Getting To Know You Part 1- Spirit Controlled Temperaments

Edited to add- I don't know what's going on with the color of the text. Please let me know if you can't read it!
Whew- I got rid of those ads so I can feel comfortable inviting someone to read my blog! I also went back to fix the typos from my first post. Spell check is great for spelling but if the tool doesn't know that you meant to say then and not the, it won't correct that word. Typing is not something I do often or well but as I grow in blogging I hope to hone my typing skills more, so please be patient with me! Thank you everyone who is becoming a regular reader or "follower" and if you're just joining me, welcome! I appreciate comments and feedback. Ok, and in case you are wondering, my time alone today was great! The kids have really enjoyed their "Daddy time" this week. We're studying Amelia Earhart and Neil Armstrong for school so they went to the the Air and Space Museum today and really got a kick out of everything there- especially the huge McDonald's food court! I am blessed that they had such a good time and my Spring cleaning got off to a good start. Now if I can just get through everything I need to accomplish before it's actually Summer!
Moving on.... Today, I want to begin a series about getting to know yourself. At first, I thought it was better to start at the beginning, observing where we came from, to determine how we got to be where, or should I say, who we are today. But as I have journeyed with myself, very deeply and introspectively over the past several months, I am realizing that I must first figure out who I am now- even if that person is constantly changing- before I can really look back and see who I was and why. Now that might sound like a bunch of Jibberish to you, and that's ok, sometimes I speak Jibberish, but if you stay with me through this conversation you might find this to be one of those times when you learn something about yourself in the process of listening to me talk about me. I recently attended a workshop on Spirit-Controlled Temperaments. The presenter provided us with an assessment that helps you determine your dominant temperament and blend and then talked to us a little about the strengths and weaknesses associated with each one. I was already very familiar with the various temperaments because I had read the book he used as his primary reference some time ago. The Spirit Controlled Temperament by Tim LaHaye is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to know more about temperaments in general and more specifically how the Lord can get the Glory out of each one of us when we yield our natural man to His divine control. Learning about my own temperament was such a blessing to me and it opened up an entire level of understanding about myself that I had not before tapped into, and oh what freedom it is to really understand myself! It turns out, that while I had learned all these things about myself years ago when I first read Tim LaHaye's book, the refresher last weekend was so important for me as I am now entering a phase when, at almost 40 years old, God is concretely defining for me how very intricately He designed me to be and do what He predestined me to be and do before the foundation of the world. Psalm 139:13-16 says it this way, "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them." Certainly these verses tell us that He was intimately involved in our formation as much, or dare I say, more so than our biological mothers and fathers. The circumstances surrounding my parents' relationship certainly played an integral part in my life and in my becoming who I am today, but even all that was orchestrated by the omniscience of God who set the plan in place for me to become who He wanted me to ultimately be. And exactly who or what is it that He ultimately wants me to be? How can I tell what His purpose for my life is? For the answer to that question, we must examine the blueprints. Learning about your temperament is a good place to start because it gives you a general overall big picture. I highly recommend Tim LaHaye's book but if you can't get your hands on it right away, there are quite a few temperament assessments available online. If you don't already know, Google one and see what yours is and I'll be back to talk some more about this topic in part 2!