I now know about God’s purpose for my life, but in early adulthood, I attended a church which didn’t speak much about the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives. The congregation was taught the laws and rules of ‘being a good Christian’ and entrance into heaven, it seemed, was by doing more good deeds than bad ones so the scales ‘tipped in our favour’. The atmosphere was one of perfection and judgement. I often thought God must be very disappointed with me and I felt that I let Him down constantly. The overwhelming feeling of falling short of God’s grace led me to fall away from the church and it was several years before I felt strong enough to try another church. Maybe you’ve experienced this too.
So I sought the Lord and He heard me. I was invited to a church for a dedication of a newborn, a baby born to friends of the family, so I happily attended. The difference between my previous church and this one was like night and day and I was drawn to follow Christ again. This new church spoke about the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Trinity works together. They also had classes I could take during the week to study my faith more and find a deeper relationship with my Lord.
It was at one of these classes I learned about Spiritual Gifts and I was astonished to hear I had been given special Gifts by God and didn’t know it! I took every class I could to learn about God and spoke often with believers who had been involved with the church for many years. Through their guidance and mentorship, I gradually realized the unique way God has designed me for a specific purpose. I’m not just here to live then die and hope the in-between is good enough to get me into Heaven. I’m here for a reason! We all are. God has a royal assignment for me and every believer. Yes, royal; He is the King of Kings and we are His children, princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God on Earth. How cool!
I learned to realize my Kingdom Purpose by studying about my Spiritual Gifts and how God, my Heavenly Father, has also given me a heart passion for his work for me, a personality that works well with what I need to do, natural abilities which help me to carry out specific tasks, and life experiences to help me grow in my faith and calling. These are all in a book I studied at church, called S.H.A.P.E by Erik Rees. This book has played a major role in every aspect of my life, as you’ll come to know if you follow my blog. Another great book to study is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.
I tried to fit everything I could into one blog, but there are so many areas of my life I had to work on to find my Kingdom Purpose I’ve decided to blog about each aspect separately, so you don’t need to read a ten-page blog. I hope you’ll join me as I share with you how God brought clarity and purpose to my life.
My next blog was going to be about compiling a playlist to inspire you as you write your fantasy novel. Instead, I’m letting you, my fellow bloggers, know I’m switching my focus on this site. I’ll let you know how you can still read the playlist post later.
I’ve completed the series of posts I wanted to share with you about Writing Fantasy and the steps I’ve taken on my own journey writing my first fantasy novel. I’m very excited to start the actual writing process this November for my second NaNoWriMo! If you’ve followed my posts over the past few months I hope you’ll join me in November as we fire out 50,000 words together.
As most of you know from reading my profile, as well as being a writing coach I’m also a Christian Life Coach and Certified Lay Pastoral Counselor with many years experience coaching and encouraging believers in their walk with God. This will be my main focus on this blog going forward.
I’ll be blogging about Your Sacred Path, Finding Your Life Purpose, Hearing God’s Voice, Choosing Careers and possibly sharing a few gardening tips along the way. I love to network so I’ll be giving you links whenever I can for you to explore further.
My newsletter will be about the books and courses I’ll be writing, plus I’ll let you know when I’m launching something new, and I’ll have giveaways and social media events exclusively for my blog readers. If you choose to continue following me here that would be lovely, if however, you’re interested in continuing to follow my posts on writing, head over to White Rose Writers and follow my posts there, along with branding and marketing tips from my social media partner, Kirstie Shanks.
Thank you for taking time out from your busy life to read and comment.
An autistic child’s neurodiverse perspective on a daily walk to school with his mother. First distributed as a short story by the child’s counselling centre.
The mother’s neurotypical perspective of the same event follows. We hope we’ve given you a glance into the way an autistic mind differs from a neurotypical mind.
Written by myself and my son, Benjamin Collier.
THE CROSSING-Part 1, written by Benjamin
The Child’s Perspective
Along they walked, side by side. He’d been told enough times now to remember the rule. They always walked side by side when they walked to school. He didn’t have to hold her hand. She said that was ok as long as they stayed together. So he walked by her side and talked in his head to his imaginary friends.
