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| Wisdom Trek Success Story: My Job Now Fits My Gifts! |
 Sometimes Garland Vance gets to drive the "Cow Van." If you live near a Chick-fil-A restaurant, you've probably seen it: a white van decorated with big black spots and sporting the Chick-fil-A logo. It's a clever marketing tool based on the wildly popular "Eat mor chikin" billboard campaign.
Garland gets to drive the van, and eat at Chick-fil-A as much as he wants, because he is the director of the WinShape College Program, a Chick-fil-A sponsored scholarship program that gives Chick-fil-A employees a chance to go to Berry College and live in a special residence hall where they receive leadership training and discipleship.
Garland attended Wisdom Trek two years ago, in October 2005. "Two and a half years later I continually return to the insights that I gained through our time together," he says.
Garland and his wife Dorothy wear many hats: dorm parents, counselors, teachers, friends. For the last two years their team has been working on a complete restructuring of their training and development to equip students to be successful Christians in a postmodern world.
"Wisdom Trek has played a key role in helping us to develop our five-year strategic plans," says Garland. "So often as Christians we think that we should simply pray and hope that God opens doors for us. Instead, we have learned to pray and trust God to guide us in the strategic planning."
Garland says that Wisdom Trek also led to another life change because he learned how to get the wise counsel he needs to succeed as a leader. "Since 2005 I have utilized this technique to have several mentors who have coached me in marriage and family, communication, sharing a vision, and ministering to college students," he says.
Perhaps the most memorable thing that Garland picked up at Wisdom Trek was a statement made by the speaker, Jeff Myers: "You will always influence people best when you're operating in your gifts." Garland says, "I have worked for the last two and a half years to shape my job to be in line with my gifts and to enable my co-workers to shape their jobs according to their gifts."
One of Garland's gifts is teaching. As a result of the intentional emphasis on living his gifts, Garland has been able to move from teaching one time a month to three or four times, and next year plans teaching sessions eight times a month.
Says Garland, "Thank you again for Wisdom Trek. It has proven to be indispensable in my growth as a leader and as a servant of Jesus Christ."
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