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Case Study 1

By Jealeania (Lena) D. Morris

Ever since I was 12 years old, I was keenly aware that God had a purpose for my life. Over the years, I have followed His will for my life out of sheer obedience; He would speak, and I would go. Never fully understanding what motivated me to respond to the needs of the under served and under resourced in the manner that I did. It was only after attending DNA that I could effectively articulate to myself and others, the will of God for my life. After completing DNA, Ephesians 1:18-19 really rang true for me: “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He [God] has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in His holy people and His incomparably great power for us who believe.”

Over the past three years, DNA has played a pivotal role in my life. Even today, it helps me walk in confidence and further commit my gifts, time, talents … essentially my life to being the fruitful and fulfilled woman God designed me to be. Before DNA, my purpose was definitely in my “peripheral” view, hovering in the margins of my eyesight, after attending DNA; it became very clear and precise. I have completed Spiritual DNA two times in my life, and on both occasions, it was well worth the investment of my time.

There are times when I am faced with challenges and obstacles and I literally refer back to the collective assessments to remind me that "I was built for this!" Romans 8:28 reads, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” I look back and understand that some of the challenges I’ve gone through were necessary for the development of His will and purpose in my life. Philippians 1:22 states, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.”

Knowing my DNA has helped me reduce the amount of lost time and frustration that I experienced in the past. There is great freedom in knowing what I am designed to do; likewise there is an equal amount of freedom in knowing what I am not designed to do.

As a Leader, understanding DNA has helped me to appreciate and appropriately place individuals in areas where they will excel in their gifts and talents. Everyone is a “10” someplace, as a leader; I am encouraged to help them find that place. 1 Corinthians 12:4-4, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.”

As a Friend, I often invite friends to attend DNA instead of giving my opinion on what they should be doing regarding their purpose. I direct them to a productive biblical tool that can help them understand God’s design and purpose for their lives.

As a Mother, I feel so empowered to help my children recognize their gifts and talents as they are developing now. Spiritual DNA is so relevant in a time when children struggle with their identity. I count it a gift and honor to even have the knowledge of DNA to even begin to help my sons on their spiritual journeys.

Spiritual DNA consistently impacts my life. There are multiple times a week that I make decisions both spiritually and naturally based on God’s purpose and design for my life.

Case Study 2

By Andrew T. Spencer

DNA was a truly enlightening experience, my take-aways were pretty simple:

1. It helped me realize how God created me to further his kingdom.

Prior to DNA, I had taken plenty of personality profile tests. Starting in high school to help me identify a good career path. Then, in college, to help me confirm a career path. Then, professionally, to gain some clarity on how I am wired, and recognize how other people are wired, and ultimately enhance my communication skills across various personality types. These were all great experiences, and they all basically validated each other - but from a professional perspective.

DNA validated all of these previous profile tests as well. The difference is that it put my personality into the Kingdom’s perspective - not the professional world’s perspective. It showed me who I am, and it showed how God intended for me to serve him. The end of DNA was really an a-ha moment for me. So that's why I am the way I am.

2. Serve the way God intended.

I’ve participated in various service activities throughout my life. But DNA showed me how I can best serve. I learned that it’s not about just participating in service. It’s about legitimately adding value with the talents that God blessed me with.

He gave me these gifts for a reason. To follow the Holy Spirit’s lead, and use them to bear fruit. I may bear some fruit by participating. But the true harvest is in using your talents with passion inspired by the Holy Spirit in something that you’re designed to do in a way that you’re designed to do it. And - by the way - I’ve found that my relationship with Christ has grown ber as I’ve started serving Him the way that I was designed to serve Him. It’s a lot more rewarding.

God did not give me these gifts to sell Employee Benefits (which is my profession). I happen to be ok at it purely because God gave me certain gifts that are conducive to this profession. But that’s not why He gave me these talents. He gave me these talents to further His Kingdom.

This process will give you a picture of the type of servant you were designed to be. Once you have that, just pray for guidance on how God wants your talents to be used. The Holy Spirit will inspire you.

Case Study 3

By Penny Hunsicker

I couldn’t believe that I was 47 years old and still wasn’t sure what I wanted to be when I grew up, so to speak. Throughout the seasons of my life, I would ask God for direction, and then try to follow the spiritual cues to find the right path; it was like wanting to play for a team, and waiting for the coach to call me off the bench into the next play. I was very blessed to always find work alongside raising our children, like at their school. I often found myself in administrative positions, and fortunate to be able to develop professionally as the Lord led me into leadership positions in full time ministry. I thought that working in ministry was the ultimate career for a Christian, but if this was true then why did I struggle with being depressed going to work? I was successful at my job, but deep down inside I wasn’t feeling fulfilled. I decided to attend Spiritual DNA in November of 2010.

At first it was difficult to do all the assessments because I felt I was heavily focusing on myself. I had often been told as a Christian we shouldn’t focus on ourselves, “it’s not about you”. But if God did “ordain good works for us in advance” I wanted to discover if I was doing that entire God had for me to do according to how he made me. I wanted him to show me if I was indeed in the right position for our team. In addition, I desperately wanted to feel the joy that people say they have, I was tired of feeling depressed after work. At times I actually thought I was being very spiritual by suffering and I was being obedient. Please don’t misinterpret my message. There are times when I believe God calls us to be in uncomfortable situations, but I was excited to think that God would let me be a part of the plan he had for me, much like a player and his coach. I knew the goal - to make a touchdown - which was to glorify Him, but it never occurred to me that I could enjoy making the play to get the ball down the field! How fun! I was actually invited to participate in the plan God had for me, not be a subject, but a participant with freedom and choices. I soon learned that God smiles on us wanting to participate and not be afraid to try different plays to make the touch down. It gives him pleasure.

After taking the assessments and attending the DNA class, I saw myself in a new way. I saw that things I use to be critical of myself were actually gifts. Also, some behaviors that made me happy were so natural for me that I couldn’t see them. SDNA was like looking into a book written by God telling my story about his child he created, “I made her to love the outdoors, she sees me in the flowers and her heart sings. She is a messenger, she is an evangelist. She loves to build people up, and hurts for those who hurt. She is energized by being with others, but needs alone time to restore herself with Me.”

I think one of the most affirming revelations that I found was why I struggled with lack of fulfillment even thought I was in a ministry position. I learned that we are energized and feel positive emotions when we are doing what we were created to do. On the contrary, if we are putting ourselves into an activity that doesn’t align with our Spiritual DNA, then we can experience a loss of energy. I found that to be a loss of enthusiasm for my work which drained me physically as well.

Learning about God’s design for me was what gave me the courage to decide to make a change. This transition did not happen overnight, it has been almost three years. I had always been a health and fitness enthusiast so when an offer came to become the general manager of a fitness center and to work on my personal fitness certification, I resigned and made a career change. My husband and I went into business with our friends and opened a fitness center for the 50+ population, called Age Successfully. Our business partners also attended SDNA with us that day, and we recognized our gifts and talents and see our new business as a ministry together. Within the next three months I plan on completing my fitness certifications and marketing for Age Successfully full time. In addition, this will allow me something else that I desperately needed, which is the flexibility to take care of my aging mother – who by the way, hates to exercise.

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