Most of the time, he was oblivious to his surroundings and the other mothers and children who walked the same path. But he noticed that some other children held hands with their mothers, swinging their arms back and forth. Their mothers had obviously told them that they had to hold hands. He wondered why they had different rules from his mother.
He’d come to accept it, but he still constantly questioned why rules applied to some people and not to others. The rules were different for the bigger people, the parents and other adults, and sometimes his big sisters, too.
His mother greeted the crossing guard and the other mothers as they came to the crosswalk.
Then suddenly, her young son darted from beside her and started off across the road. Approaching cars skidded to a screeching halt. Faces were red with panic and anger. The drivers scowled, and the crossing guard blew her whistle with ferocity. The boy’s mother lunged forward and ran to grab her son from in front of the cars.
As she did, she could hear the other mothers shouting heatedly at her son. “Unruly child!”
“That was a stupid thing to do!”
“You know you never cross without the crossing guard!”
And she heard some mutter under their breath.
“Terrible mother” and “Ashamed of herself.”
She carried on across the road, holding tightly to his hand now, trying to ignore the comments and keep calm. After all, they didn’t understand. Her son looked like any other child. Why wouldn’t they expect him to follow all the rules?
The boy heard the words they shouted at him, but he took none of it to heart. They were just repeating the rules, feeding him the information he already had. The rules were just stupid. That’s all there was to it. And there were too many of them.
He preferred his world. There, he could do whatever he wanted without rules, and he could play all day, and no one got annoyed with him. His world was safer and happier. He wondered why other people didn’t live in their own worlds too. Why did they insist on living in a world that didn’t make any sense?
Why did he have to live there?
When they reached the other side of the road his mother kept a tight hold of his hand and told him to look at her eyes. He knew that was the signal she wanted to talk to him. He knew he had done something wrong again. His puzzled little face lifted, and he gazed into her eyes, trying his best to concentrate on her words.
“Why did you try crossing the road without the crossing guard?” she asked in a soft voice.
A question? He wasn’t expecting that. Didn’t she already know?
“It was safe to cross,” he answered, “The cars were all far away. I knew they would stop in time, and they did. I was right. Why am I not allowed to make the cars stop instead of the crossing guard? Why do I have to wait for her to say it’s safe? Why do the cars listen to her and not me?”
His mother frowned a little at first, then something lit up in her eye and her lips curled. He believed that was what people called a smile.
“Because she has the STOP sign,” his mother said, “And you don’t.”
He thought for a moment, a frown on his tiny forehead. Then he looked up at her and gave her his own smile. He knew she liked that, and it’d make her happy.
“Okay,” he said in his matter-of-fact voice.
Maybe someday, when he was old enough, he could buy his own STOP sign.
Satisfied with that dream of the future, he ran to the playing field. Free for a little while till the bell rang and the confusing rules would start again.
She knew their walk to school was always an adventure for him. They would set off from home and stroll along the sidewalk to the road.
It was just the two of them and his four friends; Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Donatello. He never went anywhere without them. They kept him company in a world where she couldn’t go–not yet, anyway. They were his companions when no one else wanted to play with him.
At first, he would take them to Kindergarten with him, but his teacher had become annoyed several times at his lack of attention in class. So now, they stopped at the playground on the way to school, where he had to say “Goodbye” to his imaginary friends.
Sometimes he would look so sad. He asked his mother if they would be alright until he got them after school. They were as real to him as if they were his classmates–maybe more so. They didn’t call him names.
He ran free for a while. She had come to realize that he needed a lot of freedom from the world he didn’t understand. He needed extra time to just ‘be.’
She watched him as he mumbled words she couldn’t comprehend. His arms flailed, and his voice got louder with shouts and screams for no apparent reason. He was so happy just to run and not be confined to rooms and paths and the never-ending rules she had to constantly teach him. Her baby was happy. She loved to watch him play in his world.
He had learned, finally, to stop at the end of the path and wait for her. They had made an agreement that if he stopped all by himself he wouldn’t have to hold her hand anymore. He rarely wanted any physical contact.
She missed the sweet baby boy she could hold tight and hug all day. He didn’t seem to want hugs at all, but he would let her kiss him goodnight, and he held her hand if there were cars close by; only if there were cars.
