We Learn From Others

​I am learning at New Beginnings that being able to build relationships with different individuals from different experiences. I am also learning about myself and how I want to continue or how I want to change. 

​The idea that I am learning more about myself from other people than simply saying that I am learning about another person or that we are becoming friends is because I learn from other people more than they learn from me. I am learning that even though communication is one of my top five for my StrengthQuest that I still need to clarify questions. I have usually rephrasing questions when I am leading devotion. Additionally, I find myself giving examples out to the questions that I am asking. I am even asking more leading questions because my questions are not as clear to everyone as my own questions about God’s Word are to me. In order, my top five strengths are belief, analytical, input, restorative, and communication. Although, I think and know that these top five are my strengths these are labels that are able to help to describe a person but do not give the full picture of an individual. 

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​Coming into New Beginnings I know that I was concerned about if I would talk the day and night away because I love to talk to people and I know that about myself. I have found that there are times that I have really good conversations and time to work, for me it is usually homework. I have also learned that some people need more time to think to themselves or do not talk about everything and that is normal too. I thought that if other people did not want to talk or tell jokes that was something against me. I have come to appreciate that some people do not want to talk about a personal issue or have different experiences with reading the Bible. The more that I am learning from the amazing women here at New Beginnings, that more I am growing in how I am able to relate to other individuals who come from a different place than me and share the Bible in an entirely new way. I know that everyone is a part of New Beginnings for different reasons, but we are all learning from each other. We learn that we need to grow closer to God together and that we change constantly because we want to be more Christ-like and we learn that from reading the Bible and living life together.

Elyse Kipfer was an intern at New Beginnings July through September of 2017 and is now a current Resident Supervisor at New Beginnings. She is a Psychology Major and Communication Minor at Wisconsin Lutheran College. She aspires to be a Christian counselor for victims of sexual violence. Her free time consists spending time with her horse, dog, family, and friends. Furthermore, she enjoys having deep conversations and digging into God’s Word. 

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