Enneagram 7-9 Growth Practices (Transformation Part 4) Episode 19

Brent and Janis conclude their series on Transformation as they discuss the final three Enneagram types (7-9) and growth practices that assist each one.

The Life & Love Nuggets podcast will help you learn valuable insights into relationships, life, and love. Brent and Janis have been empowering couples through pre-marriage and marriage therapy in their private practice, Life Connection Counseling, since 1982. They recently retired after forty years of pastoral ministry and are continuing to help individuals, marriages and families in their private practice.

This podcast should not be considered or used for counseling but for educational purposes only.

Suggested Reading:

The Enneagram for Spiritual Formation: How Knowing Ourselves Can Make Us More Like Jesus by AJ Sherrill

Celebration of Discipline, Special Anniversary Edition: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer

The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard

Transcript:

[Brent]: Hello friends. Welcome back to Life & Love Nuggets. We're so glad that you're here. We are kind of wrapping this particular series up. This is our fourth session on transformation. This idea that we've been formed, made into the image of God. We're kind of created to be what we call our true self and then, we all kind of go through real life, where we have influences in our life that suggest to us-- Oftentimes it's not just the suggestions, oftentimes it's a pretty bearing down on us that the way that we are, is not really okay or acceptable and that we need to develop new ways of being and so, we kind of develop a coping self, which is “how do I please big people in my life?”. Whether it's a coach or a teacher or a parent or whoever it might be, so that I can be acceptable in the world.

[Brent]: And then as adults, we realize that some of the ways that we cope as little people just isn't working so well for us and so, we lose some of ourself and lose the best reflection of God in the world and how we be our best self, in essence and so, we've been looking at, how do we recognize those parts of us? We call it the shadow side, which-- You know, every strength-- All of our personalities have strengths and weaknesses and every strength to its extreme has a weakness.

[Janis]: Yes

[Brent]: Easy example--

[Janis]: Is a weakness

[Brent]: Is a weakness and so, I use the example this is-- This is strong, but of rat poison. That 90% of rat poison is good corn. It's the 10% strychnine that will kill us.

[Janis]: Yes.

[Brent]: And so, we might have 90% of us maybe flowing and living our best life and expressing the nature of God in the world. Well, but there's that 10% of us that can kind of steal joy and life and energy from us and so, one of the best ways that we found. We've been talking for the last two sessions and today about the enneagram. It's just a tool. There's lots of tools out there, but the greater way that we have self-awareness, the more we have self-awareness and can identify what our shadow is, the best chance we have of actually changing that or moderating that and balancing that in our life and so--

[Janis]: And it's also recognizing all of us have a shadow side and it's never going to completely go away.

[Brent]: Yes, unfortunately-

[Janis]: We will always be working on some of these issues in our lives, but we can submit more and more of them to God and allow them to be transformed.

[Brent]: But why can't we fix it? I want to fix it!

[Janis]: But I think the key is really turning it over to God.

[Brent]: Yeah

[Janis]: Because I think some perfectionist…

[Brent]: Huh

[Janis]: Huh. You know, might think “well, I'll just work harder on this and then I will be changed”.

[Brent]: Yes

[Janis]: Which is just another form of performance and so, the whole concept is we need to submit ourselves to God and put ourselves in his presence.

[Brent]: Yeah, I have clients all the time “how long does it take to really be able to understand this and turn, and live differently?” and I'm like “well, I recognized some of my shadow about 40 years ago, and I'm still in process”. Hopefully I've made a little progress, but we don't ever arrive and so--

[Janis]: That’s right.

[Brent]: So, we've been talking about practices, kind of growth practices that can help us and I tell people it's going to be like eating. We don't eat and fill up and then we don't eat anymore. It's going to be “how do we eat a new practice? How do we do it consistently over and over again?”. Not that we're finally fixed, but that we are able to balance those things in our life and so, that's what we've been talking about.

[Janis]: Yes

[Brent]: So, we've looked at the first six of those enneagram types and we're not going to go into all the enneagram details. We hope that you'll kind of research that. It’s just one of the reasons we talk about this now, is it's just so easily accessible now in our culture. It's talked about a lot. We don’t-- You know, we tell people “Don’t overcook this, this doesn’t-- Don't pigeonhole people that ‘well, you're all this’”. Because we have all of the types and we can access the strengths from all different types, but we do find ourselves in one of these stories most of the time. I know I sure do and so, that's kind of how we talked about it. It's kind of a story that we live in and so, today we're going to start talking about sevens.

