Responsibility

Strength #3: Responsibility

If you were in school with me and we had to do a group project, I was that person in the class who would almost prefer to do it myself.  Why?  That has to do with my third strength: responsibility.

When it comes to doing what I said, I'll get it done, if I don't...well, lets just say I'd owe you about a million favors to make up for my slacking.  According to Strength Finders 2.0 when responsibility is high you, "take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it though to completion."  I can see this strength really play out a lot in my life, almost to the point where it is one of my MAJOR downfalls in my personal life.

Having a high responsibility is excellent while at work.  When I commit to doing something, 9 times out of 10 I'm going to make sure it's done, when it needs to be done.  When I do fail to complete something, I'll be the first to admit that I didn't follow through, and usually start beating myself up over it until I'm able to make amends or right the wrong.  As I said, this is great in a work environment, and even when I was in school, however, as I mentioned before, I would be the person in the group project to make sure it got done.  But I often would have my responsibility strength placed on the others in my group as well.  If I felt like some didn't do work or that their work was only half complete, I would pick up that slack, and then inform the instructor to this.  I feel that you need to be responsible for your actions as well.

Responsibility is great, but as I said, it has become a major downfall as well.  For example, when I take on responsibility for a project I might overload myself.  I'll feel an obligation to say, "Yes" to almost anything that comes my way.  This, is not a good thing, because when I inevitably fail at completing all of these tasks I begin to beat myself down, and feel as though I am a failure.

I also will take on responsibility for things that I don't really need to or have responsibility for; this happens more in my personal life. Often times, if there is an issue, or problem at my house, I'll take blame, responsibility, for it, even if it wasn't my fault, or mine to deal with in the first place...but I also think this has to do with my next strength as well, Harmony (but that's for another time).

I need to continue to work on a balance in taking on and dealing with my responsibilities. 

Knowledge is Power

Strength #2: Learner

My Learner strength is really what caused this whole blog thing to be started.  In my post How Strong are You?  I talked about my need to learn new things and how it's started to play out in my job.  But I want to think about this a little deeper.

This is what Strengths Finder 2.0 says about the Learner strength, "You love to learn...The process, more than the content or the result, is especially exciting for you." I really find this true.  I really miss school.  Like I mentioned in my belief post, I do value my education, however, it was more the actual act of learning things, sitting in class and being fed information that I miss.  It has taken me a while to accept this strength of mine for what it truly is, learning.  (I guess that's why growing up in a town who's name means "The Love of Learning" was so exciting for me!) 

Being a learner, I have picked up many hobbies and interests, which in-and-of itself is quite expensive, but very rewarding.  I like the mental challenge of learning new things.  Perhaps that's why when I was in high school I chose some of the most technical track events: pole vault, high jump, triple jump and hurdles.  Each of these required learning more than just "move your legs to propel you around the track."  They required hours of honing my technique and skills in order to compete at a level I felt good about.  Maybe that's why Cross Country (while I had been running XC since I was in 5th grade) by the end of my senior year was no longer exciting for me; I felt as if I had learned everything there was to learn about the sport.  You run and try to pass the person in front of you, not much to learn about that. 

Learning has been a big part of my life in general, as I'm sure you can tell.  I have realized that my desire to learn is no longer being fulfilled through school, so I need to cultivate it in my own time, and by disregarding my yearning to learn only plays this strength of mine against myself.  When I'm not learning new things I feel like a bump on log and lazy.

My learning has been showing itself at work a lot lately.  I've been learning how to work in an office, reading books about having an effective ministry, dealing with issues among coworkers, and spiritual things too.  It's been great! 

Here is the downside to being a learner...often times its just learning that is exciting, not always the follow through on what I've learned.  A strength that I don't have in my top five that I wish I did is the Maximizer.  Maximizers want things done the best they can be...I sometimes settle for mediocrity.  I learn things but I don't always apply them to the fullest that they could be.

I have found that being partnered with someone who is a Maximizer is a great way to help with this though.  One of my co-workers is a Maximizer and I love working with her because together we learn and maximize lots of things!

Do you enjoy learning?  
How do you see my learning played out my life?
Do you have any suggestions for things I should learn more about?

