process which of course is the whole point of doing this “exercise” with them.
One of the frighteningly cool things about this first session was what Bev said right off the bat. She stated that she wasn’t going to be speaking into anything that didn’t already exist in my life. That she would be holding up a mirror of who God already created me to be; that He had designed me to be from the beginning, celebrating my life and achievements, joys. That nothing we would talk about through my gifts profile and life mapping sessions were truly going to be a surprise. More than anything they would be great reminders of where I have already walked and who God designed me to be.
She likened a lot of what we will be doing to the Jewish tradition of life being likened to your rowing in a boat with your back to the future and only seeing where you have been. And what the Jews celebrate in looking back are the milestones of their life. The places God carried them, showed them Himself in varied ways, etc. I also loved that Bev said that from this example I wasn’t going to have to row alone as I work through this process that she and God were going to be rowing alongside me. That was a relief and a comfort.
But part of the danger of this looking back for me is wondering where did that hesitantly adventurous little girl, teenager, young woman go? That was one of the things I walked away asking myself on Thursday after sharing my stories. It is amazing to see that at this point in my life I have been “programmed” through life’s disappointments and frustrations to accept and live in the “status quo” not seeking God’s best for myself and not living in His fullness for me.I still have a lot of things to work through in this process of looking at my life through the lens of life goals etc. But I am excited about all of the things God will be affirming and loving me through as He and I walk through this experience.
But what about you? What are your milestones from your life where you can trace God’s protection, provision, and care for you? Do you celebrate those anniversaries with Him? Have you ever looked at your giftedness profile, personality and spiritual gifting as well? It is interesting to do and to also look at how God was manifesting those things in your childhood. If you haven't ever done it I challenge you to do it today.
here is a link to a free Spiritual Gifts Inventory:
this is a simple personality profile test:
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