Strengths Finder

So, I took a personality profile / talent assessment over the weekend, the Clifton StrengthsFinder (put out by the folks at Gallup -- you get codes to take it in a few of their publications). I took it when reading the book Now, Discover Your Strengths, which I purchased after hearing one of the book's authors at a conference.

So anyhow, strengths in their definition seem to be "themes" of potential talent. It doesn't have a ton to do with what kind of work you should do, but more how you should approach what you do (i.e. frequently people have the same job title, but approach it differently based on different strengths). Anyhow, I'm still digesting the material, but thought I'd share my top 5 "themes" here:

Strategic
Learner
Input
Intellection
Achiever

One of the other big ideas they present is that you gain most progress when you work on your strengths, rather than when you work on your weaknesses. I imagine I'll be thinking more about that in coming weeks -- in a tough situation, how can I do things that rely on my strengths and come up with ways to work around my weaknesses?

Becky

Beloved Davina

A few of you have heard about our new niece -- you can find her picture on Michael's blog. (Michael being her dad, and Matt's brother-in-law). She's going to live in California, and we probably won't meet her for a few months yet, but we are still so excited!

You see, Davina isn't the latest baby born into the family (no, the youngest child remains adorable little Molly, who lives out in North Carolina) -- she's a 3-year-old who was born in the Congo and who is coming to the US after being adopted by Joanna and Michael, and their older son, Nate.

If you're the praying sort, you can join us in praying for this family -- Joanna and Michael head to the Congo on Friday and return later this month. Only one last step to take, I think (getting her immigration visa) and they'll be on their way home. I've been just blown away at how quickly the adoption process has gone so far, and how obvious it is that God really cares for this family and this precious little girl.

The name Davina, by the way, apparently means beloved. We haven't even met her yet, but I can tell you she's already beloved by us and many others.