Just returned from a Mission with Precious Blood Parish in Owensboro, KY. I met and prayed with some wonderful people who are letting their Light shine in the Parish and beyond!
We discussed a couple of communication processes using questions … asking others, but more importantly asking ourselves. Here are some of the questions and ideas we explored during the three day Mission.
Who am I? This digs to our very core. Who am I? What a question! But instead of just ignoring the question start writing down answers. Explore yourself, the deeper you explore the more you will understand. And if you don’t like some of the answers…adjust!
What do I believe? If you were required to stand on a roof top and shout out what you believe , for everyone to hear–What would you say? Similar to what does your sign say or what is your message. What do you believe?
What are my values? This one is similar to what do I believe but with a twist. What values to you adhere to. Truth, is that important? Honesty, commitment, service to others… what values drive you to be who you are. Write them down so you know who you are and what you are committed to.
What are my talents? This a little easier but still difficult to address. The best way to discover talents is to use your talents. List your talents — it helps define who you are.
What am I doing with my talents? Do I give my talents away, that is, do I use them. The only way they come alive is to put them to action. If you are an artist but haven’t put a brush on a canvas, you aren’t using your talents. If you are a great communicator but don’t greet people, or look them in the eye when you speak, you aren’t doing much with your talent. Use you talents, all of them, use them often, and you will discover there’s more in there. Keep looking!
What holds me back? Let’s face it you are a unique individual, unique talents, skills but sometimes things hold you back from being the best you can be. Explore what holds you back. Name it, tame it and move forward … get past the obstacle. You first have to identify what holds you back.
Questions are wonderful tools to use for growth. Grow yourself, grow your family, your church, and your workplace.
Here is the Gary Montgomery process when using questions with others … Q-L-C.
Of course the Q stand for quetions. Open conversation with others with questions about them.
The L stands for Listen and for Learn. And learning about others is most important. Listening is the process we use to Learn about others. Pay close attention about them because the more we learn about others, the deeper we can go in building a relationship.
The C stands for Contribute. Once we learn what individuals like and dis-like we can Contribute to them and help them grow by feeling better about themselves. When they feel better about who they are, because they were around and with us, well that’s leadership. They will want to be around you, listen to you and be influenced by you more and more because you help them feel better about who they are. That’s the process … how to use questions to help others grow.
At the three-day Mission we focused on using the questions in our life to grow, to discover the Light, to become the Light, and then to give the Light of Christ away.
Be specific and go deep when questioning yourself. You can take it because you want to be the best you can be.
Be gentle when using the question technique with others. They don’t yet know how good they can be. They need you to guide them.
The friendly people at Precious Blood were an inspiration for me to continue questioning and working to grow and share the Light! Thanks for the kindness and hospitality!