Monday, July 30, 2007

Who told you that?!?!?











We were watching Little Miss Sunshine last night and the little 6 year old girl was talking to her grandpa and she started crying. She asked if she was pretty and if she was a loser... it broke my heart! If my child ever asked me that, I would break down and cry. A couple months ago at church the sermon was on "What God thinks of His children". If your child came up to you and asked "why am I ugly" or "I'm stupid", what goes through your mind? "You are absolutely NOT any of that and who told you that?!!" I would want to go and find whoever defiled my sons thoughts of himself and beat him up. It is unacceptable! I just keep thinking back about that sermon and how it is the same way with God. When someone tells HIS children that they are not good enough, it breaks His heart. I just love knowing that God loves me waaay more than I love my son and that thought is something that I just can't wrap my mind around. Most mothers love their children more than life itself. I just love thinking about that, sounds stupid, but I'm sooo psyched that I am a Christian and had a child that kept me from a perpetual life of self-absorption. I'm not some kind of philosopher, by any means, I'm smart enough to know that I am not smart at all but the creator of the universe is my Daddy and He loves me (and my family) more than anything.

Now that is something worth living for!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Life with Purpose and Passion (+my INFJ personality description)

I don't know about everyone else but ever since I was a very young child I have always felt like a lot of great things are going to happen around me and/or through me. This is not to say that I am better than anyone (not even close) but I have always had this inner, deep soul knowledge that great things were to come but not through me but through the people I directly affect.

I have no desire to be famous, or anything like that. I am more of a "behind the scenes" person. (My personality type was creepily right on INFJ...And it's all starting to be clear. Well, when I was in elementary school, I always just knew that I would go to college for architecture and meet a great man. In my mind, I never really worried about the how, I just knew that it would happen. And only because of God, I got into UW with a 3.4 high school GPA... that is unheard of! A lot of kids can't even get in with a 4.0 but because of Stephen, I got hooked up with crew and therefore got into college. Now that is not because of Stephen, but because of God, all GOD! I'm not quite sure why exactly God wanted me to go to college yet but I am 110% certain that I am not going back, not for quite some time! As for this time in my life, I am a mother, and nothing is more important than raising Carter and my future children.

As a young girl, I never ever dreamed of a big fabulous wedding, not even once. All I dreamed about was a big fabulous family and husband. And it is so true, God WILL give you the desires of your heart (granted your desires are good). And God will never give you a dream without giving you the ability to make it happen.

Now, I am learning to become a very patient mother and wife. Love is PATIENT. This patience isn't for me but for Stephen and Carter, IT'S NOT ABOUT ME! It's about helping everyone around me and God giving me to traits I need to make this happen.

For all who know Stephen, he is one great man. And being his wife, I see it more than most. Now, I'm not just being bias because he is my husband but he truly has something really special about him. He is going to do some amazing things in his life and I know my job is just to support him. It's taken awhile to get used to but now that I know it's not about me, I'm not worrying about anything but how to support my husband and help him in every way. In high school and college, I was very self-sustained and took pride in that. I am now learning to lean on God and Stephen for support... pride is never a good trait. I am swallowing my pride and learning to be the wife and mother that God wants me to be. My own selfish ambitions come last... well, actually they should never come at all but I'm not Jesus, I'm still working on it!

And for Carter, the other amazing man in my life. I am still in absolute amazement that one little person can bring so much joy to our life. It's really helping me understand how God feels about His children. I want the best for him. Every little thing he does good, I get soo excited. He drank out of a straw for the first time last night, I was so proud. Granted, when he misbehaves and needs a flick or a scolding or two, his disobedience is shortly forgotten and never held against him. Like I would never say, "No, you can't have your milk today because you were naughty yesterday". And it's the same way with God, He isn't waiting for us to mess up so he can punish us. He is waiting for us to do good. I mean, as a parent, can you ever imagine setting your child up for disaster just so you could punish him/her to show him your power... that is ridiculous! And a lot of people have that belief of God, that he puts all these temptations out for you and is just waiting for you to mess up. God can not temp us. People see God as a mean powerful ruler but they never see him as "Abba Father"... our daddy! He wants us to come to Him with all our fickle problems. For a child, they get so frustrated because they try with all their might and still can't accomplish a little feat but if they were to just as mom or dad, it would get done with a breeze. The way I see God is the same way. If Carter were to come to me in need of help, I would drop everything to help him. That's my job as a mother, children aren't suppose to be convenient and I feel like America is forcing parents to make their children convenient for them which is good in the short run but in the long run, very very bad. And a lot of people don't go to God because they don't want to trouble Him... that is so dumb. For one, He is omnipotient and just because he is helping us doesn't mean that He isn't helping the rest of the world.

Having a son has really really brought me closer to God which is a compounding blessing because without God, as a parent, I would be trying to follow all the worldly suggestions on how to raise a happy baby and I know it would not turn out good in the end.

My life goal is to be the best, supportive wife possible and best mother. My children are so important and I know God has big plans for their lives and my job is to... "train them in the way they should go so when they are old, they will not depart from it".

And now that I know my purpose, I have my passion! It really eliminates the monotony of being a stay at home mom with no car to leave the property, doing the same thing over and over every day. It's really a blessing, my life is a blessing. God is soo AWESOME!