Believe it or not

Strength #1: Belief

My "top strength" is listed as Belief, but what exactly does that mean?  Belief in what?  When I saw this I the first thing that came to my mind was, "Why wouldn't this be anyone's top strength," which goes to show how much belief is one of my strengths.  Let me explain, according to Strenghts Finders 2.0 people with a strong Belief theme "have certain core values that are enduring."  My beliefs and values shape my life and, because of them, my idea of success is often different from others.  This is pretty evident in the line of work I'm in.

If you don't know me well, I'll give a little history on myself.  I have a college education in a pretty interesting field, Animal Sciences as well as Applied Economics and Business Marketing.  I'm currently working for the largest evangelical non-profit in the world, not really using the Animal Sciences degree (except while around the lunch table, we tend to talk about all sorts of farm animals!).  I'm following my beliefs.  I feel that my belief in God and my relationship with Jesus Christ is more important than formally using my 6 years of college education.  While I do find real value in my education, I feel that by increasing the spread of the Gospel among college students and around the world is just MORE important.  Sure, I use my education serving on the operations team (I've spent many hours going through evaluations, thinking about how to market different areas of our ministry, etc.) however, it's not like I'm working for an agricultural industry looking to maximize their profits so that I can move up in the company and make more money.  I could do that, but when I worked selling eggs to grocery stores (just starting out) I felt like I was missing my bigger purpose, to see others know Jesus.

This shapes who I am.  I want to see others grow.  I want to see others learn about God and find peace and understanding.  I want to use the talents I have to pursue what I view as important.  While this is a great strength to have, it can also be a struggle when it comes to some of my interactions with others.

For example, when we go to campus to share the Gospel, I often can't understand how someone couldn't believe in God, because He's such an important part of my life.  I also can't understand how someone can't want to use their talents and abilities to bring God praise, honor and glory!  When I'm passionate about something it's hard to try and stop me from going after it, which can bring issues between me and others if they don't feel that that value/thing isn't worth what I think it is.

Without my Belief I wouldn't be moving forward.

To be honest, I'm glad this is my strongest strength.  It helps me drive forward in my purpose in life: To Bring God Glory!

How about you?  Do you think you have Belief as one of your strengths?
How do you see Belief play out in my life, your life and/or our relationship?

I'd really love to hear your answers to these questions!  :-)

Katie Q.

I'm Gonna Make It Better!

So my good friend sent me this link.  I think that this is a lot of what I've been doing over the past few weeks.  I started reading a new book (which I'm sure I'll talk about later) called Getting Things Done (Thanks Darren and Jack for always talking about it) and when I saw this video I realized that I'm changing a lot of the things I do to try and make it better.  Also, I like the animation and inspires me to create fun things like this for ministry purposes as well!


MAKE IT BETTER from Clim on Vimeo.

Thanks Tristan and Jason for the link! :-)

How Strong Are YOU?

If you're on my email list, you might remember that I said that I wanted to start using my blog more, and sharing what I've been learning.  Well, this is the first post of that nature; we shall see how this goes.

If you knew me 3 months ago and asked me what the last book I read was, I would have replied, "Imaginary Jesus, by Matt Mikalatos, and before that, who knows!"  Well, now that answer would be, "I've read 4 books in the past month!"  I mean, I don't know what has happened, but I used to hate reading books, more than anything, but now I am starting to enjoy it. 

This is the cover of the book...in case you were wondering.

When I started work with Cru we took this "test" type thing to see what our strengths are.  It's called Strengths Finder 2.0 (pretty fancy huh?).  When you buy the book and take the online test, it tells you a little bit about what it thinks your strengths are, and I would say that mine are pretty right on...here are my top 5:

(1) Belief
(2) Learner
(3) Responsibility
(4) Harmony
(5) Developer

Over the next week or so I think I want to take a look at each of these strengths more closely to see how they actually play out in my work, relationships, and free time (because I think they do). 

I'd love for you to share your thoughts about how you see these strengths play out in how WE interact with each other, I think that might be fun.

But you might be saying, what does this have to do with reading books....Well, first of all, one of those four book I read in the past month was NOT Strengths Finder 2.0, BUT I think this past month my Learner strength has been showing itself in my desire to learn more through reading.

Well, there you go, we'll see how this goes.  :-)

Here's a PSU Park Block Riddle for you...

Q: What do you get when you cross a Pantheistic Agnostic Polytheist, Pagan, and a Unitarian Universalist with two Christians sharing their faith at PSU?

