“Life coaches can help you clarify your goals, identify the obstacles holding you back, and then come up with strategies for overcoming each obstacle.”
I used to be a life coach and found enormous satisfaction in helping people realize their potential. Although I still coach occasionally, I no longer have an office practice. Now I enjoy writing—especially poetry.
…
The Client and The Coach
She sits across from me in the straight-backed chair
fidgeting with a string on her jacket
her long orange-streaked hair falling over her face
as she answers my questions.
Young mother of two with questions of her own
she’s here to find answers but I have none.
What she doesn’t understand yet, is that
all the answers are already within her.
I tell her I can help her find them.
Her head slowly rises from the slump,
brow lines deepen.
She asks how she can possibly have the answers already.
I close my notebook and smile.
…
’Til next time, I hope you’re feeling good about your future and on the path to fulfilling your dreams.
In my first blog post of this series I told you about my transition from blogging about writing, I wrote about how I discovered my Kingdom Purpose. In my second blog post, I wrote about how God created all of us with a Unique Design. So in this third and final blog in this series of my transition, I’d like to show you how God put both of those together to shape a wonderful future for me.
WriteCanada Conference 2016 with one of my clients, Melanie.
Part Three
My Ministry at Church and in the Community
I no longer try to serve at church or in the community in a position I’m not gifted for nor have the natural talents to carry out. Having said that, if there is ever a time when no one else with the gifting or ability to do a certain task is available, I will do my best to muddle through because ‘Helps’ is one of my stronger gifts. But it will, most likely, be a muddle. I volunteered to serve in the kitchen once – and only once!
Coaching and hosting workshops is my ministry in the church as a life coach (my gift of encouragement) and workshop host on various subjects I’ve learned through the years. This utilizes my personal experiences to help others go through similar times in their own lives.
At my church, I started the SHAPE ministry using Erik Rees’ videos and study guide. I enjoyed this immensely, though I was not expecting to be the team lead and I don’t have the gift of leadership. But other leaders and helpers I worked alongside were wonderful and because of their patience with me, we managed to work well as a team. I was overjoyed to see many participants realize God’s purpose for their lives too. The coach in me was thrilled to hear someone say she realized God had been calling her to the worship team.
I don’t like being a leader, (did you get that impression?) and I don’t like public speaking, but I know God wants me to share what I experienced with others so they may experience the same joy I have been blessed to experience. So I’ve led workshops at women’s retreats and women’s groups such as MOPS where I can sit on a stool, and it’s ok to speak from notes. I like to have the participants interact and have fun, and it saves them from listening to me ramble for an hour. God opened these doors for me to share and I’m happy to do that rather than be the keynote speaker.
My Service Through Business
White Rose Writersis a website for writers and authors, and writing service providers to connect with others in the business. I started the website to help authors promote their work, and we now have talented artists, editors, social media experts and more, who use their natural talents to help authors publish their work. Starting this was my service to God’s Kingdom here on Earth through helping writers.
My Long Term Assignments:
Christian LifeCoaching
Coaching in an office was good training but turned out to be only a temporary assignment for me. I had offices in two locations, but God closed those doors after only 10 months. He had a broader clientele for me.
Now I coach here on my LynneCollier.com and through White Rose Writers, and occasionally host workshops through business and church venues.
Author
I write about what I have a passion for; my Lord, my simple life in the country, my coaching. This is my second (actually more like fourth or fifth) career later in life, and it was a bit of a struggle at first to accept that this is what God is asking me to do now. I never saw myself as an author. But now I write novels of fantasy and fiction, and online courses to help authors tell their stories well. I can’t imagine not writing now. I get very cranky if I have to go a day without writing something. I would never have guessed.
I wonder what God has in store for me next. Do you know how God has designed you?
When I forget: 1 Peter 2:9 “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession.” – NIV
Till next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
In Part One of my self-discovery posts I told you about questioning my identity as a Christian and what God wanted me to do with my life after my children had grown.
In the books I read and the classes I took at church, I came to realize I’m God’s unique design; a one-of-a-kind human being created in His image for a specific purpose at this moment in time. It’s no accident I’m here right now, writing these words, and knowing that makes a world of difference to how I live my life. God made me with a specific intent – and you too! If you’ll bear with me for a while I’ll bring it full-circle.
