Understanding a Vase/Rose, by Sally

I want to get back to writing more about the actual subject of this blog - Vessels and Flowers.  I will start with discussing Vases.

In writing our book we tried to get across the truth that when God created us he chose which temperament we would have.   Another truth is that people who have the same temperament usually have some differences from each other. One of these five temperaments we named a Vase.  A Vase is just generally strong, decisive, direct, a no-nonsense lady.

What I love about our Vessels that were chosen for each temperament is that you can get a general picture of just what a Vase gal is like by looking at most vases.  The one pictured in the book has straight sides and is tall.  Generally that is what she is like.  Her demeanor is like that.  Straight.  Strong. 

She is an extrovert, so she is able to move ahead easily.  She can step on many a toe without even realizing she has done so.  And sometimes when she finds out she has stepped on a toe or two, she really doesn't care.

One of the thirty-five combinations that there can be for Vessels and Flowers is a Vase/Rose.  She is a Vase with the function of being a Perceiver.  What a strong gal.  My Mom was that combination.  She was not a strong Christian so it is sad to me that she never really took advantage of that wonderful function of Perception.  Being parented by her was an adventure.  Anything was either RIGHT or WRONG.  Or BLACK or WHITE.  She was totally unable to see the many colors of things.  My little Velvet Box/Daisy world was full of all kinds of colors.  I am sorry that I did not know about V & F then.  I could never be like her or she like me.  I am so grateful for V & F now that women can know their combinations and know that of others and quit trying to change the other to be like themselves.

The Vase/Rose woman will always be challenged.  It will take time and grace to be patient and forgiving of others.  No other woman will have the same degree of fervancy that she has.  The one closest to her will be a Vase/Iris or a Pitcher/Rose. That motor inside of her will always be a running and that energy will be flowing to move ahead and expect others to move as fast as she does.  Because she is perceptive she will intuitively KNOW answers to life's problems.  Others don't.

Each one of us has an assignment from God to work at building our character.  She will have moments of not giving in to letting that Vase roll over everyone and everything in her way.

God bless you Miss Vase/Rose.  God will continue to allow circumstances to come your way to help you grow in that area of your life, because you are so precious and important in God's Kingdom.  It was His choice to make you that way.  Your strength and decisiveness are so important.

The Vase/Rose of Character is so beautiful.  If you are one or know one, or are married to one, please comment and help us understand this lovely lady.

Blessings!

What It Is Is Football, by Sally

Years ago Andy Griffith had a great, funny skit on Football.  The funniest line in it for me was when someone asked him if he wanted a drink and he said, "I think I will take a big orange!"  Also he explained the game in a way that a naive young man would see the game.  It was really funny.

I was born in Michigan.  Grew up in home-town Michigan.  Loved the Wolverines and the Spartans.  I also loved the Detroit Lions and the Detroit Tigers.  I remember when I was very young our family went to a Tigers game in Detroit at Tigers Stadium. And I was a cheerleader from junior high, through high school and all of my college years.  Have school spirit to spare.  In high school I went to a cheer-leading clinic in Lansing and saw a Michigan State-Cornell game.  At the half of the game we were all part of a cheer at that infamous stadium.  I love football.  Watch it a lot on TV.

When Morrey and I were in the Detroit area for training in language acquisition the group went to a Tigers game and I was surprised at how that team spirit was still there.  This little old lady was yelling and cheering on those Tigers.  The old gal still had it.

The Infamous Michigan-Ohio State game just came on.  Right now the score is tied.  I feel like I win no matter who wins the game.  I am a Michigander, but also have become a Buckeye.  I always cheer on the Wolverines and the Buckeyes when they play other teams.  As I was watching the start of the game I was greatly impelled to come write this blog.

 I have school spirit for both of these teams.  Actually, I want both of them to win.  However, it disturbs me to hear the vitriol attitude of late.

A few years ago I mistakenly attended a Michigan-Ohio game party here in Ohio.  Wrong.  I was insulted almost as I entered the home.  This is a blog entitled "Vessels and Flowers".  So this Velvet Box had a hard time receiving the hurt and getting over it.  It took me a long time to forgive and let it go.

Two more experiences bother me.  I was at a local church at the same time as one of these rival football games and a visiting guest ranted and insulted Michiganders from the pulpit.  Really??  Also I heard of folks putting out placards in front of their homes on this game day that say "Michiganders Not Invited".  Really??

Makes me wonder about Heaven.  Will there be doors that say "Only Lutherans invited here!"   Or one that says "Charismatics may not come in!!"

