A God-Sized Vision Practical Exercise Page 9

According to this "warm up" exercise, I'm supposed to describe in detail what my life would look like if my passions, giftedness and calling were to be perfectly aligned. Well geez... sounds like a full-blown exercise to me. I can probably come up with a list of passions and gifts, but my calling?? - It's too early in the program to really grasp that yet. And I don't want to just guess.

But what am I passionate about? Let's see....

• Freedom is a big one for me. So much of my life has felt so encumbered...watching my parents struggle with debt, and struggling with it myself (although I'm close to turning that around now.) Remember the movie "Braveheart"? I know it's suppose to be a "guy" movie, but it's one of my favorites. The part where John Wallace (Mel Gibson) gives his "What will you do without your freedom?" speech touches me deeply. Any movie where someone overcomes great obstacles to meet his/her goals is an inspiration to me.
• Adventure is another passion. I haven't had a chance to travel much, so whenever I do get a chance to hop on a plane and go somewhere I haven't been before, I get excited.
• Nature is something I really treasure. I spend the majority of my workdays in front of a computer screen in an office. But fortunately, I work in a corporate office park that has lakes and woods nearby. I'll take a break at least once a day and go for a walk. The scent of the lake and trees, the sound of the birds and the color green all refresh my soul.
• Spiritual Growth is a passion that burns deeply in my soul. I'm always yearning to learn more and more, to keep reading books or doing these kinds of studies to increase my knowlege about who I am, and what God wants from me, and how to relate to others, so that I can continually become a better person.
• That leads me to my next passion, Teaching. I want spiritual growth not just for myself, but to share what I've learned with others, thus impacting their lives.

Okay, that's enough for now....but what are my giftings? Well, I already did an assessment of my spiritual gifts and found that I'm gifted in...

• Exhortation - encouraging, challenging or rebuking the body of Christ
• Teaching - employing a logical, systematic approach for clearly communicating practical truth to the body of Christ, and
• Service - the ability to identify and meet the practical needs of others

In addition to this...

• I have skills as an accountant
• I have skills with Excel spreadsheets, internet research and computers in general
• I have a great deal of patience
• I'm a team player

That pretty much sums up what my passions and gifts are. My calling and vision remain to be seen.

Lord,

Reveal to me your purpose and vision for my life. Help me to understand the unique way you created me, and how you want to use that to impact the lives of others. Each day, let me do something that will bring me one step closer to the calling you have for me. In Jesus name, Amen.