[Janis]: Yay!

[Brent]: Which you know a little bit about.

[Janis]: Oh, you know, I have friends.

[Brent]: You have friends and the seven is what we call “the enthusiast”. They're busy, they're productive, very, very fun loving, very, very spontaneous.

[Janis]: Bring joy to one's life.

[Brent]: They do and we always say that they're always kind of chasing the next shiny coin, the next experience and, first of all, let me just stop and say I am so glad that you're a seven. I'm so glad to be married almost 45 years. Can you believe it?

[Janis]: Wow

[Brent]: Within a few days, 45 years. So glad that you're a seven. It's so help balance. It’s been-- You have been a good practice in my life. Been married to you.

[Janis]: That means I've shaken up your world.

[Brent]: You have, you have.

[Janis]: Yes

[Brent]: And we know that early in our marriage, this is where a certain amount of our conflict came from, is you're spontaneous and ready to do the next thing and “let's go have fun” and I'm like “well, let's get everything just in order and get it perfect and then, we can maybe have fun one of these days”.

[Janis]: Maybe

[Brent]: And so, those were in conflict with each other. I'm so glad that we found a good healthy balance in that. Brought so much-- You brought so much joy to my life and so, it's been awesome [Unintelligible]

[Janis]: And anytime you want to talk about how great I am and how much joy I've brought to your life, I'm really happy to hear that.

[Brent]: So, this has been the rest of our session-- Cocky.

[Janis]: I think we need to move on.

[Brent]: Okay. So, those are some of the unique strengths and wonders of the seven. We've been talking about all of our fears, and that's how we kind of become more self-aware, is recognizing our fear and so, the fear of a seven is of being deprived or trapped in pain in some way. They can fill themselves with experiences to overcome any inner emptiness, and their desire to be happy can deteriorate into frenetic escapism. So, that spontaneous fun-loving nature can go-- Again, the 10% of that, the poison side of that can go too far.

[Janis]: Yes

[Brent]: So, what are some practices that can help? And as you're going to see, all these practices are going to be uncomfortable. The practices I have to do as a one are natural for me, they're uncomfortable, but they actually-- We push into those difficult practices so that we can find balance.

[Janis]: Yeah. I think for me one of the biggest ones that has been helpful is silence and solitude. I think just getting away from everything and being alone it's hard. It's hard to start doing that. You know, I've talked about how I get away and it's like “okay, I've had like two minutes away to think things through, and now let's move on. Let's go do something else!”.

[Brent]: [Unintelligible]

[Janis]: But I found as I've disciplined myself to do that, it really has become more refreshing than even going on a trip or doing one of the adventurous things that I like to do.

[Brent]: You know we're putting this on tape, right? We’re recording this.

[Janis]: I do, but let me just add this, because we're recording. The best of all is, if I can go someplace really awesome and be quiet there.

[Brent]: Oh man, that's beautiful. Isn’t it?

[Janis]: Like, when we went to Scotland, you know? Yes, just wandering the beaches. Having that solitude is really good. So, I think that's important for a seven. I think-- You know, for sevens, we are always looking for adventure. We're always looking for what's out there and part of that goes along with what I've talked about awe.

[Janis]: You know, sevens are pretty good at awe, but you have to discipline yourself to try to find awe in your own backyard. So, I think about-- You know, The Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite movies from growing up, which is pretty crazy because there are some very scary monkeys on there.

[Brent]: They have some scary monkeys, yes.

[Janis]: But it's the whole idea of really there's adventure or what you're looking for in your own backyard. I always go back to the scripture of “God shall supply all my needs”, and that supply needs beyond the physical, beyond the material. It really is even supplying my spiritual, my emotional needs, my social needs, my needs for adventure. Now, obviously socially, we have people in our lives, but he can bring the things that we need in order to have the adventure that we need. We just have to be willing to look around for that and not always be chasing it outside somewhere.

[Brent]: But to have it in you somehow to be able to do that, you know?

[Janis]: Yeah. You know, one of my favorite scriptures has always been-- Which sounds funny, but when God speaks to Moses and Moses is so concerned about “how am I going to go talk to the Pharaoh?” and God says “what's in your hand?” and he has his staff there and then if you look at both Elijah and Elisha. I've preached on this before.

