Ch. 4: Abilities (S.H.A.P.E.)

This was a pretty easy chapter for me to get through this week.  I realized that I am already quite aware of my abilities and I use many of them almost daily.  From the list provided, here are the highlights: communicating, counseling, editing, improving, influencing, mentoring, motivating, planning, welcoming, writing.  Some of these, however, I wish to use more regularly.  Maybe this is how being available and aware to where God wants to take me will be useful. Top 5

• Communicating: Te ability to share, convey, impart. 
• Connecting: The ability to link together, involve and relate. 
• Counseling: The ability to guide, advise, support, listen, care for. 
• Editing: The ability to correct, amend, alter, improve. 
• Improving: The ability to better, enhance, further, enrich. 
• Influencing: The ability to affect, sway, shape, change. 
• Mentoring: The ability to advise, guide, teach. 
• Motivating: The ability to provoke, induce, prompt. 
• Planning: The ability to arrange, map out, prepare. 
• Welcoming: The ability to entertain, greet, embrace, make comfortable. 
• Writing: The ability to compose, create, record.  

This chapter was pretty cut and dry and I don't have any heart changing lessons that I have learned.  But here is a list of some great quotes I pulled out: 

"All she needed was  to be available and aware.  It didn't matter whether what she did was noticed by others.  That is never the point of serving God.  Willing hearts are his delight." 

"Have you ever heard someone say to you 'Thank you so much' and your response was 'But I didn't do anything?'  People will be healed by God through you just being and doing what God meant you to be and do, not by all the things you think you should be and do to benefit the world."  

"God never finishes showing us his purpose - as long as we never stop seeking it." 

"Michelangelo said, 'The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.'"

"Significant achievements always involve a high degree of courage, focus, perseverance, and yes, high risk."