Your battery and others
Testimony
We have already had some amazing speakers teach in class but one of my favourite things that I have learnt was taught by Darlene Cunningham. I feel so privileged that she spoke in our school as she doesn't usually do that anymore. She explained that she spoke on something totally different to what she had planned. She talked a lot about our gifts and how there are so many different strengths and gifting’s people can have. So you can have 5 strong leaders all with different gifts that work together and can work more effectively. If you put those 5 leaders working on their own doing the same job it would be a lot less effective.
Darlene spoke on your battery and how you keep it charged. We all have things that happen that bring us down, and drains our battery and other things which fill it up. When you are in leadership it is important that you know what makes your battery low so you don’t reach a breaking point. It is also just as important to know what fills up your battery so you avoid getting too low. Darlene shared she is a very busy women and an extrovert, but she finds her energy in the morning by having time on her own. She also has lunches off when she knows she has a full day so she can recharge her batteries. I found this so interesting and started asking God what drained my batteries. I am an extrovert and a people person, but I do find myself getting to my breaking point when I am around people continually, also when I have too many projects going on. I want to make sure that I don’t volunteer to do more than I can handle. I also worked out how I recharge my batteries. This was somehow easier for me to work out. Every evening after class I take myself away from everyone I have been around all day and have time either on my own or with a friend outside of class. I find it refreshing to talk with a new face and to get away from my room or base. I find it relaxes me and I can process my day and sleep better. I did this during my DTS (Discipleship Training School) after a busy day, and never understood the purpose and actually saw it as a negative. Everything Darlene shared made so much sense.
The other important thing to know if you are a leader is to be aware of your team’s batteries! If you don’t know what drains their batteries you could over work them and put them in a job they aren’t ready to do. It is also so important that you know what recharges their battery. When I lead a team I really want to discern both what is draining and what will help them recharge.
This has been just one snippet of what I have learnt. We have also had Dawn Harris in our class talking on, "Word by Heart" which is normally another school. We all started learning 10 verses from the Bible and learning the meaning behind those scriptures. I find God’s word so exciting and I have been praying that God would help me learn more scripture.
I am sure I am where the Lord wants me to be at this time, as I feel he showed me so clearly. I remembered being back in Thailand and asking God to tell me if I was meant to staff in the Philippines or not. I felt myself getting very frustrated and confused. Every day I was doing a mini study and listening to God’s voice but outside of that He started telling me letters. I actually dismissed them and didn't write them down as I thought I would remember them. Day 1: T Day 2: L Day 3: S. I got "T" and "L" and started to guess what it was and when I got the "S" I totally dismissed all the letters as it wasn't a word. I didn’t think any more of it and thought it was me trying to get a sign from the Lord. Well, when this school started, we were all in the classroom worshiping and I had my journal open. I had written down at the top of the page our school name, TLS (Transformation Leadership Seminar) and the penny dropped! I suddenly understood that was God talking to me during that time in Thailand and calling me to where I am now. This makes me so happy and excited I know, that I know, that I know, I am where I am meant to be and all along God was speaking to me I just put him in a box!