[Brent]: Okay

[Janis]: Had widows that were in desperate need, and instead of miraculously saying “I'm going to produce this food for you”, he said “what do you have in your household?”.

[Brent]: That’s good.

[Janis]: And so, we have to look at, what's in my own backyard? How do I find adventure and excitement with those things around?

[Brent]: I don't have to necessarily go after it or chase after these things, but I can develop those. I can develop things that I enjoy and fun with what I have.

[Janis]: And really celebrating the things that are all around you in your yard or in the park.

[Brent]: Good, good. So, one of the practices for a seven also, is fasting. Not just food, but just saying “no” to something, because they tend to want to grab it. I have a person I've worked with that-- Now, they're financially capable of buying all the new gadgets. This is not an addiction to them, where they're. you know, running up all these bills that they can't pay and spending all the family money, but they just are in a place in life where they could-- You know, a new MacBook comes out and they get it the next day, you know? Always driving a new car. They're just able to do that.

[Brent]: But what they felt impressed by the Holy Spirit was “okay, you're putting those kind of in the wrong place. You have those in too high a position, that experience of buying that new thing”. Even though you can, that they just felt like it was inordinate and so, what they found themselves doing and felt like-- Felt led to do was, if something came out that they wanted, they just automatically said “no” to themselves. “I will not get this for 30 days” and they just fasted it for 30 days.

[Brent]: At the end of 30 days, they then determined and they found out that they were actually in a better place then, a little more objective, to be able to go “do I really need that? You know, is this MacBook that much better than last year's?”. You know, and sometimes they then waited even longer and fasted it completely. Sometimes they do go ahead and get it then, but it's just a practice. Now, it's not comfortable.

[Janis]: And it's countercultural.

[Brent]: Well, for sure.

[Janis]: I mean, Amazon's awesome.

[Brent]: We have a lot of little boxes on the front.

[Janis]: Presents on the front porch. Yeah, it's so exciting. You come home and there's presents on the porch.

[Brent]: That you ordered for yourself yesterday.

[Janis]: Not necessarily for myself. I get excitement getting presents for other people.

[Brent]: Oh my gosh, yes, you're a gift giver. You're amazing at that, yes.

[Janis]: But yeah, I think it is countercultural and I think the whole idea of bigger, better, brighter, newer is so much a part of our culture, that as Sevens, we have to say “okay, there's value in older, there's value in what we have, and there's peace”. As hard as it is to discipline yourself to not get some things, there is a deep peace that comes at some point from “you know what? I'm okay without that thing. I'm okay if I don't go on a trip right now. There are good things where I'm at”.

[Brent]: So, the wonder of the seven is always going to be-- You know, they're going to be stirring up fun and getting the group to do enjoyable things with the family and in our case, us as a couple. You know, we've traveled way more than I ever would have just naturally and I’m so glad.

[Janis]: Way more.

[Brent]: Way more, actually. I mean, I'm just thrilled, you know? And so, I look back on it, all the experiences that we've had that I just would not have done on my own and so, again, finding that balance and one of the scriptures in Psalms says “be still and know that I am God”. So, kind of that stillness that you talked about, that's what that quiet helps you with. Just be still and trust in Him.

[Janis]: Yes, yeah.

[Brent]: So, then we have the eight, these challengers. These are the really powerful personalities in our culture. They're oftentimes running organizations and leading causes in the world. I mean, we just need these personalities. They're just very powerful, powerful and aggressive. They are great reformers. Some of the great reformers in culture have been eights. The challenge, again, everybody has a fear. Now, eights don't oftentimes look like they have a fear because they're just so out there, but they have a fear of being harmed or controlled and so, when they have a fear of being controlled, they have a tendency to then exert control.

[Brent]: So, they tend to have this natural need to control, kind of need for intensity. We just need to beat after the next thing. You know, they have a hard time resting, being calm. You know, “We get this project done. Let's go to the next project”. The desire to protect themselves can deteriorate into constant fighting. They just feel like we just need to wrestle these issues to the ground in the world. So, again, wonderful leaders, we need them, but it can go into a shadow that can be damaging to themselves and to others.

