Those golden opportunities

Do you ever look back in amazement on the things you've done and place you've been? I sure do.

Tomorrow, we have a golden opportunity to study under Master Coach Linda Miller. A bunch of us have signed up and are anticipating new info, skills, and tools. Her "About Coaching" page includes this quote: "First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do" (Epictetus). I want to be a better coach, so I'm taking coaching lessons.

What do you want to be?

Past life: musician and music teacher

How can you find out who you want to be and seize the opportunity to do what you need to do?

1. Observe who you have been in the past. As a musician since childhood, I've always been interested in the arts. Is there something you've worked at before? Did you study a subject, play on a team, or excel in a certain area? How has that shaped who you are today?
2. Think about what interests you and fulfills you in the present. When we moved to England, I reinvented myself as an "artist" to take art lessons. No one knew my past and no one cared that I'd only painted a few times at community center lessons. I was welcomed as an artist because I identified myself that way. Cool! Easy, too. How do you present yourself to others at work, at home, and in the community? Is this how you want to be seen and known?



Printmaking course by April Richardson

3. Consider who you want to be in the future. I don't have much access to a piano now but my paints are nearby. When my "art energy" charges up, I pull them out to play around. I love the memories that each painting evokes in me and want to increase that skill. I'll have to pick up my brushes often to improve my paintings. What gives you joy? Do you want to become known as a kind and unselfish person? A skilled wordsmith? A patient helper? A follower of Jesus who truly reflects God's goodness? What do you need to do to make your aspirations a reality?

Read more:

*You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Psalm 139:3 NIV

*Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Psalm 105:1-4 NIV

*Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6 NIV

*... addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ... Ephesians 5:19-20 ESV

Moravian Prayer: Loving Father, you know us so well. You know when we rise and when we lie down. Help us to show our thankfulness to you by all we do and say, holy Father. Amen.

Lent Day 37: Too dumb to know better?

Really bad. Really good. It's been one of those days. We classmates almost thought we knew what we were doing yesterday. Today we're sure we have no clue! I sat in the back of the room today to watch more and ask less. (Not sure that worked!)

In the first segment on "How to ask good coaching questions," I asked a dreadful question. The person to whom it was addressed felt defensive and unguarded. My "neutral curiosity" went unsatisfied and s/he didn't get any further in the journey.

I'm glad I typed verbatim notes as we were talking. I plan to examine what I actually said to see why the client - and most of the class- heard it the way they did, rather than how I intended to communicate. I'd like to avoid such crash-and-burnouts in future, both for the coaching client and for me.

In a later session, I remarked on something that seemed obvious to me. The lead trainer said, "Wow. In 10 years of coaching, I've never had someone come up with that observation. That was excellent." (HA HA; I bet raw recruits are like me. = We don't have a clue what we know and don't know, most of the time.)

If our personal worth resulted from any part of "good" or "bad" learning, we would have been in heaven and hell today. Yet no one cares about our failure but we. I chuckled when someone sitting nearby whispered, "Glad it was you, not me," after I flamed out. The class joked about "the awful question" all day.

I marvel at and relish the learning process. My way to understand new information comes from handling the material - sometimes aloud in a group - turning it over and over until it makes sense. Others students sit and listen, processing internally. Still others write everything down, going over the information at home. I wonder how Jesus learned best. If he was quick and nimble or careful and methodical.

No matter what class I'm in, I love to learn. I am insatiably interested in God's work among us. I want to know why people think and feel and act as they do. What is God doing that we can join? And what do we know or have that can help each other?

Thanks to our coaches for great demonstrations, to our coworkers for courage and spunk in the interactions, and especially, thanks be to God for his unsearchable riches in Christ Jesus. What a great day, the weird and the amazing moments included.

How's your day gone? Got any highlights to share? Any disasters to ponder?

Read more:
*'Blessed be the name of God from age to age, for wisdom and power are his. Daniel 2:20 NLT

*The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. Psalm 118:14 NLT

*I delight in the way of your decrees as much as in all riches. Psalm 119:14 NLT*The world's sin is that it refuses to believe in me. John 16:9 NLT

*Where is the one who is wise? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 1 Corinthians 1:20 NLT

*May the God of peace make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Hebrews 13:20,21 NLT

Moravian Prayer: Lord, work through us and in us today so we may delight in your way and show this way to others. We wish to bring peace to those around us in need of calm and completeness.

God, you are not a God of vengeance, cruelty, greed, or hate. Why have we not learned this? You call us against the world’s standards to love foolishly in all things. Help us to live your way of love. Amen.

Lent Day 36: What excites you?

Jodi Detrick is one of three master coaches teaching us principles of coaching. She exclaimed, "When I took coach training, I found what I was made for." (R paraphrase)

I'm with Jodi. I would be honored to copycat her any day of the week, but this instance would actually be a good fit. At the end of the day, the coaching practise (on fellow class members) felt relaxing AND energizing. As I listened to the stories and watched the process of coaching, I experienced God's delight at the various journeys of His children. For me, coaching and observing the coaching process resonated as an act of worship.

Many came to the class already gifted in helping others find their way. These learners are filling their toolbox with new tools.

For some, the coaching ideas were new and a stretch: "I didn't know what questions to ask." "I didn't know what to say as the coach." "I found myself giving advice from my experience instead of listening to what the person I was coaching wanted to talk about." Luckily, we have a few more days to clarify expectations and methodology.

Have you ever had someone say, "Find and follow your passion!" That's a stale-sounding buzz-phrase. What's passion, after all?

Whatever God has wired us to do will resonate from the tip of our head to the soles of our feet. We will find joy and completeness - or "our passion" - when we function in our design. It's worth taking the risk to fulfill the niche for which you and I are here, in this place, at this time, with our education (or lack of it), our personality, and our experience.

Whether or not you are an emotionally "passionate" person, embracing God's calling in YOUR work - whether that is at an assembly-line job or a creative flinging about the world - will produce harmony, peace, and wholeness. Jesus showed us how a human could live in perfect alignment to the Father, moving with joy and expectation through each wonderful and terrible day.

Our spiritual act of worship includes offering our bodies to God. We use our bodies to work. To play. To create. To restore. To produce. To rest.

Does the way you use your body each day glorify God and bring you healthy and holistic pleasure?

Read more:
*The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. Psalm 16:6 NLT

*God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Psalm 46:1-3 NIV

*Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24 NIV

Moravian Prayer: In you, O Christ, all boundaries have fallen away. You taught us to see each other as siblings and friends, and invited us to see you in the faces of those in need. This day, may it be so. Amen.