| Copyright 2005-2008 Dr. Jad Khalaf, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved |
| "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." II Timothy 2:15 |
| Personal Relationship Evaluation: How Other View Me BY DR. JAD JAMAL KHALAF This paper deals with how friends, family, and others see me as dealing with people. For this paper the following people were interviewed: Mr. Jim Khalaf (my dad), Mrs. Libby Khalaf (my mom), Rev. Chris Glaser (my friend), Mrs. Leigh Ann Glaser (my friend), Mr. William Warren (church friend), Mr. James Warren (church friend), Rev. John Bates (community person), and Cory Morris (community person). My parents were interviewed for this paper. Mrs. Khalaf said that I have a heart for people. This would apply towards one of my strengths. She went on to say that people are a priority in my life. No matter what others are going through then I am there to help out as much as possible. All of this is great. However, a weakness is that I care too much. It is important to try and help others but there needs to be a limit. Mrs. Khalaf goes on to describe me as a person that gets so involved that I begin to take it personal. At times this can affect my blood pressure and even begin to get to me. According to my mom, she thinks that I need to learn when enough is enough and when it is time to back off. Mr. Khalaf agrees with Mrs. Khalaf. My dad adds that I am very much a people person that loves to be around people. This is definitely a strength, according to dad. A weakness is that hearing all of the problems of people sometimes is too much for me to handle. I try to solve as many problems as I can without realizing that I can only do so much. Mr. Khalaf suggest that I try to work on this weakness. Rev. Chris and Mrs. Leigh Ann Glaser are friends of mine. Rev. Glaser has known me for about three years. We have done a lot of things together. He was my roommate during my senior year of college. Rev. Glaser says that when he first met me I was very closed minded. He goes on to add that I am still very close minded. With this in mind, Rev. Glaser suggest that this could very well be a weakness. However, on the other hand he adds that during the past three years he has seen me listen to people in whom I might not agree with. This could very well be a strength of mine. The reason that this is a strength is that I am listening to people and giving them my undivided attention. People want someone to listen to them. Rev. Glaser suggest that I continue to listen to people, even if I may not agree with what they say. Mrs. Glaser and I have also been friends for about three years. I met her before she married Rev. Glaser. She seems to think that a weakness of mine is not listening enough to people with whom I disagree. Mrs. Glaser does acknowledge that I have opened up a little bit over the years but she thinks that I should be willing to sit down and discuss issues with those of whom I am in disagreement with. A strength that I possess, according to Mrs. Glaser, is that I voice my opinion without backing down to any one. She sees this as a strength because I stand up for what I believe in. Regardless of what the consequences might be, she sees me as being a true person with a sincere heart. Mr. Cory Morris is a friend of mine in the community. He sees the following two aspects in my life as being strengths: ability to talk and communicate with others in a pleasant way, say what I mean without making others mad by keeping a happy spirit. In talking about weakness, Mr. Morris sees me as having a lack of experience in trials. However this could be a blessing because of it being a weakness. He means that I am not able to relate to people who have gone down some different paths of sin. This could very well be seen as an asset/weakness. Rev. John Bates is a fellow friend and pastor in the community. I have known John for about ten years. He offers his opinion about the strengths and weaknesses that I possess. In talking about a strength in dealing with people Rev. Bates says that I have a spiritual, powerful connection with people. This would include communication as well as the ability to talk well with others. A weakness with dealing with others goes back to ten years. When I first met Rev. Bates I had just become a teenager. Back then I did not deal well with people. This was definitely a weakness that I possessed. However, Rev. Bates says that over the past ten years I have worked on this weakness. He suggest that I continue to work on this weakness in order to improve in my relationship with others. Mr. James Warren is a fellow church goer that I have known for about eleven years. He says that I have a willingness to speak to anyone regardless of who or what they are. This is a strength. A weakness would have to deal with how people might look at me. Since I am so much out of my comfort zone, others might think that I am trying to meet so many people instead of trying to develop close friendships. I spend so much time making sure that everyone feels welcome that I might leave out the possibility of making really close friends. This is something that I should think about and reflect upon. Necessarily, this does not mean that all of this is negative but is something that I can improve upon. Another weakness is that since I am a seminary student others might feel intimidated. This intimidation might cause others to be hesitate in being open to share their real thoughts about a particular situation. Around me people might put on a front or a mask just because I go to NOBTS. Mr. William Warren is a fellow church goer. We are both the same age and grew up together in the youth group. His words are words that can be trusted. Mr. William said that a strength that I possess is the ability to go up to anyone and talk to them. No matter what they might say to me or what they think of me is something that does not bother me. This is good to have in dealing with people of all types. Another strength, according to Mr. William, is that I am a good encourager. I am always making sure to make people feel like they are wanted and appreciated. We now turn the attention to a weakness. It took some time to think about but he did come up with something. Mr. William suggest that a weakness that I have is that when we were younger I was sometimes shy. However, I have continued to improve on not being shy. Over the years, according to Mr. William, I have grown out of that stage. It was quite interesting to interview these different people. I learned some interesting strengths about myself. After listening about the strengths that I possess, it made me stop and think. Sometimes life seems to go by so quickly that the strengths seem to get passed by. This evaluative report was fun to do. Now turning the attention to the weaknesses. Weaknesses do not necessarily mean that I possess qualities that are bad. These qualities can be reviewed and thought about. After taking some time reflecting on what was said, I came to realize that God has given me family and friends who care about me and desire to see me grow in Christ. There are areas that I really need to grow in. The weaknesses are really something that can be useful. Everything that was said by the individuals holds true in my life. In all of my strengths and weaknesses, I desire for God to get all of the Glory, Honor, and Praise! |
| Dr. Jad Khalaf |