Perhaps I have just lost all of my friends in Ohio.  I just have not had the experience of seeing this in my Michigan family and friends.  If they do this they are wrong also.

During my college years, Northwestern was a bitter rival with Bethel College.  Our basketball games were really serious.  As a cheerleader, oh, how I cheered and rooted for my beloved Northwestern College.  But I never saw anything like this.

It has bothered me for years and I have never expressed my displeasure about it.  I have a hard time seeing this kind of behavior as any part of Christian Character.  Every time someone says insulting words about Michiganders it hurts my heart. Is this behavior really school spirit or something very unpleasant?

By the way, the name of the skit by Andy Griffith was "What It Was Was Football".  It is football.  There are nice people, even Christians on both teams.  They both want to win.  We want our team to win.  Do we really hate those on the other side???  Do we feel the same about others who don't agree with us or are other denomination??  Are we going to start putting "keep out" signs in front of our house for those who are different in any way from us???

Well, I feel better now.  I have written so many blogs with so little comments.  I quit writing blogs for a long time because it seemed that no one was out there.  Honestly, I do want your feedback on this. 

Full disclosure:  This blog is from me, Sally.  Do not blame in any way my dear Buckeye friend, Brenda.

Blessings Galore to all of you Wolverines, Buckeyes, and all of the other friends in other states.

Amazing Vessels, by Sally

I am always amazed at how accurate the Vessels are in depicting just what kind of a person we are.

If you are trying to describe someone, if you just say, "She is a Golden Pouch."  It is known that she is probably quiet, kind, and soft-spoken.   It is immediately understood just what kind of a person she is.  And that is true of all of the Vessels.  The minute you say which Vessel they are a whole list of attributes are immediately understood.


"She is a Velvet Box."  You know she is complicated and laid-back.

"She is a Pitcher."  You know she is very practical and likes things done right.

"She is a Vase."  You know she is a strong no-nonsense lady.

"She is a Basket." You know that she is fun-loving, outgoing, and loves to "swing".


When the five Vessels were chosen even Brenda and I did not completely know just how complete a description each were.  Over the years we have enjoyed seeing more and more attributes of each Vessel that so accurately depict each person.

One just needs to take care in expressing one's opinion of someone.  If others have not been aware of Vessels and Flowers they can be put off by the unknown language of it all. 

Enjoy your uniqueness.  Enjoy the wonderful world of understanding just how very special you are.

A Picture of Who You Are, by Sally

I love the outcome of Vessels & Flowers.  I love it that when you have discovered which Vessel you are and which Flower you are, you have a picture of a Vase with a Rose in it, or a Basket with a Daisy in it. That image has helped so many.  It helps you to understand yourself and others too. 

I am a Daisy.  Since V & F came into being, I have seen so many lovely daisies in pictures and on objects in stores.  Every time I see it, I see myself in that flower.  It again tells me who I am. What I really like is that over the years I have been given so many lovely presents with daisies on them.  It is so great because the giver is telling me that they know who I am also.

When I know what Flower someone is I enjoy finding a special present that has that Flower on it.  Brenda and I have exchanged many a Daisy present with each other.  It is fun.

When you discover which Flower you are it will be fun to see that Flower in your everyday life, in the store on special items.  Every time you see it you again recall how very specially God created you.  And once you discover the Flower of your friends you will enjoy finding special gifts for them.  It tells them that you know who they are and you also relish with them the special way God created them.

Do you have a special story of getting or giving an item with yours or others Flower on it?  Please share on the comments.

Blessings.

V & F is a Ministry, by Sally

In case you were not quite sure, Vessels and Flowers is a ministry.  It is information about how we are created by God.

He created us each in a unique way.  Many decisions were made when He created us in the womb.  The family we were born into, the color of our hair, the color of our eyes, etc., etc.  God decided also what temperament we would be and how we would function.  That is what Vessels and Flowers is all about.

It was never meant to be just an instruction book of unique information.  Our emphasis has always been to be thankful to God and to honor Him by His love for us and unique way He designed us. 

It is a ministry to help, especially women, to know that even though we are unique, there are others that have the same temperament and the same function.  It was written to help us to understand ourselves better.  Over the years we have had so many testimonies of women that felt so isolated and were shocked that there are other women just like them.

It is a ministry to help us to understand those others that sometimes mystify us.  We don't understand just why they do what they do.  The reason is usually because they are another Vessel or Flower.

And it is a ministry to help us to realize how wonderful God is to lovingly create us especially. 

I repeat.  Vessels and Flowers is a ministry. 