[Janis]: That's why a centering prayer can be very, very good for eights, where they really quiet themselves and really sit in the presence of God and listen for Him. Thinking about him instead of their ideas about Him.

[Brent]: That’s good.

[Janis]: Or their opinion of God and how he's doing, because they are very opinionated.

[Brent]: Yeah

[Janis]: Eights always need accountability. They need to listen to other people's opinions. It's very easy for an eight to talk about what they believe or what they think and so, really being an accountability to friends, to a counselor, to somebody in their life, a spiritual director, to really help them have someone else's opinion, have an influence in their lives.

[Janis]: You know, one of the things I think the most about eights is, when we talk about communication and we say “your thoughts are not facts, they're merely your opinions”.

[Brent]: [Unintelligible]. Yes. 

[Janis]: I think that’s very appropriate for eights. They're your opinions, they are not your facts. No matter how much you think them, they are not facts.

[Brent]: Yes, yes.

[Janis]: And then, I think also service. You know, eights need to be in service, especially with people that he has to listen to. So, the elderly, small children, someone that causes him to slow down, and he has to put his focus on them, just what they need.

[Brent]: And I'm not doing that interaction to get something from them, to make the next sale or to get them involved in a new project or whatever. So, I'm not getting anything back, I'm just giving into that person. That's beautiful.

[Janis]: Yes. One of my favorite eights, who will remain nameless, volunteers with children at our church.

[Brent]: Yeah

[Janis]: And I love that. I love seeing him being involved in the kids that are there, even the little ones. Because it is, it's counterintuitive, because kids don't listen to you or don't appreciate your great opinions and so, I do think it's very, very good for an eight.

[Brent]: That’s good, yeah. So, worked with an eight that's just leading the charge in a very powerful organization and culture right now and just doing amazing things. But has come very self-aware of this, is aware that “I can just roll over everybody, and if I'm not careful, the people I hire can--. Even though I think I'm going to hire the brightest and the best, it can easily turn into-- I want them to just be ‘yes’ people”.

[Janis]: You're still the boss.

[Brent]: Yeah, and then they know that, and they've become very aware of that. So, he has a meeting every week with some of his top leaders, and he's told them “I want you to push back at me questions” and he does that as a discipline because he knows it's important, and he says it's one of the most wonderful/horrible experiences in his life. He knows it's good, he knows he needs to be questioned on “why are you doing that project?” or “why--?”. “Do you think that might be too much for us as an organization or whatever?” and so, he goes from “this is great feedback. It helps temper me; it helps balance my personality” to “I just want to fire them”.

[Janis]: “Idiots”

[Brent]: “Idiots”, and so, what a great practice and what great-- For eight. Oftentimes eight, to be healthy, have to kind of hit a wall. Because they can just be in charge of life and almost (even though they wouldn't say this), almost like “I don't know that I need God, I think I got this figured out” and oftentimes I think God in his mercy lets them “okay, do that”. Until they hit a wall where they can't do something or fix something or whatever and it's kind of that releasing. You know, probably why Paul [Unintelligible] probably was an eight, okay? Why he had this struggle that he had to come and say “I can't fix this” or something that “I have to invite God into this space” and so, that makes usually the healthiest eight.

[Janis]: Yeah

[Brent]: Then we have our last one, which is our peacemakers with the nines. Some suggest that the nines have this amazing capacity to see all of the different expressions and value all of them, and might even have all of everything in them, you know? And so, can be very healthy in that way. They're easy going and self-effacing. These are just the peacemakers, you know? Their feathers don't get ruffled much.

[Janis]: Which is what you are generally mistyped as.

[Brent]: Yes, yes, and I would say it's my wing, you know?

[Janis]: Right

[Brent]: And again, we’re not going into wings, we all-- You know, on the enneagram one-- To one of the sides of us. So, I would probably have tended to have a wing of a two or a nine and I think nine is probably my wing, and there can be a fear of a loss of connection. That's why they want peace. There's a desire to be unaffected by life. “I just don't want things to create stress and anxiety” and so, they do kind of natural things to just not influenced by that, and desire to be at peace can deteriorate into stubborn neglectfulness, where they just don't engage, oftentimes don't confront things that need to be confronted. Oftentimes, they don't step into conflict because they just are looking for ways, pathways of peace. So, what do we do about that?

