Cure for the Common Life [1]

The other day in the bargain books section of Wal-mart I purchased "Cure for the Common Life" by Max Lucado (only 4 bucks). I love to read, but most of what I do take in escapes me quite quickly. So, possibly blogging about the book will help my memory. Or not. Here goes!

The basic premise of the book is this:

"Use your uniqueness
to make a big deal out of God
every day of your life."

The 'cure' for the common life is found at the intersection of three circles, like a Venn Diagram:
1-my everyday life
2-God's glory
3-my strengths

A combination of these elements, is your own personal sweet spot. Lucado uses a lot of analogies and examples in the first few chapters about this, which I appreciate as a golfer and tennis player.

So. This book is broken into sections. On with it:

[1] USE YOUR UNIQUENESS
to make a big deal out of God
every day of your life

Unpack your bag of tricks and skills, which God prepackaged in you to glorify Him. Lucado includes several statistics about the number of Americans unhappy with their work, employers, and lives. From an HR perspective, yikes! You cannot be anything you want to be. but you can be everything God wants you to be.

Read your life backward. God is working in you to help you want to do what pleases Him and to be able to do what pleases Him. Our past presents our future. if you want direction for your future, read your life backward. What do you love to do when you don't have to do anything? Is there a common theme or thread running through activities you love to do? God's design of you defines your destiny. "You didn't exit the womb with your intended career tattooed on you" (so what does this big 'HR' tattoo on my leg mean?? :) You are the only you God made. If you aren't you, we don't get you. the world misses out.

Study your STORY

• Strengths
  What do you do well? what are your 'verbs' in a sense?
• Topic
  What so you enjoy working with? what is/are your noun(s)
• Optimal conditions
  What motivates you? in what environment do you thrive?
• Relationships
  How do you relate to people?
  Do you work best alone, in a team, or leading the group?
• Yes!
  When do you have that feeling? 'i was MADE to do this!'
  *God never called you to be anyone other than you

Don't 'consult' your greed. Success is defined by doing the most what you do the best - not by how many cars or houses you own. Do I have the mentality that I am rich enough? Greed can seduce you out of your sweet spot (ohhhh so true). In a desire to be great, one might cease being any good. Follow david's example: just because the king gives you armour doesn't mean you have to wear it. What fits others might not fit you. Know your capabilities & strengths; examine your gifts. Stick to your STORY.

life!

Well I haven't blogged much at all lately. Life is crazy busy and crazy good. In the past month, I had two roommates graduate, one get married, one get engaged. YIKES! And we all moved out of the Farm House. Life looks different now than it did even a month ago, but yet in so many ways it is still the same.

I'm sick of wanting things I don't have and tired of never having enough to make me happy. I can't get my happiness from material things, a great house, money, etc etc etc (boy how many times do I need to learn that lesson). I don't have much but I have what I need. I'm happy where I am at because it's where God wants me to be. I'm content.

It's been a hard transition to this point. Probably because I don't have much to transition to. I feel a bit lost in the shuffle- I didn't graduate, I have a job and I don't have a boyfriend to plan a future with. So in the midst of working and waiting to graduate, I will enjoy another summer, and look forward to my final semester of class. My worries are few and my future is wide open. And I'm content flying solo. I'm not going to sit around waiting for life to happen, to drop by on my doorstep. It probably would get lost trying to find my new apartment. :)

yikes!

a whole month has gone by, and no post of my blog! whoa!

life has been crazy as usual. i'm trying to decide if my overcommitment/can't-say-no issues are can be worked out, or if they are just weaknesses i should ignore. for the time being, i will get through this semester and revel in the fact that i have only 16 more credits...4 of those internship credits...to complete before i am a college GRADUATE.

as of now, i am sort of jobless and homeless for the summer. what more could one ask for? :)haha. it will work out. once i know where i'm working, the rest will fall into place. i'm playing the waiting game to find out about internships. in the mean time, i am applying to join staff with Campus Crusade for Christ after graduation. woohoo! i hung out at the CCC Midwest regional office over my spring break - and LOVED it. i can see myself there after graduation, for sure. in general, i have a huge heart for the business world- reaching it, serving in it with a non-profit, whatever the Lord calls me to.

the world.

