A Novel Idea

©Millie McNabb

I was browsing through a health book I’d read in the past, looking for specific comments that I remembered being in the book. It was frustrating, because there was no index. The table of contents was of some help, but I still had to read much more than material than I had hoped.

One of the things I read was in the preface. I did not remember it from before, but it gave me a chuckle, and took away my frustration. Here’s what it said: “This book is intended to be read as a ‘novel’.… This is the reason why it does not have an index.”

Parenting can be frustrating, too. We can be working with a child and the things we’re saying seem to make no sense to the child. From our perspective, their behavior is making no sense. Often, knowing the “novel” design of your child can open a new chapter in your relationship.

God designed each of us with certain temperament traits. It affects how we process information, why we are touched emotionally, and how we make decisions. We naturally see things from our design; we can intentionally communicate with others according to their design. Paul was willing to “get outside of himself” to reach others as recorded in I Corinthians 9:22. “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.”

Do you have stories to share about intentionally communicating with others according to their design?

Millie McNabb, founder of Christian Values Legacy, offers Temperament Profiles and coaching. Learn more about Temperament Profiles today at www.ChristianValuesLegacy.com.