[Janis]: Well, that's where one of the great practices for nine is coming up with simple steps towards action. They need to take some type of an active role and you know, whether that's writing down a list and following through on what needs to be done, they need to make that movement towards that. I think the other one that you've talked about is prayer. You want to talk about some of your discipline of prayer that has been helpful?

[Brent]: Yeah. I would say that many years ago I started a set time of prayer and began doing what's called “the daily office”. If people are aware of that, it's been around for centuries and-- Where there's a set group of scriptures, a psalm reading, oftentimes an Old Testament reading or an epistle and then a gospel reading for that day, and then there are just ancient prayers from ancient fathers. [Unintelligible] kind of read through the creed together, we say the Lord's Prayer. You know, it takes about 20 minutes every morning. It has been the most consistent time in my life of prayer, because I do it at 08:00 every morning.

[Janis]: Yeah

[Brent]: It's just the time that-- And I actually do it with some other people.

[Janis]: A lot of the time.

[Brent]: A lot of the time and so, I know that there's kind of even a group expecting me to be involved in that and it's been great, because I just would kind of go to sleep to that. Not necessarily literally. Some nines do go to literal sleep; they nap a lot. I’ve never-- My one doesn't let me nap.

[Janis]: No.

[Brent]: So, having some set times to do things. It's what works for me with exercise, I have set days that I do set things at certain times, and that's helped that part of me be most effective. So, having some fixed times to do things can be a great practice.

[Janis]: I think another great practice for nines is journaling. Oftentimes nines are not as aware of their emotions and so, it's good for them to actually start writing down “what are my emotions?”, and I have people and we talked about this in communication. I have people print out one of those face charts. Emojis, basically, to look at “oh, am I bored? Am I discontent? Am I anxious? Am I happy?”. Whatever, but keeping track of those to help them identify their emotions, because it's easier for those to slip, and I think--

[Brent]: And they go to sleep on that.

[Janis]: Yes

[Brent]: On their own needs and their own awareness of their own feelings and nines can actually harbor anger. Now, nobody will know it, obviously, because they're not this really aggressive personality, but they oftentimes carry some deep-seated resentments and anger, and anger is always a secondary emotion and so, there's something underneath that, you know? And being able to pay attention to that, which helps in relationships then, that I need to actually then go talk to this person that I felt unappreciated by or offended by or misinterpreted by, which would be some of the emotions underneath anger and so, that journaling can be really helpful for that.

[Janis]: And to be fair, a lot of nines are very blank and so, the people around them have a hard time interpreting that, because a lot of times they just appear fine. Everything's fine, their need to keep the peace, keeps them not showing some of their emotions and then, maybe because they don't recognize their emotions.

[Brent]: Yes, absolutely. So, they kind of go to sleep on that. Go to sleep on their emotions.

[Janis]: Yeah. You want a lot of sleep today, don't you?

[Brent]: You know what the sleep thing is. Yes, and that wing of mine you've experienced. How many times have you gone “What are you thinking?”

[Janis]: “Hello?”

[Brent]: “Are you okay?”

[Janis]: We used to always laugh in the church because Brent-- If we would have something happen and, I mean, like large things happening, like the entire basement of the church flooding. Brent would say “oh, dear” and so, we all knew if Brent said “oh, dear”, like, a tornado was about to hit us or there's some kind of major crisis.

[Brent]: Oh, dear.

[Janis]: But the important thing is knowing that we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and we all have things that God wants to use in our lives for good and things that we need to submit to him, to really have those things healed or transformed.

[Brent]: And the reason we talk about this is, we don't naturally do this.

[Janis]: Right

[Brent]: We don't naturally want to stop and look at our shadow and pay attention to the weakness and then work on that. We just want to keep doing the way we've been doing it and so, we have to do this very purposefully and because it's a bit painful, it's not easy. We avoid it and so, that's why we talk about it, and that's why we're encouraging you to identify, let yourself in on yourself and be able to identify your shadow. Open handedly take that to God, and “Lord, have mercy, help me with it.”

[Janis]: Yes

[Brent]: “Help me with these parts of me that aren't functioning well. These coping strategies that I developed, they might have worked, again, as a little person, but they're just not working for me now and so, help me move a different direction. So, not only that I can thrive and reflect the nature of God best in the world, but also, it's going to help relationships and all my connections with others”. Because when we're bumping into each other's shadows, those are not pretty--

[Janis]: It’s not--

[Brent]: Productive. It is not pretty.

