Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things
that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those
who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since
I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed
good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus,
so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had
to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my
sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha,
Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many
things.” Luke 10:40-41
Martha, Martha, Martha wanted to make sure that everything
was done just right. She was so busy with the preparations, she couldn’t focus
on spending time with Jesus. Now, my suspicion is that Martha wanted to be in
the room with Jesus, but she couldn’t let herself sit down until all of the
work was done. If Mary would just come in and help, the work would be done,
then Martha could relax.
Luke was a physician. Even though Mark and Matthew had
already written their Gospels, Luke set out to research everything for himself
to “write an orderly account.” He also wrote The Acts of the Apostles as volume
two.
I refer to this personality as the Planner. The Planner’s
motto is “a place for everything and everything in its place.” If your garage is immaculate or you have
labels on drawers and cabinets describing what’s in them, you are a Planner.
Planners thrive on details. Where the Producer can say,
“It’s good enough” and the Promoter can say, “Whatever, let’s have fun,” the
Planner makes sure everything is done with excellence.
To encourage a Planner, mention specific things about what
they’ve accomplished. Rather than saying “good job.” Say something like “I
really like the way that you took special care in making sure that the colors
matched or everything was organized so well down to the alphabetized name tags.”
The downside of the Planner personality is that they can
tend to be negative and critical. Since they are striving for excellence,
things that are less than excellent stick out like a sore thumb to them. This
doesn’t give them permission to exercise some spiritual gift of criticism
(there’s no such thing). Planners need to be cautious in looking at the world
as if it’s a glass half empty.
Planners like a great deal of detail. While Promoters want
stories and Producers want the bottom line, Planners want all of the
information. In fact, when I teach about personality types, I usually have a
packet of information that I give out at the end of the class to all of the
Planners because I know that I didn’t cover things thoroughly enough for them.
If you have a Planner in your life, be eager to build them
up. Be very cautious about criticizing them. They are critical enough of
themselves already.
Who’s the Planner in your life? Take notice of the special
care that they have put into what they have accomplished. Appreciate them
specifically.
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