The Birth of Vessels & Flowers, by Sally

Years ago I put on a little home brewed friends seminar.  We had just just moved to Coshocton and had trouble finding a place to rent.  A local real estate agent was helping us find a place.  There was nothing available at the time so she made the arrangements for us to rent a lovely large home with five bedrooms and three baths for a few months until we could get into something more suitable for us.

The home was so lovely and large so I planned a weekend seminar for my friends from Fremont and Lima and for my new friends in Coshocton.  It was fun because I was able to fashion a weekend that was what I had always wanted for a women's seminar.  I planned times for meetings in our living room that were fun and interesting.  I had a few missionary friends that shared their ministries to us.  Brenda shared about temperaments.  I shared about spiritual gifts.  We went to a tourist town, Roscoe Village, on Saturday afternoon to SHOP.  We had so much fun over the weekend.

I think it was on Saturday evening we were having coffee and snacks around our large dining room table and we all got into a conversation about our temperaments and how we function with each other.  Brenda and I had fun talking about these subjects and someone spoke up and said, "You two should write a book about this."  Of course I pulled back, but Brenda said, "When do we start!"  And that is how the first seed about Vessels and Flowers got planted.

Awhile later I was attending a women's seminar.  The accommodations were very nice and the women who put it on did a great job.  The speaker was a known author.  Her subject was about our different temperaments.  However, I went home so FRUSTRATED.  She described the temperaments as certain kinds of people.  I had trouble figuring out which one I was.  Another problem was the descriptive word of that temperament really didn't mean anything.  It was nothing that I could picture and get a grip on who I was.  She spoke around the subject, but made no attempt to come to a conclusion of now that you know which temperament you are, how does that help you at all.  At the end of the seminar they asked for anyone in the audience to share.  Several women got up and some even broke down crying.  They were so relieved to find out what temperament they were, but they were so frustrated that now how does that solve any problem in their lives.

After that seminar I went home and "mulled" for awhile.  I finally called Brenda and we discussed how we just had to do something about this.  We saw how God had created us with a specific temperament and a specific way to function and finding out what that was could help us to understand ourselves, others, and God better.  The discovery of knowing that would help us to be free in many areas of our lives.

We saw the temperament as a base of who we are and the function as something put inside of that base.  We talked about all kinds of pictures of that.  One I remember is a picture of some kind of stuffed animal with something else in their arms.  Aren't you glad we didn't use that one.  But the one the Lord kept putting on our hearts was a picture of a vessel and something put into that vessel.  A picture of that would describe who you are.

And that, dear friends, is how Vessels & Flowers was born.

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The Enemy Knows, by Sally

Since being involved in Vessels and Flowers Brenda and I have had many experiences of being told how much it meant to gals, and even guys, to find out their Vessel and Flower. We have seen great joy and many tears in their discovery of who they are. 

For some it explains so much about themselves.  Why they do the unusual things they do.  Why they  sometimes don't fit in with others.  Especially this is true for the Velvet Boxes.  They are such unusual people and so complicated, they especially have a hard time fitting in with anybody or anything that is going on.  Usually, they don't know why this is true.  However, each Vessel has its own peculiarity and the discovery of these truths helps us to finally begin to understand ourselves.

I had a most unusual experiences awhile ago.  Brenda and I know that when people either read the book or just hear about V & F they either "get it" or they don't.  Some people just don't think it is important and pay no attention.  While others are thrilled to get this information and appreciate the knowledge of V & F.

Awhile ago I was ministering to a lovely young gal.  It just happened that most of her problems in her life had to do with what Vessel and Flower she was.  She naturally expected others to be like her.  And she was being criticized because she was not like others.  Because of my understanding of V & F I was beginning to end each of her sentences.  I knew that her suffering was because of just who she was.

I also could see that because of who she was the enemy was attacking her in those areas of her life.  All at once the Lord showed me that perhaps others did not understand or appreciate V & F, but the enemy knows these principles and attacks us where we are vulnerable.  

Vases - He will get them in a place where others do not do what they think they should, and get that Vase to get frustrated and angry.

Baskets - Where do I start?  They want to swing and Grumpy Gus won't move.  They get great ideas, and Slow Sue won't agree.

Pitchers - They are so practical and the world is full of so many who are not.  Frustration and anger.

Velvet Boxes - Their complication gets them frustrated and angry and many others get frustrated and angry with them.

Golden Pouches - They will get their feelings hurt over even a slight word against them.

Scripture is full of the antics of the Devil and what he is up to each and every day.  You will be attacked by him in the areas of who you are.  Don't let him get away with it.

Rejoice in what Vessel and Flower you are.  Embrace that picture of YOU.

God bless each of you.