Messy Church

Following Uncle Chet’s advice I have been immersing myself in Marcus Buckingham’s material on Discovering Your Strengths. I got the book, took the test online, and have been working to let it change how I do my job and how I coach others. Kary Oberbrunner later turned us on to this remarkable DVD series that I promptly purchased. It arrived last night.

As I was watching the Trombone Players Wanted DVD series, Ian (my 8 year old little guy) walked up and sat on my lap. He focused on the clip for 14 minutes, and when it was over he asked if he could watch the whole thing. Adrienne walked in to tell him it was bedtime, and Ian proceeded to summarize the clip. He said:

“Mom, this dvd is about how you guys tell me to work hardest at the things I’m good at and to not give up. It’s about how it’s okay that I’m not very good in writing and music class, as long as I make sure to do my best at getting better at things I’m good at, like reading and speaking.”

He saw the correllation between how we are trying to parent (we recently got report cards) and what Buckingham is coaching people to do in their lives.

Adrienne let him stay up and watch more segments. We are going to re-watch the whole deal with Mommy and Kathleen on Monday.

Here is Buckingham’s Amazon Blog- he has a cool write-up about this film series: Check It Out!!

We spend so much time being ashamed and/or covering up our weaknesses that we ignore developing our strengths. I’m so glad Ian get’s to start out by feeling good about his strenghts.Buckingham defines a strenght as “anything you do that makes you feel stronger.”

It’s not just “being good” at something!

The goal of his material is to discover your talent themes and invest the motherload of your resources into developing your talents into strenghts!

btw- the underlying concepts are not new- almost 2,000 years ago the Apostle Paul wrote:

Romans 12: 4-8:
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

I Corinthians 12:21-26:
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. . .

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.