Spiritual Gifts

 

I was talking with a friend the other day and she asked me what I thought my spiritual gift was.  I told her it was serving others.  I had done a spiritual gifts survey a few years back and serving was my strongest gift.  Exhorting was my second.  The serving one was no surprise to me, I have always been one to help  people out whenever I can.  The second one – exhorting – was a surprise because one I did not know what it meant.  This is the definition of exhorting - Verb: Strongly encourage or urge (someone) to do something.  After I knew the definition, I figured it fit well too. 

Have you ever done a spiritual gifts survey?  Do you think these things are necessarily spiritual gifts or are they a person’s natural tendencies… part of their personalities?  What do you suppose a spiritual gift really is?

 

Spiritual gifts are the source of much controversy and confusion among believers. This is interesting and something of a sad commentary, since these gifts are meant to be graces from God for the edification of the church. Even today, as in the early church, the misuse and misunderstanding of spiritual gifts brings division--splitting up, rather than building up--in the church. This resource seeks to avoid the controversies and simply explore what the Bible says about spiritual gifts. (Read the whole article here -http://christianity.about.com/od/holyspirittopicalstudy/a/spiritualgifts.htm)

--  A couple of websites that have spiritual gift surveys you can take (Jordan is taking one right now):

http://mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm

http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/  (Jordan says this one is not as good… I haven’t done either them.)

--  From the bible – Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Peter 4:10-11

* now there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit gives them (1 Cor 12:4)

*  moreover, to each person is given the particular manifestation of the Spirit that will be for the common good. (1 Cor 12:7)

*  one and the same Spirit is at work in all these things, distributing to each person as he chooses. (1Cor12:11)

*  but we have gifts that differ and which are meant to be used according to the grace that has been given to us.  (Romans 12:6)

*  as each one has received some spiritual gift, he should use it to serve others, like good managers of God’s many-sided grace…  (1 Peter 4:10)

--  My favorite blogger, Alan Knox, has done a series about spiritual gifts -- http://www.alanknox.net/2010/11/spiritual-gifts-series/

--  Jordan finished the survey.  His highest scoring gifts are service, mercy, leadership and exhortation.   I did the survey too (the first one I listed) and mine turned out with serving, teaching, exhorting as the high scores.   I did not like how they worded some of the questions in the survey.  I think most of the time our spiritual gift is pretty clear by our everyday actions.  I don’t think we need to take a survey. 

Well that is all the time I have for this topic for now.  Perhaps I will chime in with more later.

too many open tabs yet again…

 

Why do I do this to myself?  I have too many open tabs again.  What is open waiting for to go back and read?

1.  On Graduation - http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutteensnow/school/graduation1.html –

“Newsflash: There is no such thing as Graduation, only a series of small graduations, continually.”

“We are always graduating from something, and moving on to something else. It's just that we don't always celebrate accordingly; we don't always recognize the magnitude of what has just transpired, of what we've finished.   Or of what we're about to start.”

“But there is never a party afterwards, never a ceremony.

Because real life, unlike school, is too fluid for that. In fact, so fluid that people often miss these advances in awareness entirely. Our job, I think, is to recognize them for what they are: the real deal.

Whatever it is we decide to do, I think our real work is to keep on becoming, in thoughtful, proactive strokes. To keep moving through the water, even as we try to figure out the undercurrents.”

2.  Creating a path through your twenties -- http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/03/16/coachology-creating-a-path-to-through-your-twenties/

3.  101 Science.com - http://101science.com/

4.  Create a practice stock market portfolio for free - http://www.freelyeducate.com/2011/01/create-a-practice-stock-market-portfolio-for-free.html

5.  I didn’t know something was missing - http://www.alanknox.net/2011/01/i-didnt-know-something-was-missing/

“Our experience with crab rangoon illustrates something that I’ve learned about Christians and the church, especially when it comes to fellowship, discipleship, edification, community, service, etc.

Often, it turns out, Christians have never really experienced these things before. But, they don’t realized that they’re missing something until they begin experiencing it for the first time.”

“When people move away from “fellowship” as a covered dish meal, and their eyes are opened to how they can experience the community of the Holy Spirit with one another, they begin to see what they’ve been missing. When those who are following Jesus Christ step away from “discipleship classes” and truly begin to share life with one another, they also start to understand what they’ve been missing.”