What I Do – When I Can
My Unique Design – part two
So here’s who Lynne is in a nutshell, from my studies:
My Top 3 Spiritual Gifts
Faith
Encouragement
Service/Helps
I have 4 supportive Gifts which aid me in using my top 3, according to most online tests which are an indication and not an absolute, and which we all need to try out to see if we agree and if others see these Gifts in our lives too.
My Passion
To help people who are searching for identity and purpose, who may have lost direction or feel disheartened and hopeless.
My Natural Abilities
Here are my 5 strongest abilities:
Encouraging
Writing
Networking
Counselling
Creating
I’d like to list them all but I don’t want to brag 😉
My Personality
INFP – with a quirky twist, I’ve been told
Introvert
Intuitive
Feeler
Perceiver
My Personal Experience
Christian Writer
Lay Pastoral Counsellor
Workshop Leader
Kingdom Purpose Coach
Mentor
Helper in church ministries, community events and in public schools
I’ve listed only a few things here, but there’s a reason for that (it has to do with age…)
How I Discovered God Had Been With Me All Along
As part of my Kingdom Purpose Coaching, I help my clients bring all their attributes together to discover how individual they are and what they can do for God’s Kingdom by His unique design for them. I do this by asking them to take note of the repetitions in each category. Here’s what I learned about my own Kingdom Purpose:
‘To help others see the hope in Christ; encourage them to discover their purpose for God’s Kingdom on Earth, and equip them for their assignment’.
Do you see the repetitions?
So with that in mind, how did I apply it to my life moving forward? I’ll blog about that in Part 3 – Redefining My Life.
Till next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.
I now know about God’s purpose for my life, but in early adulthood, I attended a church which didn’t speak much about the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives. The congregation was taught the laws and rules of ‘being a good Christian’ and entrance into heaven, it seemed, was by doing more good deeds than bad ones so the scales ‘tipped in our favour’. The atmosphere was one of perfection and judgement. I often thought God must be very disappointed with me and I felt that I let Him down constantly. The overwhelming feeling of falling short of God’s grace led me to fall away from the church and it was several years before I felt strong enough to try another church. Maybe you’ve experienced this too.
So I sought the Lord and He heard me. I was invited to a church for a dedication of a newborn, a baby born to friends of the family, so I happily attended. The difference between my previous church and this one was like night and day and I was drawn to follow Christ again. This new church spoke about the Holy Spirit and how the Holy Trinity works together. They also had classes I could take during the week to study my faith more and find a deeper relationship with my Lord.
It was at one of these classes I learned about Spiritual Gifts and I was astonished to hear I had been given special Gifts by God and didn’t know it! I took every class I could to learn about God and spoke often with believers who had been involved with the church for many years. Through their guidance and mentorship, I gradually realized the unique way God has designed me for a specific purpose. I’m not just here to live then die and hope the in-between is good enough to get me into Heaven. I’m here for a reason! We all are. God has a royal assignment for me and every believer. Yes, royal; He is the King of Kings and we are His children, princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God on Earth. How cool!
I learned to realize my Kingdom Purpose by studying about my Spiritual Gifts and how God, my Heavenly Father, has also given me a heart passion for his work for me, a personality that works well with what I need to do, natural abilities which help me to carry out specific tasks, and life experiences to help me grow in my faith and calling. These are all in a book I studied at church, called S.H.A.P.E by Erik Rees. This book has played a major role in every aspect of my life, as you’ll come to know if you follow my blog. Another great book to study is The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.
I tried to fit everything I could into one blog, but there are so many areas of my life I had to work on to find my Kingdom Purpose I’ve decided to blog about each aspect separately, so you don’t need to read a ten-page blog. I hope you’ll join me as I share with you how God brought clarity and purpose to my life.
Kingdom Purpose – What On Earth Are You Doing Here?
We’re not content to merely exist – we want to matter in this world. So how do we figure out what our own life means? If we’re not a famous evangelist or humanitarian, what’s our purpose for being here?
“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.” – (Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, 1:11-12 MSG).
We are all unique individuals, with our own unique qualities and our own unique assignment from God. He gave us all the attributes we’d need to do His work here and feel His pleasure in our completed assignment. Take a look at a picture of space.
The God who created the earth and all those amazing nebulas and supernova, dark matter and pulsars, created you and me unique and in His image to be family in His name!
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago”. – (Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, 2:10 NIV).
Whatever God has laid on your heart He has given you the ability to do. What has your heavenly Father asked you to undertake on His behalf in this kingdom on earth?
You can find my 22-page mini-course, Your Write Voice For His Kingdom, on the sidebar of the Homepage.
Lynne Collier 