Wednesday, March 26, 2008

ENFP


Who am I?

Ahh, that's a good question.

According to the experts, I'm an ENFP. In my opinion of myself, the description below fits me perfectly, which explains a lot of my writings. So if you want to know the scoop behind the person writing this blog, here it is:

The Inspirer

As an ENFP, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you take things in primarily via your intuition. Your secondary mode is internal, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit in with your personal value system.

ENFPs are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. They live in the world of possibilities, and can become very passionate and excited about things. Their enthusiasm lends them the ability to inspire and motivate others, more so than we see in other types. They can talk their way in or out of anything. They love life, seeing it as a special gift, and strive to make the most out of it.

ENFPs have an unusually broad range of skills and talents. They are good at most things which interest them. Project-oriented, they may go through several different careers during their lifetime. To onlookers, the ENFP may seem directionless and without purpose, but ENFPs are actually quite consistent, in that they have a strong sense of values which they live with throughout their lives. Everything that they do must be in line with their values. An ENFP needs to feel that they are living their lives as their true Self, walking in step with what they believe is right. They see meaning in everything, and are on a continuous quest to adapt their lives and values to achieve inner peace. They're constantly aware and somewhat fearful of losing touch with themselves. Since emotional excitement is usually an important part of the ENFP's life, and because they are focused on keeping "centered", the ENFP is usually an intense individual, with highly evolved values.

An ENFP needs to focus on following through with their projects. This can be a problem area for some of these individuals. Unlike other Extraverted types, ENFPs need time alone to center themselves, and make sure they are moving in a direction which is in sync with their values. ENFPs who remain centered will usually be quite successful at their endeavors. Others may fall into the habit of dropping a project when they become excited about a new possibility, and thus they never achieve the great accomplishments which they are capable of achieving.

Most ENFPs have great people skills. They are genuinely warm and interested in people, and place great importance on their inter-personal relationships. ENFPs almost always have a strong need to be liked. Sometimes, especially at a younger age, an ENFP will tend to be "gushy" and insincere, and generally "overdo" in an effort to win acceptance. However, once an ENFP has learned to balance their need to be true to themselves with their need for acceptance, they excel at bringing out the best in others, and are typically well-liked. They have an exceptional ability to intuitively understand a person after a very short period of time, and use their intuition and flexibility to relate to others on their own level.

Because ENFPs live in the world of exciting possibilities, the details of everyday life are seen as trivial drudgery. They place no importance on detailed, maintenance-type tasks, and will frequently remain oblivous to these types of concerns. When they do have to perform these tasks, they do not enjoy themselves. This is a challenging area of life for most ENFPs, and can be frustrating for ENFP's family members.

An ENFP who has "gone wrong" may be quite manipulative - and very good it. The gift of gab which they are blessed with makes it naturally easy for them to get what they want. Most ENFPs will not abuse their abilities, because that would not jive with their value systems.

ENFPs sometimes make serious errors in judgment. They have an amazing ability to intuitively perceive the truth about a person or situation, but when they apply judgment to their perception, they may jump to the wrong conclusions.

ENFPs who have not learned to follow through may have a difficult time remaining happy in marital relationships. Always seeing the possibilities of what could be, they may become bored with what actually is. The strong sense of values will keep many ENFPs dedicated to their relationships. However, ENFPs like a little excitement in their lives, and are best matched with individuals who are comfortable with change and new experiences.

Having an ENFP parent can be a fun-filled experience, but may be stressful at times for children with strong Sensing or Judging tendancies. Such children may see the ENFP parent as inconsistent and difficult to understand, as the children are pulled along in the whirlwind life of the ENFP. Sometimes the ENFP will want to be their child's best friend, and at other times they will play the parental authoritarian. But ENFPs are always consistent in their value systems, which they will impress on their children above all else, along with a basic joy of living.

ENFPs are basically happy people. They may become unhappy when they are confined to strict schedules or mundane tasks. Consequently, ENFPs work best in situations where they have a lot of flexibility, and where they can work with people and ideas. Many go into business for themselves. They have the ability to be quite productive with little supervision, as long as they are excited about what they're doing.

Because they are so alert and sensitive, constantly scanning their environments, ENFPs often suffer from muscle tension. They have a strong need to be independent, and resist being controlled or labelled. They need to maintain control over themselves, but they do not believe in controlling others. Their dislike of dependence and suppression extends to others as well as to themselves.

ENFPs are charming, ingenuous, risk-taking, sensitive, people-oriented individuals with capabilities ranging across a broad spectrum. They have many gifts which they will use to fulfill themselves and those near them, if they are able to remain centered and master the ability of following through.

From:
Personality Page

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Book It!


http://www.bookitprogram.com/enrollment/individual_hs.asp

Have you heard of "Book It" from Pizza Hut? It's a reading program. The sign up has begun. We've heard about it, but have never done it. It sounds like fun.

Here's the description from the website:

About BOOK IT!
BOOK IT! motivates children to read by rewarding their reading accomplishments with praise, recognition and pizza. BOOK IT! is simple for the teacher to use, flexible because goals match reading ability, and fun because achieving a goal is a great reason to celebrate.

A literacy activity that parents can participate in, BOOK IT! was created in 1985 and has since grown to 22 million students strong.