They were nearing the crossing guard when he suddenly darted across the road! She screamed his name as approaching cars barely managed to stop in time. One car came to a screeching halt and she saw the look of horror on the driver’s face.
Everyone, the drivers, the crossing guard, the other parents, even the other children, all scowled and shouted at her son. They told him he was a bad boy and he needed to behave better. She ran to the middle of the road and grabbed his hand.
As they finished walking across the road, the crossing guard blew her whistle and held up her sign. The other parents started to cross too. Their whispers were intentionally loud enough for her to hear.
“Terrible mother!”,
“Should be ashamed of herself!”,
“Not enough discipline, obviously!”
They all rang in her ears as she held tight to his tiny hand and got him safely across the road and away from the other parents and children.
She felt like shouting at them all, “He has autism! That’s why he sometimes behaves like he does! What’s your excuse?!”
But she had tried her best not to let her son see her get angry with other people. She didn’t want him to think that’s the way people should deal with disagreements. So she asked him quietly why he had run across the road instead of waiting for the crossing guard to tell them it was safe.
He explained, in his simple, broken words, that he had looked to make sure the cars were far away, and he knew they could stop before they got to the crossing.
He asked her why the cars wouldn’t stop for him if he wanted to cross the road. Why couldn’t he make the cars stop if he was right? Why did they only stop for the crossing guard?
His mother frowned a little at first, then her eyes lit up, and she smiled at him.
“Because she has the STOP sign,” she said, “and you don’t.”
He looked at her, puzzled. She was used to that look all too well. Then, a faint grin came across his little face, a rarity for him. She loved to see him smile.
Off he ran into the playing field, alone, or maybe not. Maybe he had some other imaginary friends who he left at school until the next day. Either way, he was free again, happy in his own world for a few minutes, until he had to join the other children in this world again and deal with another rule that made no sense to him at all.
Before you begin your Spiritual Gifts evaluation, you’ll need to understand what Spiritual Gifts are, and are not. These passages from scripture will help you see how wonderful our Heavenly Father is, that He would give all His children such special Gifts!
Romans 12:6-8
1 Corinthians 12:8-10
1 Corinthians 12:28
Ephesians 4:11
1 Peter 4:9-10
As you willingly accept your Gifts from God, ask Him to reveal to you how He wants to use them to accomplish the special assignments He has for you to fulfil your purpose for His Kingdom on Earth.
This evaluation will take approximately twenty minutes.
Let’s begin to unwrap your Gifts
How much do you agree with each statement? Be totally honest as you are right now, not as you want to be. God can use you right now for His Kingdom, so start where you are right now in your life – warts and all! Hold on to the person you want to be – that person will emerge as you seek God with all your heart and trust His leadership. You may see other Gifts unwrap as you grow in your faith. Put your answer beside each statement. And don’t be shy – if you know you fit the statement – say it with confidence in the realization that it’s not anything you’ve done, but what God has done through you. Give Him all the glory!
Score as 0 = Not at all. 1 = Sometimes. 2 = Often. 3 = Usually. 4 = Almost always.
