Survey says...
One of the activities we're doing as part of my discernment process for the Order of the Daughters of the King (DOK) is the completion of an online inventory aimed at helping you suss out your spiritual gifts.
These were my results when I took the test tonight:
None of it is particularly surprising -- except maybe the pastor/shepherd designation. I went back and did the inventory again, trying to refine my answers a bit in case I hadn't thought a question through well enough. That time, it showed up even higher: as #1, instead of #3.
I suppose there's a joke in here about me having missed my calling -- but there are lots of ways to shepherd and care for other people. In a sense, that's what I do in my secular job when I mentor students. It's really rewarding to offer people a listening ear, and suggest wise guidance/options (without being pushy!) in order to help them meet their goals, or simply just grow.
It's also a privilege to sit and hold space with students who are suffering or struggling. Back when I taught high school, I used to open every morning with a prayer that God would use me to make someone's life just a tiny bit better that day. I also used to ask God to send me any students who were in need of a stable adult -- a mother, a father -- and to give me what I needed (within the appropriate boundaries of my teaching role!) to help them feel supported, loved, and respected.
He honored this prayer quite a bit, in retrospect. And as difficult as my job was, during those years, I do not regret the time I spent doing it.
The other oddity in the "spiritual gifts" ranking is "Word of Knowledge." I know how/why this is showing up. (I was raised around Evangelical Charismatics; there are a few things that stuck.) It's an odd gift for an Episcopal lay person, though, and not something I tend to advertise at church. I tend to use it more in my intercessory prayer life than anywhere else.
DOK community members do a heck of a lot of intercession. So ... cool? I guess?
None of it is particularly surprising -- except maybe the pastor/shepherd designation. I went back and did the inventory again, trying to refine my answers a bit in case I hadn't thought a question through well enough. That time, it showed up even higher: as #1, instead of #3.
I suppose there's a joke in here about me having missed my calling -- but there are lots of ways to shepherd and care for other people. In a sense, that's what I do in my secular job when I mentor students. It's really rewarding to offer people a listening ear, and suggest wise guidance/options (without being pushy!) in order to help them meet their goals, or simply just grow.
It's also a privilege to sit and hold space with students who are suffering or struggling. Back when I taught high school, I used to open every morning with a prayer that God would use me to make someone's life just a tiny bit better that day. I also used to ask God to send me any students who were in need of a stable adult -- a mother, a father -- and to give me what I needed (within the appropriate boundaries of my teaching role!) to help them feel supported, loved, and respected.
He honored this prayer quite a bit, in retrospect. And as difficult as my job was, during those years, I do not regret the time I spent doing it.
The other oddity in the "spiritual gifts" ranking is "Word of Knowledge." I know how/why this is showing up. (I was raised around Evangelical Charismatics; there are a few things that stuck.) It's an odd gift for an Episcopal lay person, though, and not something I tend to advertise at church. I tend to use it more in my intercessory prayer life than anywhere else.
DOK community members do a heck of a lot of intercession. So ... cool? I guess?
Comments
Post a Comment