6.    Could you pass the Canadian Citizenship test?  - http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/index.asp

7.  Free bible study software - http://hearts-in-training.blogspot.com/2011/01/free-bible-study-software

8.  I think I am going to download SKYPE so I can chat with Stephanie.  :o)   http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/prices/

9.  Fusefly – a social network for homeschoolers -- http://www.fusefly.com/pg/static_content/parent_information/

“What makes FuseFly different from other social networks?
This innovative site was created by homeschoolers for homeschoolers. FuseFly allows both teens ages thirteen and up and their parents to share information, meet new homeschoolers and organize group activities all over the world.

FuseFly will help you make homeschooling connections globally, not just locally.

Like many of the homeschool gatherings that you attend locally, parents and teens are in the same location, yet each have own area to socialize. FuseFly can be used to reach any mix of the homeschooling community, but is also divided into parent and student sections, giving both groups the opportunity to reach out to their peers. The entire site is family-friendly though, so we have built-in resources for reporting abuse, blocking offensive language and maintaining a positive atmosphere for everyone involved. “

10.  Jordan is looking into learning about survival training.  Here is a course he may consider - http://boreal.net/

11.  “We all want to get more done in less time. If you look at magazine covers and article headlines, they all promise you ways to do more stuff. At the same time, we all feel the pressure of our to-do lists, our calendars, our phone, our email.  Is it possible that the answer to doing more is to actually reduce our responsibilities? To do less?

Let Me Tell You a Story…”  -  http://productivity.yourway.net/are-you-packing-too-heavy/

12.  Keeping a one sentence journal -- http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2007/08/why-i-started-k.html

13.  Secrets of adulthood - http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/secrets-of-adulthood.html

14.  15 STEPS TO CULTIVATE LIFE  LONG LEARNING - http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/15-steps-to-cultivate-lifelong-learning.html

15.  I need to include our SPELLING WISDOM program in our schedule next week.

venting

 

You know sometimes I am just so DONE with the whole parenting and educating thing!  I wish it was over and that they had moved on with their own lives.  This mood usually hits when the kids are challenging me and being difficult, when I am in a bad mood or I am not feeling well due to lack of sleep or headache.  Well yesterday was one of those days.  All of those aspects I mentioned happened all at one time yesterday.  But we survived it and today is a new day.  Here is hoping it all goes well.  :o)

Yesterday was day 2 of being “back to school”.  Jordan wanted a list of things to do, he has one, and then he fights me on what I have given him.  I tried to choose things that were pertinent to his life and applicable now, but he doesn’t seem to think so.  Grrrr!  So we have cancelled out one of the math assignments and he is trying to just get by in the other one.  Today he is complaining about the science book I picked.  So I pulled out two other choices and had him look over them and he chose a new one. 

All this struggle with my kids is making me go back and think about my own teen years and try to see how I handled things, what things I had to do, and how I survived my own teen years.  I am constantly trying to figure out my kids futures (which I did not do for my own future when I was a teen) and I wonder if all parents spend this much time agonizing over their kids futures, preparing them for their life, feeling like you are failing them and so on.  Or maybe that is just me.  Is this stage of parenting suppose to be this hard?  Is it hard because of the way we have chosen to parent our kids and how we are educating them?  We are not following the usual prescribed path, so I feel alone in what we are doing.  So many questions and worries rolling around in my brain.  Sigh.

Yesterday was not all bad.  Deanna went to the thrift store to volunteer for a few hours.  Jordan went and spent time with his Papa.  I did some errands and got my hair cut (yay! it was way overdue).  My severe headache subsided by evening.  Wes and I enjoyed a glass of wine before bed and discussed the kids and my worries. 

Today has been going okay.  Jordan has been plugging away at his assignments.  (He just wants to get them out of the way and will not do anything else until they are done.  He won’t even take time to eat.  What is up with him?).  Deanna has spent the morning working with her animals (Ripple got moved outside again today, hopefully he doesn’t escape again) and checking her email and such.  Now that she has had lunch she is starting on getting some of her assignments done.

Gotta go.  Jordan needs me to read his dictation sentences to him for spelling. 

____