A: You get a 2 hour long conversation that moves down the benches in the Park Blocks to try and stay in the sun and talks about lots of different topics!

Ok, I'll explain where I get this conclusion; it's from personal experience!  This is what can happen any day you head over to PSU to talk with students about Jesus.  So, just how did this come about?  Well, here is a bit of the story:

Using Perspective Cards (http://perspectivecards.com/)

My friends James, Amie and I were teamed up to go out and start conversations this past Wednesday.  Amie was going to start off praying while James and I initiated a conversation.  We were using a new tool (well, at least new for me) call Perspective Cards {click the link to watch a video about them} to help start conversations and get an idea of what students at Portland State believe. 

We started talking to a guy named David, who, though our conversation with the cards said he was a Pantheistic Agnostic Polytheist (those were the cards he picked for is view of God).  While we were talking to him the sun was moving and we kept getting caught in the shade so we would scoot down the bench to stay in the sun, but there was a girl who was sitting at the other end of the bench.  While our conversation continued (and we kept getting closer to the girl) she started listening into our conversation, and actually started asking a couple questions too! 

Then shortly after she started asking questions, she was joined by a friend as well, who also would ask questions, as well as share his perspective.  The girl's name is Eva, and she said she is a Pagan, and her friend's name is Andrew and he is what I would consider a Unitarian Universalist (all religions are pretty much the same and all lead to the same "source") even though he didn't actually say "I'm a Unitarian Universalist."

The best part of this conversation was that God was really just speaking to these people, and I was able to share the Gospel with them, even though they still wouldn't believe it.  These three points of view are pretty much what I have encountered the most at PSU.  There tends to be a belief that there isn't an absolute truth and that Jesus just can't be the only way.  But I think what is really awesome is that for those two hours that James and I were talking with these three students, they were able to experience God's love and hear the message of His Son in a whole new way.  Usually Jesus is presented at PSU by the street preachers screaming and yelling at the students, but they were really excited to hear what we believe and let their opinions actually be heard.

So, here are my big takeaways from that two hour conversation:
1) I really need to continue to learn more about my faith!  Being surrounded by believers most of the time means I don't usually have to defend what I believe in, so I'm getting a bit rusty.
2) Amie's prayers were awesome!  Yes, she sat in the cold and prayed for James and I and the people we were talking with for those two hours.  Awesome job, Friend! :-)
3) There are a lot of people who believe really strange things about Jesus and the Bible, and we need to be prepared to stand firm.

Well, this is a long post, but it was a long conversation that went in every direction, but still it was awesome!  Please pray for David, Eva and Andrew as the Lord works in their hearts.

Gotta Love Portlandia! ;-)

Wow...2011

So, I realize that it has been way too long since I've posted a blog, that is really bad on my part.  Things have been kind of crazy here in the GNW!  We've had Christmas, Cru Conference, New Years and the start of the new term/semester!

All that being said, I still don't really have an excuse to not be blogging, except for the fact I've been a little more on the lazy side and focusing on other tasks at hand.  Cru Conference is a very busy time of the year for the staff in the Greater Northwest region, and I felt that full force this year.  I never realized how much all of the staff, all over the region, contribute to creating this large event.

Working at my computer during Cru Conference.  

This year, the Conference was in Spokane, Washington, which was nice, but also a bit of a headache learning a new place (as the last three years it's been in Portland).  While at conference, I never actually left the hotel where the conference was being held.  This is partly due to the 6 inches of snow on the ground and my lack of winter coat.  However, I really didn't mind as I spent most of my hours working on videos to be played during the conference itself. 

Here is a link to the videos from the conference!  Amplify Videos

I'm going to warn you now that the aspect ratio is a bit crazy on most of these videos because our screen was 40 feet long and 10 feet tall! It was the entire backdrop of the stage! It was really awesome to get to see my work that huge in front of that many people.  It was awesome.

The videos that I really worked the most on are:
GNW Ops Vision Spot (I wrote, directed and edited this on my own)
Light (I animated this in a program called Motion)
Amplify Final Video (I edited the last song in this video)

I'll get all the stats from the conference and probably post another blog about my personal experience when I have another free moment to think about things. 

I trust that the all is going well in all of your lives and I pray that God will bless you!