Curious Christian

I had a moment of self realization the other day. I realize why I am drawn to counseling as a way of helping people. It basically has to do with my love language.

For those that haven’t read Gary Chapman’s book, “The Five Love Languages”, the basic thrust of his book is that there are five basic ways we show love; and that knowing your own preferences and the preferences of those you love can help you negotiate a whole host of relational issues (see here for more).

Well, I’ve known for some time that my primary love language is spending “quality time” with people, particularly in terms of D&M conversations and that sort of thing. I don’t know how I missed joining the dots before but I now see that counseling is an extension of that. Counseling involves loving through deep conversation, the way I like to show love most.

The curious thing is I remember praying for the gift of healing about six months ago after realizing I really needed to be empowered in that way given the sorts of situations I get involved in. I had in mind the more flashy stuff. Now, flashy stuff has happened as you’ll see from my earlier posts, but that was sort of a once off. But now I am wondering if God has answered that prayer in a bigger way still, just not in a way I recognized it. He confronted me last year about my reticence in going to college and led me here despite long standing opposition. I sense God is revealing to me that he will empower me to heal when it is needed, but for me it will more likely be through deep conversation than other ways. I still don’t know if this is just to be an adjunct to what I already do or become more central. Guess I’ll have to wait and see. In the meantime I can see the effects.

Note: This thread, College Reflections, is to be submitted for assessment as part of my coursework in The Foundations of Christian Counseling at Morling College
at the end of Semester 1, 2007. If you would like to speak to me about
issues I raise in this thread, but are concerned about privacy, please
email me privately  instead of leaving a public comment.