Simple
BOOK IT! runs every school year from October through March. The teacher sets a reading goal for each child in the class. A tracking chart and reproducibles are included to make it that much easier. As soon as a child meets the monthly reading goal, the teacher gives him or her a Reading Award Certificate.

Flexible
BOOK IT! goals are based on reading ability. Number of books, number of pages, or number of minutes – they all work. BOOK IT! can also be used with the reading curriculum or as support for comprehension or intervention programs. For children not reading independently, the goal can be set where a parent or others read to the child.

Fun
Pizza Hut is proud of all BOOK IT! readers! The restaurant manager and team congratulate every child for meeting the monthly reading goal and reward them with a free, one-topping Personal Pan Pizza, BOOK IT! card, clip and sticker. On each subsequent visit, the child is rewarded with another sticker. Every child who meets their reading goal in all six months of the program receives a BOOK IT! All-Star Reader Award from Pizza Hut.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Life!

Time to get controversial! This is my blog, so here comes my opinion.

This weekend, as we celebrated Easter, I was inspired again by Jesus rising from the dead! How amazing! He defeated death with a victorious Life!

I’ve been in dialogs with a few people recently about this issue of LIFE. Life is the opposite of Death. Life was in the Garden, Death was the result of the fall. We are Dead in our sins but are made Alive in Christ. God declared that we should not Murder, and Christ came that we might have Life!

So as I look to this election, there is no way I can vote for anyone who opposes Life. Yes, there are many, many others issues. However, they pale in comparison to the issue of Life. Abortion, Partial Birth Abortion, the Morning After Pill, Euthanasia…

Why does the issue of whether or not every poor child has health insurance matter if we don’t value every child? Why do we want to push for tax cuts for seniors and the middle class when we don’t even value the lives of the older people in our society? Why are we so adamant to “bring our sons home” when we don’t even value the 3,000 sons that are killed every day by abortion in the US, a number greater than the tragic 2819 who died on 9/11?

The main arguments I’ve heard recently:

1. “We shouldn’t impose our moral standards on those who believe differently.”
If we are opposed to imposing Biblical Mandates on non-believers, where do we draw the line? Why not allow everything from drugs, prostitution, incest, rape, armed robbery, cheating on taxes, sexual molestation... Should we allow all of that and not impose our morals on people? Do we want to live in a country where it's ok to do what we want with no moral standard? There has to be a standard.

I like living in a place where there is no porn on PBS and Billboards have decency restrictions. Men cannot walk around naked and G moves can't have certain cuss words. Child Porn is prosecuted and Sexual movies are placed behind a wall at the movie store. It's illegal to come into my home and take my stuff, the bank can't run off with my money, and motorists are required to stop at stop signs. Those are all "imposed morals" that our country agrees with, for now.

So how far should we go?

As far as the law allows, as far as the majority allows. We are a government of the people and for the people. As long as the majority believes that life is important, I say we vote to make that a priority! It's our right, our vote, our choice. To not do so is to give in.

2. “Making abortion illegal does not express Christ's love to the world.”

Could we have loved our country out of slavery? Or was that an issue worth fighting for?

Love women who've had an abortion? Yes! But love the issue away? No.

3. “There are other moral issues to think about.”

Yes, there are other moral issues. Life is full of them. Like don't cheat on your taxes and don't spend more than you make. But some definitely make more of an impact than others.

Presidents can do little to change the economy, but they can elect judges who rule in favor of not breaking the "Thou Shalt Not Murder" commandment. If we believe that life begins at conception, then there is just one issue that stands far above the others. 3000 people murdered each day. Over 1,000,000 each year. Less than one percent is from the exploited reason of rape.

The issues runs even deeper still. The Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which Barak Obama opposed, tried to keep people from going even further, killing a baby that has amazingly survived an abortion. This isn’t a question of “when is a baby a baby,” this is about a baby that was alive and well, but not wanted, and is therefore murdered. And allowing Partial Birth Abortions of late-term pregnancies where the children are potential genetically imperfect shows that only full-term, perfect children are wanted by some people in this country. That's a very powerful statement!

For that reason, I have prioritized the issues. It is not up to us to decide who is or isn’t wanted in this world. If it were, murder would be as commonplace as coveting your neighbor’s car.

If you think there's nothing wrong with abortions and euthanasia, fine. Vote accordingly. We have that right. But for me, I’m voting for a president who supports LIFE. And I pray that those who agree with me do the same.

Cinderella by Steve Curtis Chapman



Have you heard this song by Steve Curtis Chapman?

Here's a quote from his website: "This Moment: I want to remind people that God is more concerned with our day-to-day than we might think. He is not just in the valley or on the mountaintop. He's on the straight open road, too. I hope we can begin to really experience what he's doing in this moment."

You can hear the story behind the song here: http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/cinderella.htm

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Thanks!


Tonight I'm thankful for...

my three kids that showered me with kisses when I tucked them in bed; the cool spring night and the family walk we had around the neighborhood; the internet and being able to connect with so many good friends; my grandma who plays Scrabble with me on Facebook; fresh air; laughing; smiles; my husband's strong arms; and a God who loves me enough to give me His all.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

In My Heart

My kids and I were looking through a children's anatomy book today. When we got to the page with the inside view of the heart, Katie asked innocently, "Where is God?"