__ Q1. I effectively organize people and projects to reach goals in ministry and work.
__ Q2. I have specific plans for reaching defined goals.
__ Q3. I easily delegate tasks in order to make things run more smoothly.
__ Q4. I seek out opportunities to make decisions.
__ Q5. I understand what must be done to accomplish a goal.
__ Q6. I feel driven to start new projects for God.
__ Q7. I enjoy new challenges and taking risks.
__ Q8. I enjoy making a difference in other people’s lives.
__ Q9. I would like to work as Christ’s ambassador on earth.
__ Q10. I am willing to work hard to see churches reach their full potential.
__ Q11. I can usually tell right away what a person’s character and abilities are.
__ Q12. I usually know if something is from God, Satan or Man.
__ Q13. I recognize inconsistencies in people.
__ Q14. I realize people’s true motives for doing something.
__ Q15. I perceive when something is twisted in communication.
__ Q16. I am driven to impact other people’s lives for Christ.
__ Q17. I rejoice with people who have put their trust in the Lord in difficult times.
__ Q18. I seek out opportunities to help people reach their full potential for Christ.
__ Q19. I like to be able to inspire people and encourage them.
__ Q20. I rejoice at other people’s success.
__ Q21. I seek out opportunities to bridge the gap between myself and people not of my faith.
__ Q22. I sense when a person is open to the message of salvation.
__ Q23. I have helped many people come to faith in Christ.
__ Q24. I believe love, not logic, wins people to Christ.
__ Q25. I’m deeply burdened for those who don’t know Christ.
__ Q26. I welcome taking risks for God.
__ Q27. I get excited by overcoming obstacles through faith.
__ Q28. I readily accept a challenge that seems like a ‘mission impossible.’
__ Q29. I have a passionate prayer life.
__ Q30. I have a great sense that God is in control of all things.
__ Q31. I eagerly give more than the ten percent tithe in my offering.
__ Q32. I usually give anonymously when I can.
__ Q33. I look for ways I can increase my income in order to give more to the church.
__ Q34. I see my resources as belonging to God so I give beyond what is asked of me.
__ Q35. I know everything belongs to God and I am a steward of His bounty.
__ Q36. I firmly believe that people can be healed supernaturally.
__ Q37. I pray specifically to be used by God to heal people.
__ Q38. I believe healing occurs only by God’s will.
__ Q39. I view medical science as a means God sometimes uses to heal people.
__ Q40. I give God all the glory when He uses me to bring healing to someone.
__ Q41. I like to serve behind the scenes.
__ Q42. I rejoice in the success of others.
__ Q43. I like attention to detail.
__ Q44. I seek out ways to assist others in their tasks.
__ Q45. I don’t need recognition for the work I do.
__ Q46. I’m known for making people feel welcome and comfortable.
__ Q47. I seek out people who are alone in a crowd.
__ Q48. I have a strong desire to make people feel loved and accepted.
__ Q49. I see my home as belonging to God and I welcome visitors in His name.
__ Q50. I try to promote fellowship in believers when I can.
__ Q51. I have a clear understanding of what the speaker is saying, even if the language is unknown to me.
__ Q52. I can translate messages in a way that edifies and exhorts believers.
__ Q53. I am able to convey the meaning of words spoken by other believers to glorify God.
__ Q54. I am able to interpret messages given by someone speaking in a language unknown to the audience.
__ Q55. I am eager to interpret when someone starts speaking in an unknown language.
__ Q56. I devote much of my time to reading scripture.
__ Q57. I love to share biblical insights.
__ Q58. I love to help others understand God’s Word.
__ Q59. I feel strong benefits from studying the Bible.
__ Q60. I delight in answering difficult questions about scripture to glorify God.
__ Q61. I motivate others to work towards accomplishing visions for the future of the church.
__ Q62. I am naturally drawn into leadership roles.
__ Q63. I find it easy to inspire people to work together for the benefit of God’s kingdom.
__ Q64. I easily see the vision for the church.
__ Q65. I am happy to release responsibility to others who are qualified.
__ Q66. I am drawn to meeting the practical needs of others.
__ Q67. I devote much prayer time for the sake of others.
__ Q68. I grieve with those who grieve.
__ Q69. I generally place the needs of others above my own needs.
__ Q70. I feel fulfilled when I visit the sick, homeless, orphans or those in nursing homes.
__ Q71. I recognize prayer as a supernatural way God acts in the lives of people.
__ Q72. I give credit to God alone for supernatural works.
__ Q73. I fully understand it is by God’s will only that miracles happen.
__ Q74. I believe I am an instrument for God’s work on Earth.
__ Q75. When I encounter an impossible situation, I pray and look to God for His will.
__ Q76. I feel driven to help others reach their full potential in Christ.
__ Q77. I look for opportunities to serve others.
