Imagine you are a freshly minted EdD kingdom-builder eager to share what you have learned. Recently, your Pastor overheard your conversation with a friend about assessments taken in the process of “Story-Tuning” your life. Intrigued by the topic, he wants to understand more about the concepts and codes mentioned below.
We are story-keepers in constant need of
story-tuning! “Story-Tuning” is a symphonic process of being and becoming like Christ in a specific relationship. That process, governed by a “GPS” (Guiding Purpose Statement) grounded in a core “GP” (Guide Post), assists in “GM” (Gap Management).
Story-tuning draws upon Christ’s preeminent resources and closes the gap between “the me that you are now” and “the me God wants you to be in the near future”. A Story-Keeper utilizes a practical action plan and ongoing meaningful support to become the “Me” God wants him/her to be.
A time for a follow-up conversation is scheduled and now you are digging deep into this course, a course completed in your EdD cognate. Now that you are a Doctor, the Pastor has hinted at the possibility of you leading the next staff retreat. The theme for this two-session retreat might be something like – “Story-tuning My Life within a Specific Relationship”. Your task in the first session is to explain how to move through the first two phases of the story-tuning process.
Noticeably draw upon (Living Into the Life of Jesus—Issler, Klaus / Miller, Calvin, Me I Want to Be—Ortberg, John, Foundations of Spiritual Formation—Pettit, Paul, Bounce 2010—Wicks, Robert J.), Emotional Intelligence, and thoughtfully develop the first two phases in the story-tuning process. Be attentive to your Guiding Purpose Statement’s (“Seeking to be a follower of Christ, I am committed to becoming an attentive spouse.”) primary and functional purpose in the story-tuning process.
1. The Me I See NOW (i.e., describe the present story)
1. Use the symphonic narrative to describe the influences shaping the “Me you see in a specific relationship.
2. Note areas of flourishing and languishing, strengths/competencies, shortcomings/blind spots, helpful/harmful patterns/practices, presence and/or lack of emotional intelligence, etc.
3. NOTE: this is not a fixing session…just be descriptive against the backdrop of God’s grace.
2. The Me I Want to Be SOON (i.e., develop a picture of the preferred story)
1. Do not fix~just picture your life under the influence of Christ’s preeminent resources and your Guiding Purpose Statement.
2. Integrate insights from the readings and assessments.
3. What does a more flourishing symphonic narrative look like 60 days out in that relationship?
