What You Are? -- August 29, 2008

As I grow older I have discovered that I have changed. No, not just the extra weight and the gray hair (I actually like to think I'm going back to the blond I was when I first entered this world) but in a number of areas.

I used to accept anything that anyone told me as "gospel"; I had a very narrow view of life; and work was something you had to do to get the money you needed to pay the bills you had to have in order to have the things that made for life...in other words work was a necessary evil.

For a number of years I have been putting a lot of thought into what kind of job I would like to do and how could I find this mythical "Nirvana". I have discussed this with a number of close friends and I have spent a good amount of time in prayer, seeking God's council.

One tool I have been using is quite interesting.

To start I have to bring to the foreground, once and again, Kim and my friends from the little hamlet of Heston, KS., Greg and Kelly. These two people have become a sounding board for my inner man. They fired my heart to write, they challenge my walk with the Lord, and they introduce me to the most wonderful books!

One such book is "Do What You Are", a book written by Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron.

This book expands the age old receipt for finding that elusive "perfect" career form just what are you good at and what do you want to do? to include your personality type or type.

How you are wired can also affect what career would be best for you. Are you a person who loves excitement and thrills? You probably would not be happy being a number crunching accountant. Are you shy and retiring? Perhaps the accounting job would be quite appealing to you.

To determine this they help you to take the Briggs Meyer personality test. The amazing thing about this process, if you are honest in answering the questions, is that it is remarkably accurate! It pegged me, if not 100%, 90% for sure. It's sort of freeing when you stop for a moment and take a look at yourself, who you are as a person.

We can mold ourselves into being who we have to be for the sake of our careers and that can have an impact on how you answer the questions, but if you follow the authors' advice you can get remarkably close to who you are personality-wise.

The authors brilliantly but gently guide you through the process of finding your personality type. They are most accurate! I was surprised.

This is as far as I have come so far. I will update you with more later.

Oh, in case your wondering about my personality type: I am an INFJ...

:-)

Sail on with the Lord fighting the good fight as you travel the path He has placed you on.

Post Post -- August 18, 2008

 

I want to update you on a couple of items.

1)  Alyssa did get her license and has been driving (oddly enough) and due to her being a girl AND getting good grades, our insurance will only go up $20\month. THat is good news indeed!

2) The kids are registered for school and they start Wednesday.

3) I read Kelly's blog the other day and I was SHOCKED to learn they started school LAST Tuesday! WOW!

I am almost done with the study in the book of James for Sunday School. It has been a good class but challenging for me (I hope for the others as well, but it has been for me for sure!)

Now that I will be off the teaching schedule for a while I am doing a study in John and I am trying to get my hands firmly around doctrine. I want to understand doctrine better.

What I really want to achieve is to become a better thinker.  But I am not doing this just to gain knowledge. Knowledge by itself can puff up and make one arrogant. My desire is to understand God's word better, apply it to my life so I can better server those around me.

Keep fighting the good fight, know God and obey the Word.

Evermore Update -- August 1, 2008

Wow! I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around a few realities lately.

1) My little girl will turn sixteen in two weeks and, along with that distinction, will join the ranks of licensed drivers! Now there are a few benefits with having another driver in the family and they are: a) My wife and I don't have to drive her all over the globe to get her to all the activities she is or will be involved in; b) We have another driver to run to the store for us when my wife forgets items on her grocery list that she absolutely needs for the new recipe she's experimenting with (Maybe this is NOT a bonus feature! :-)); d) She will be able to take her brother to his events as well! All in all there will be more freedom for one and all in the Larson household very soon.

2) I can't believe it's already August. This year has gone by so fast! Where does the time go and why do I perceive time going faster the older I get? I know I'm not the only one because others in my age bracket, and older, tell me the same thing. Does this phenomena mean that as we get older we have less time to get things done???

3) Logan will want to turn away at this point because I will be using the "s" word. School is about to begin again! This does not directly affect me but it certainly seems the summer break just started and now we're gathering supplies for the upcoming school year.

4) Logan will be in 8th grade ( a senior in Junior high) and Alyssa will be...a JUNIOR in high school! WOW! This relates to No. 2 above.

Now to Evermore. The last couple of days I have been revamping the story idea I had been working on a month or so back, you know BF (Before Flood) but I had set it aside in light of other new story ideas that came to my attention.

During our little vacation this year I purchased a book called "The First Draft in 30 Days". It's a guide to getting the first draft of your novel out in a thirty day period. I am not naive enough to believe you can do a novel in thirty days, and indeed the author soothes my anxiety by telling me that I am not a failure if it takes 60 or 90 days. (I guess if it takes 91+ days I am a failure?? :-)) But what this book has helped me to do is to get better organized and move me to keep working on one project at a time. When new ideas pop up, write down the idea(s) and then get back to your original work.

For the most part Evermore has not changed a great deal but the changes that I have started incorporating require some rewriting of what I already had written.  Since I only had about eighteen pages done I am just considering starting over with the new changes in place. There are a number of paths I was taking with the characters that I am now reevaluating with these new ideas.

That's all there is right now. See you all later and have a Godly weekend.