[Janis]: Yeah

[Brent]: One of these days we'll talk about conflict resolution when people bump into each other's shadows, and there's going to be some ways that couples in marriage can learn new ways of doing that, but it just makes all of life go better.

[Janis]: Yeah. I want to add a few books that I think could be really helpful, and we'll put it in the show notes as well, so you can look at. But “The Enneagram and Spiritual Development” by AJ Sherrill is a good one. “Classic Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster. I was just rereading that, and I think it was the 20th anniversary, and that was at least 20 years ago. It's been around forever. “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World” by John Mark Comer was a very good book for me. “The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives” by Dallard Willis.

[Brent]: Yeah. Dallas Willard, yeah. I don't know what you there.

[Janis]: Sorry

[Brent]: [Unintelligible]

[Janis]: I don't either. Dallas Willard.

[Brent]: Yes, yes, yes.

[Janis]: See? That's why I have you, you got to fix these things. But I want to kind of end on a quote that I came across. I came across this many years. Well, I read C.S. Lewis's “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” many, many years ago, but then I came across a quote from Joanna Weaver in “Having a Mary Spirit in a Martha World”, and I just love this, and I'm going to put her parts in it as well, just because I think it really helps explain it so well, And it has to do with us dealing with our dark side.

[Brent]: Okay.

[Janis]: So, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C. S. Lewis tracks the adventures of a boy named Eustace Scrubb. Obnoxious in the extreme, Eustace is always demanding his own way, and is certain everyone is against him. When his ship, Dawn Treader stops at an unknown island for repairs, the boy wanders off on his own. Stumbling across a great pile of treasure in an abandoned dragon's lair-- Excuse me. Eustace wakes up to find he himself has become a dragon. Dismayed by this and other events, Eustace wants to be different. He tries to be different, but at the end of every day, he remains the same, a boy trapped inside a dragon's body.

[Janis]: Then one night, Eustace meets the great lion Aslan, who leads him to a clear pool. Certain the water will ease his discomfort; Eustace decides to bathe. But Aslan tells him he must undress first. Three times, Eustace scratches at his scales and sheds his dragonish skin, but each time he does, he finds yet another layer underneath. “You have to let me undress you”, the lion tells him. Here's how Eustace describes it, and this is a quote directly from the book.

[Janis]: “The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff pull off. You know – if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away”.

[Janis]: “Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off—just as I thought I’d done it myself the other three times, only they hadn’t hurt—and there it was, lying on the grass, only ever so much thicker, darker, and knobbly-looking than the others had been”.

[Janis]: Naked and trembling, Eustace bathes in the pool and is once again a boy. Aslan gives him a new set of clothes and transports him back to the beach, where the ship waits. Back to his new life, his transformed life. And Joanne goes on to say how we all need de-dragoning or dealing with our shadow side. Every single one of us, left to ourselves, we can only scratch and claw at our dragonous skin. We make small amounts of progress, but little semblance of change. Until we lay our lives before the great lion of Judah, asking him to do the transforming work, our efforts at self-improvement will only yield one layer of dragonish skin after another.

[Janis]: Perhaps that's why the Apostle Paul implores us to, in view of God's mercy, offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. “Climb up on the operating table”, Paul advises. “Put your entire self in the trustworthy hands of Christ. Let the divine surgeon remove the fleshly encasement of sin that has bound you too long. Lie still under the razor-sharp scalpel of Christ's unfailing love and allow him to release what you were created to be”.

[Janis]: And I love how C. S. Lewis concludes his story. “It would be nice and fairly nearly true, to say that 'from that time forth, Eustace was a different boy.' To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. But most of these I shall not notice. The cure had begun” and so, has it begun for us as well.

[Brent]: Wow, so good. So, as we go today, just know you have been made in the image of God. You are deeply loved, you're highly valued, and you can trust your Creator and so, as you allow yourself to be aware of these shadow parts of us, you can present them to Him and trust that he will do good with you. He is not going to harm you; he's not going to shame you; This is not the work of God. But he does help us grow and help us become more refined, so that our reflection is brighter and stronger in the world.

[Janis]: He wants us to be who he created us to be.

[Brent]: Absolutely. So, as we go to today, blessings as you go. Go in peace.