What I Do Best:

What one thing are you best at?
I think I’ve figured mine out. It’s probably about time, since I am 51.
I have often said that I love teaching and preaching. I love being up front. Entertaining with the information I have to present. Teaching in a playful way. But that’s just a facet of what I’m best at.

I taught this past Sunday. The teacher needed a fill-in and he asked me because in his words he wanted someone to teach who “really gets it.” The material isn’t that difficult to grasp, but I think the teacher thought the class was having trouble because they were struggling with the challenge that the material presented to their existing faith system.

I picked two chapters to tackle, a daunting task indeed! Getting the first would help to make sense of the second. I had a blast teaching. Then, we were done. I got the most positive of feedback. Several people told me that they really understood it. A couple even asked if I’d be willing to teach for a whole quarter (so far I’ve only done occasional fill-ins).

(Here’s an interesting aside…I noticed a gentleman when I first came into the room who was obviously a guest, but he also looked strangely familiar. Turns out he was a retired seminary professor, and not just any seminary professor: he was my Christian Education professor. Now there’s some pressure!!!)

So what am I best at? My gift lies in my ability to take difficult material and information and present in layman’s terms. I’m not “dumbing it down” but making it understandable to the average person.

I had another experience last week that helped me come to this conclusion. On Friday I was teaching our class at the nearby jail. I used the lessons we have on Trent/Smalley and Understanding MBTI. I was working with four guys. We took the Trent/Smalley inventory and laid out the foundations of strengths and weaknesses. Then we moved to further refine that by understanding the principles of MBTI. They got it. It was exciting to them to understand how their personality impacted their choices, their significant relationships and their work experiences. And the guy who jumped all over it was the guy in the room who had been putting off getting his GED.

I think that’s why I was so excited a couple years back when I almost taught a class on personal philosophy and on Christian History. They were two classes people waited until the end to take—not ones I would have ordinarily been excited about either. But as I studied, I saw so many ways to make the material for both seem interesting and valuable for understanding the student’s lives. And that’s probably why it was so devastating when I was fired.

I was talking to Nelson about this and he told me that this was another reason that I should be writing. Maybe he’s right. But it’s not in the writing where I feel the most joy. They say insight and a quarter won’t even buy a cup of coffee these days. Guess I better figure out what to do with this fabulous insight.