My personality INFJ
Current mood: amused
Category: Quiz/Survey

Take this personality test... actually works!
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Personality test... very interesting and quite true! Only 2% have the same personality as me

The Counselor Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in reaching their goals, and enterprising and attentive in their interpersonal roles. Counselors focus on human potentials, think in terms of ethical values, and come easily to decisions. The small number of this type (little more than 2 percent) is regrettable, since Counselors have an unusually strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others and genuinely enjoy helping their companions. Although Counsleors tend to be private, sensitive people, and are not generally visible leaders, they nevertheless work quite intensely with those close to them, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes with their families, friends, and colleagues. This type has great depth of personality; they are themselves complicated, and can understand and deal with complex issues and people.

Counselors can be hard to get to know. They have an unusually rich inner life, but they are reserved and tend not to share their reactions except with those they trust. With their loved ones, certainly, Counselors are not reluctant to express their feelings, their face lighting up with the positive emotions, but darkening like a thunderhead with the negative. Indeed, because of their strong ability to take into themselves the feelings of others, Counselors can be hurt rather easily by those around them, which, perhaps, is one reason why they tend to be private people, mutely withdrawing from human contact. At the same time, friends who have known a Counselor for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that they are inconsistent; Counselors value their integrity a great deal, but they have intricately woven, mysterious personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors have strong empathic abilities and can become aware of another's emotions or intentions -- good or evil -- even before that person is conscious of them. This "mind-reading" can take the form of feeling the hidden distress or illnesses of others to an extent which is difficult for other types to comprehend. Even Counselors can seldom tell how they came to penetrate others' feelings so keenly. Furthermore, the Counselor is most likely of all the types to demonstrate an ability to understand psychic phenomena and to have visions of human events, past, present, or future. What is known as ESP may well be exceptional intuitive ability-in both its forms, projection and introjection. Such supernormal intuition is found frequently in the Counselor, and can extend to people, things, and often events, taking the form of visions, episodes of foreknowledge, premonitions, auditory and visual images of things to come, as well as uncanny communications with certain individuals at a distance.

Mohandas Gandhi and Eleanor Roosevelt are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).

Full descriptions of the Counselor and the Idealists are in People Patterns or Please Understand Me II

Beneath the quiet exterior, INFJs hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life. Those who are activists -- INFJs gravitate toward such a role -- are there for the cause, not for personal glory or political power.

INFJs are champions of the oppressed and downtrodden. They often are found in the wake of an emergency, rescuing those who are in acute distress. INFJs may fantasize about getting revenge on those who victimize the defenseless. The concept of 'poetic justice' is appealing to the INFJ.

"There's something rotten in Denmark." Accurately suspicious about others' motives, INFJs are not easily led. These are the people that you can rarely fool any of the time. Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends. Such a friendship is a symbiotic bond that transcends mere words.

INFJs have a knack for fluency in language and facility in communication. In addition, nonverbal sensitivity enables the INFJ to know and be known by others intimately.

Writing, counseling, public service and even politics are areas where INFJs frequently find their niche.

Functional Analysis:

Introverted iNtuition

Introverted intuitives, INFJs enjoy a greater clarity of perception of inner, unconscious processes than all but their INTJ cousins. Just as SP types commune with the object and "live in the here and now" of the physical world, INFJs readily grasp the hidden psychological stimuli behind the more observable dynamics of behavior and affect. Their amazing ability to deduce the inner workings of the mind, will and emotions of others gives INFJs their reputation as prophets and seers. Unlike the confining, routinizing nature of introverted sensing, introverted intuition frees this type to act insightfully and spontaneously as unique solutions arise on an event by event basis.

Extraverted Feeling

Extraverted feeling, the auxiliary deciding function, expresses a range of emotion and opinions of, for and about people. INFJs, like many other FJ types, find themselves caught between the desire to express their wealth of feelings and moral conclusions about the actions and attitudes of others, and the awareness of the consequences of unbridled candor. Some vent the attending emotions in private, to trusted allies. Such confidants are chosen with care, for INFJs are well aware of the treachery that can reside in the hearts of mortals. This particular combination of introverted intuition and extraverted feeling provides INFJs with the raw material from which perceptive counselors are shaped.

Introverted Thinking

The INFJ's thinking is introverted, turned toward the subject. Perhaps it is when the INFJ's thinking function is operative that he is most aloof. A comrade might surmise that such detachment signals a disillusionment, that she has also been found lacking by the sardonic eye of this one who plumbs the depths of the human spirit. Experience suggests that such distancing is merely an indication that the seer is hard at work and focusing energy into this less efficient tertiary function.

Extraverted Sensing

INFJs are twice blessed with clarity of vision, both internal and external. Just as they possess inner vision which is drawn to the forms of the unconscious, they also have external sensing perception which readily takes hold of worldly objects. Sensing, however, is the weakest of the INFJ's arsenal and the most vulnerable. INFJs, like their fellow intuitives, may be so absorbed in intuitive perceiving that they become oblivious to physical reality. The INFJ under stress may fall prey to various forms of immediate gratification. Awareness of extraverted sensing is probably the source of the "SP wannabe" side of INFJs. Many yearn to live spontaneously; it's not uncommon for INFJ actors to take on an SP (often ESTP) role.

Famous INFJs:

Nathan, prophet of Israel
Aristophanes
Chaucer
Goethe
Robert Burns, Scottish poet

U.S. Presidents:
Martin Van Buren
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter