How Well Do You Know Yourself And Your Mate?

When Hugh and I were first married, we took a nearly wed/newly wed class at our church, Colonial Heights Baptist. It was a very interesting and informative class. During the class, we filled out a "personality survey." I remember that everyone else in our class were opposites of their mates, while Hugh and I were exactly the same. We were golden retrievers; loyal, happy to remain quietly in the background, with a small circle of close, intimate friends. It's funny what you remember. I can't tell you now, why the personality types were depicted as animals, or anything else about the survey for that matter. It just stuck with me that Hugh and I were the same and I wondered if through the years as we grow and change, if that would remain the same.

I started thinking about this last week, when our friend the CDO, of The Crazy Carellis Chronicle shared a link to a personality test at Keirsey.com. Hugh and I both took the test. According to the test, I am an Idealist, which I kinda already knew about myself....... Here are some highlights of what it had to say about my personality type....

Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom.
Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic.
Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials.
Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.
Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists are incurable romantics who prefer to focus on what might be, rather than what is. The real, practical world is only a starting place for Idealists; they believe that life is filled with possibilities waiting to be realized, rich with meanings calling out to be understood. Highly ethical in their actions, Idealists hold themselves to a strict standard of personal integrity. They must be true to themselves and to others, and they can be quite hard on themselves when they are dishonest, or when they are false or insincere. They cherish a few warm, sensitive friendships; they strive for a special rapport with their children; and in marriage they wish to find a "soul mate," someone with whom they can bond emotionally and spiritually, sharing their deepest feelings and their complex inner worlds.

Idealists are relatively rare, making up no more than 15 to 20 percent of the population.

Hugh is a guardian, which is described in this way....


Guardians pride themselves on being dependable, helpful, and hard-working.
Guardians make loyal mates, responsible parents, and stabilizing leaders.
Guardians tend to be dutiful, cautious, humble, and focused on credentials and traditions.
Guardians are concerned citizens who trust authority, join groups, seek security, prize gratitude, and dream of meting out justice. Guardians are the cornerstone of society, for they are the temperament given to serving and preserving our most important social institutions. -- And they use all their skills to keep things running smoothly in their families, communities, schools, churches, hospitals, and businesses. Guardians can have a lot of fun with their friends, but they are quite serious about their duties and responsibilities. Guardians take pride in being dependable and trustworthy. Guardians also believe in law and order, and sometimes worry that respect for authority, even a fundamental sense of right and wrong, is being lost. Perhaps this is why Guardians honor customs and traditions so strongly. Practical and down-to-earth, guardians are meticulous about schedules and have a sharp eye for proper procedures. They are cautious about change, even though they know that change can be healthy for an institution.
Guardians make up as much as 40 to 45 percent of the population.

Many of you may have heard of another personality test called Personality Plus. I know it has been used from time to time in Sunday School classes and small group Bible studies. It deals with four personality types: SANGUINE, CHOLERIC, MELANCHOLY, and PHLEGMATIC.
I am a Sanguine married to a Melancholy personality. If you click on each highlighted type you can read their strengths and weaknesses. It will make you think. I know both Hugh and I asked each other if that was a true depiction of ourselves. All of this led us to sit down and take the S.H.A.P.E. personal Profile we had received from one of our former churches. It helps you understand your spiritual gifts and how you are equipped to serve in the ministries of your church body.

I scored the same in three areas...

Mercy-The ability to detect and empathize with those who are suffering in the church family. The ability to provide compassionate and cheerful support to those experiencing distress, crisis, or pain.

Encouragement/Exhortation-The ability to motivate God's people to apply and act on biblical principles, especially when they are discouraged or wavering in their faith. The ability to bring out the best in others and challenge them to develop their potential.

Hospitality-The ability to make others, especially strangers, feel warmly welcomed, accepted, and comfortable in the church family. The ability to coordinate factors that promote fellowship.

I am also characterized as FPCF, (flexible-people-conceptual-feeling.) In other words....Warmly enthusiastic, high-spirited, ingenious, imaginative. Able to do almost anything that interests them. Quick w/ a solution for any difficulty and ready to help anyone w/ a problem. Often rely on their ability to improvise instead of preparing in advance. Can usually find compelling reasons for whatever they want.

Hugh's two highest scores are in the areas of ...

Mercy-(see explanation above,) and Discernment-The ability to distinguish right from wrong, truth from error, and to give an immediate evaluation based on God's Word. The ability to discern whether the source of an experience is Satan, self, or God's Spirit.

He is also a STFT,(structured-task-factual- thinking.) Described as ....Serious, quiet, earns success by concentration and thoroughness. Practical, orderly, matter-of-fact, logical, realistic and dependable. See to it that everything is well organized. Takes responsibility. Make up their own minds as to what should be accomplished and works toward it steadily, regardless of protests or distractions.

I think it's kinda neat the way a lot of these tests coordinate so closely together. And I think we learned a few new things about ourselves and each other in the process. I hope some of you will try it out and let me know how you scored. Blessings Y'all!