__ Q78. I enjoy developing a trusting relationship with a small group of people.
__ Q79. I am happy to give my time to help people with their spiritual needs.
__ Q80. I believe people take precedence over projects.
__ Q81. I am known for communicating God’s Word.
__ Q82. I enjoy sharing my strong biblical convictions with others.
__ Q83. I view myself as an instrument to be used by the Holy Spirit to change lives.
__ Q84. I find it easy to confront others’ motives if they don’t live up to biblical standards.
__ Q85. I frequently receive and share messages from God which comfort and challenge His people.
__ Q86. I spend many hours studying scripture in order to apply the truth.
__ Q87. I enjoy explaining God’s Word to others.
__ Q88. I seek out opportunities to speak biblical truth and principles into situations.
__ Q89. I enjoy helping people learn to study scripture.
__ Q90. I believe God’s Word can be effectively taught by several means.
__ Q91. I believe God prompts me to convey His messages through a language I don’t know.
__ Q92. I often pray for others in utterances using an unknown language.
__ Q93. I desire opportunities to pray for the church in an unknown language which I believe glorifies God.
__ Q94. I share words and messages given to me by God, using an unknown language.
__ Q95. I often comfort or encourage others using an unknown language inspired by God.
__ Q96. I enjoy speaking biblical insights into life situations.
__ Q97. I am often sought out by others for advice or wisdom.
__ Q98. I take great pleasure in counselling others.
__ Q99. I am known for making correct decisions and judgements.
__ Q100. I recognize God as the primary source of all wisdom.
Now record your highest marks and discover which Gifts God may have blessed you with.
Record your highest three scores. Your supportive scores are listed as your fourth, fifth and sixth.
If you score the same on more than one Gift, write them on the same line then go to the next score.
Qs 1-5: means you likely have the Spiritual Gift of Administration, and so on;
Qs 6-10 Apostleship
Qs 11-15 Discernment
Qs 16-20 Encouragement
Qs 21-25 Evangelism
Qs 26-30 Faith
Qs 31-35 Giving
Qs 36-40 Healing
Qs 41-45 Helping
Qs 46-50 Hospitality
Qs 51-55 Interpretation
Qs 56-60 Knowledge
Qs 61-65 Leadership
Qs 66-70 Mercy
Qs 71-75 Miracles
Qs 76-80 Pastoring
Qs 81-85 Prophecy
Qs 86-90 Teaching
Qs 91-95 Tongues
Qs 96-100 Wisdom
My Highest Gifts Are:
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
My Supportive Gifts Are:
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
Definitions of Spiritual Gifts
Administration is the Gift which serves and strengthens the body of Christ by effectively organizing resources and people in order to efficiently reach ministry goals.
Apostleship is the Gift which God uses to launch and lead new ministries to expand His kingdom.
Discernment recognizes truth or error within a message, person or event.
Encouragement helps others to live a godly life through inspiration, counselling, and empowerment.
Evangelism is the Gift that enables believers who are blessed to share the love of Christ in a way which draws people to accept the gift of salvation.
Faith helps those who have this Gift to see God’s purposes accomplished; trusting God to overcome all obstacles.
Giving encourages people to joyfully offer more than the usual tithe to further God’s kingdom.
Healing restores health beyond traditional and natural means, to those who are sick and suffering.
Helping offers assistance to others in reaching their goals that glorify God, without thought for the helper’s own gratification.
Hospitality provides others with a welcoming environment for fellowship and comfort.
Interpretation is the Gift which understands a message from God spoken in a language unknown to them or others in attendance.
Knowledge is the ability to communicate God’s truth to others for the purpose of promoting justice, honesty, and understanding.
Leadership is given to believers to relay visions of God’s will for spiritual growth and achieving specific goals.
Mercy is the ability to minister to those who suffer physically, emotionally, spiritually, or relationally. Their acts are characterized by their love, compassion, and kindness.
Miracles are supernatural acts that bring validity to God and His power.
Pastoring is having responsibility for a group of believers to equip them in Christ-centered living.
Prophecy offers messages from God that comfort, encourage, warn, and reveal truths that lead to repentance and spiritual growth.
Teaching is imparting sound doctrine in relevant ways, empowering people to grow in their faith.
Tongues communicate God’s message in a special language unknown to the speaker.
Wisdom is making wise decisions and counselling others with sound advice in accordance with God’s will.
Now you have an idea of the Spiritual Gifts God may have given you. Pray for His will and guidance to use your Gifts for His glory, and to serve others as you minister to them in the love that flows from Christ.
Lynne Collier 