I've been thinking...(yikes!) The differences between american college students and those from other countries are very interesting. Today for some reason I was thinking about it. America is a good country- a great country- but we could be so much better. I as a person could be so much better - definitely not exempt. The present group of college students is the future of our country, which honestly scares me sometimes. Are we really equipped to lead? The often present lack of values, beliefs, ethics and just motivation in general would cause me to worry a lot more except for the faith I have in a higher sovereign being. India has figured a lot of things out, China basically owns us and students from other countries know a lot more about what's going on in the world than we do. They are more productive, driven, focused, goal-oriented. If you are wondering who will change the world someday, it will be someone with those characteristics. My hope is that they have values, ethics, beliefs in something other than their own ability to control their own destiny.

article.

http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2006/feature-writing/works/sheeler01.html





I don't know the words to use to describe this article. amazing, awful, astounding. heart-wrenching.





I teared up the first time I read it on Wednesday morning, before class. When I picked it back up halfway through later in the day, I cried. Still haven't finished it. If you've got 20-30 minutes, check it out.

weekend.

This whole three-day weekend thing was sweet, especially considering I don't have class tuesdays so it was a 5 day weekend. As if that means I didn't have a thing to do. But Mondays I have 7 hours of class, which is more than half of my total hours each week, so it was a blessing to not have class today. Thank you awesome US presidents.

It was a pretty weird weekend, but good. Friday night we went to Julie & Jena's art show, then they hung out with their boyfriends afterward, and Lys, Megs and I came home, made cookies, watched TV, and went to bed at 11pm. Ahh, the freedom and joy of singleness. Kind of funny that I went to bed earlier on a Friday night than any other night of the week....

Saturday morning we picked up Amber who was visiting for the weekend. We were going to run into Verm. in the afternoon to shop at the Civ, but being the crazy driver I am, I lost control on a patch of ice about 50 feet from the house (in the DRIVEWAY nonetheless) and got my car stuck in the ditch. Amber and Megs were troopers- we tried for 30 minutes to get my car out. Lys was working but had a tow rope in her truck, so we conned Jules into driving us to the Point to get it. We stormed into Jones' Food Center with a good story to tell- Megs in her bell-bottom jeans tucked into her snow boots, me in ripped jeans, a vest and Lys' cowboy boots. Definite white trash outfits without even trying. By the time we got home, we decided to forgoe the tow ropes (because we didn't know how to hook it up to my car without ripping off the bumper). I swallowed my pride and called Chad, our landlord, to come pull me out.

We then decided to stay home and play a few simple games of yahtzee, which I dominated, and then made supper and went to Step Up 2 in Sioux City. Good times all around.

Sunday we skipped church (gasp!) and met up with Maria and AJ for breakfast at Perkins in Sioux Falls. They were driving cross country from Michigan to Utah and stopped by to see us after spending a week at home in MN. Great to see them- and nothing beats a Maria hug. Weird to say hi and bye so quickly, because I'm not sure the next time I will see them. Thus begins the period of my life when

We then dropped Amber off at the airport and said another good-bye...only to turn around and pick her back up because her flight into Chicago was cancelled due to weather. We headed home, jamming to a little Barlow Girl, with the backseat looking pretty sleepy, when out of no where we came up on a huge patch of icey-slush. I only had time to slow down to 70 mph before hitting it. Luckily I held on- I thought for sure that we were going to hit the ditch and kiss the car in front of us that had slid in minutes before. Thank you Jesus for keeping us on the road! The last 20 minutes was pretty tense driving.

Sunday night was Vespers, another great set even though Jim (drummer) and Holly (bass) were gone. I worked all day and am trying to get motivation to finish (ok, start) my homework. This week is cake, then Friday night we head to Kansas City for a girls' weekend! Super pumped. I think I'm driving. If my roommates still trust me after this weekend!

Strength Finder!

Strength Finder Results: (which I think are pretty accurate)

Analytical
People who search for reasons and causes. They have the ability to think about all the factors that might affect a situation.

Individualization
People who are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.

Strategic
People who create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Input
People who have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Significance
People who want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.