What is Your Go-To Theme?
Whether I'm in transition or not, my perspective has a direct influence on my approach to life, and my perspective is too often scarcity. Let me explain...
First things first. I'm making my book, Transition Companion, completely free on Amazon for three days only starting this Saturday! Snatch it up HERE
“Some of my biggest regrets during transition have revolved around missed opportunities with God, family, and friends. The problem was with my perspective. I was seeing transition as an obstacle to pass through as quickly as possible rather than an opportunity to experience God more deeply and make some memories with the ones I love.”
“My daddy said it best in his new book Transition Companion. It’s become my favorite morning read.”
The above quote from my book and comment from my daughter is taken from one of her recent Facebook posts. I was reminded of why I penned those words. It's because I so often find myself in a rush to get to the next thing, missing out on joy and peace in the moment. Whether I'm in transition or not, my perspective has a direct influence on my approach to life, and my perspective is too often scarcity. Let me explain.
I recently attended a webinar taught by Jerome Daley for life coaches who want to grow personally and professionally. The topic revolved around three big story themes by which we tend to measure our degree of satisfaction. These themes mirror our emotional programming for personal fulfillment. Where we land determines how "happy" we feel. The themes are:
Performance to Belonging
Scarcity to Abundance
Fear to Trust
The attendees were challenged to consider their personal go-to theme(s). The middle one was highlighted for me. So often I consider time as something scarce. There is never enough time, or so I've been programmed to think. But what if God, who operates out of a place of abundance, gives me more than enough time? What if He desires to give me this perspective, from His eternal timeline?
How might I structure my moments, my days, my week differently by going from a place of scarcity to abundance, as it relates to time?
I'm determined in 2017 to seek a perspective shift from scarcity to abundance. How about you? What is your go-to theme? And how might you move from one end of the spectrum to the other in the new year?
With gratitude,
P.S. A reminder to grab a free copy of my book Transition Companion, this Saturday thru Monday only! I simply ask that you share this blog or my book with somebody who could use some encouragement.
Life After Transition
God has his own way of getting us ready for change. Transition is a process of letting go, grieving the losses, celebrating the past, and moving forward by faith into a new season of life and ministry.
I’ve experienced more than my share of transition over the past 6 months. I said farewell to life and ministry in the land of Turkey. My oldest daughter was married (I gained a super son-in-law by the way.) Our son recently moved away to college. Our youngest daughter started her high school career in a new town. A new home, church, and community. While many of these life events give good reason to celebrate, they are nonetheless big changes to navigate, and especially all at once!
One proud father walking his lovely daughter down nature's aisle. I even got to officiate the ceremony and, believe it or not, mostly held myself together!
It wasn’t easy saying goodbye to full time cross-cultural ministry. After all, it was some of the most rewarding and fulfilling 20 years of my life. Someone recently asked me what it was that triggered such a big transition. I couldn’t point to just one thing. Transitions are strange in that way. Feeling under-utilized, not challenged, restless – there were a number of indicators over a long season before the actual transition took place. God has his own way of getting us ready for change.
Transition is a process of letting go, grieving the losses, celebrating the past, and moving forward by faith into a new season of life and ministry.
God has used transition, in its many forms, to shape my character, re-align me with His purposes, and get me ready for the next assignment. And he’s not finished with me yet.
I recently came across a devotional about the life of Joseph. You may have heard about the multi-colored coat he proudly wore in his youth, the “coat of many colors” which his doting father gave to him. But there is something much more enduring than a coat: his character.
“It was Joseph’s character, not his coat, that sustained him through years of betrayal, temptation, accusation and imprisonment.”
In other words, no amount of difficult transition could get the best of Joseph because he gave attention to personal character formation. Prolonged and difficult transitions can be fertile ground for character transformation, thus a great time to work with a life coach, mentor or counselor.
As a family, we’re starting to recover and regroup from all the transition. We’ve settled into our new abode (new for us), a 1960’s era home in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Northern California. I’m back to building fires in the woodstove, raking up loads of pine needles, and a bit of hiking and hunting – all activities that were not part of life in the big city of Istanbul. These are things that renew and energize me. Well, maybe I could do without all the yard work!
Transition has taken its toll on me emotionally and spiritually. Thankfully, God has given me the gift of time and space to breathe. I’ve been reminded of who I really am in relationship to God. I’m kept in the love of God and sustained by Him through intimacy with Him, not merely by what I do for Him. I’m passionate about coaching, but I want to be more passionate about God. I need this reminder from time to time. I always will.
From a coach's perspective, I’ve learned two valuable lessons through this season of change:
- Working with a life coach is a vital part of processing and planning through a transition. For me, it’s practicing what I preach.
- For you coaches out there, you don’t need to have your own transition all figured out to effectively coach others. God can and will use us to serve our clients well even when, or maybe especially when, we are navigating our own transitions.
Finally, I’m thinking of the global scope of this blog readership. I consider God’s promise to Abraham, that through him and his seed (that’s us) all nations will be blessed (Genesis 22:18). May prayer for each one of us is to be shaken like salt and dispersed like light among the nations, in order that God’s promise to Abraham might be fulfilled, to the ends of the earth.
Peace on Earth,
Tim
P.S. If you haven't checked out the Encompass Facebook Page, head over there and give us a like!
Lost in Transition
Transition Companion is now available on Amazon in both kindle and print formats!
Happy fall and thanks for putting up with my silence over the past few months. Lost in Transition is more than a catchy title for this post; it's been a reality of life. Lately, I've been feeling like the prophet's admonishment to God's people is for me:
“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Often times, my default response during a prolonged transition is to act, to do something. Ironically, the productive me is what I'm desperate to restore on the heels of transition, but God has His own timetable. Notice the sequence of the action verbs in the above verse: stand, look, ask - all components of waiting. The walking comes last, and the soul finds rest because we meet God on His terms and, not our own.
There has been some action on my part, but not the usual stuff. In September I was in Switzerland providing life coaching for men working internationally. During that time, I began to compile and publish my writings on the theme of transition.
The result is a short read titled Transition Companion, now available on Amazon in both kindle and print formats.
Check out Transition Companion here.
For two days this week - Wednesday and Thursday - I'm offering it at a promotional price of 99 cents.
What's next for Encompass Life Coaching?
• In the near future Encompass will switch over from a sole proprietorship to an LLC. Among other advantages, this step will add credibility with potential clients and partners.
• We are excited to begin partnering with churches of Northern California and Nevada by providing one-on-one and group coaching to their leadership and teams, particularly in the area of transitions.
• We have started offering discounted coaching packages for ministers and missionaries. These rates are not currently published on the web site, so help us spread the word to your pastor and missionary friends. Potential clients will need to contact us directly to see if they qualify.
Provide the gift of a personal life coach with a Christ-centered approach!
Help them get unstuck and move forward in the New Year. Why not gift a coaching package to a friend or loved one this Christmas? Just send us an email and we can give you all the details to make it happen.
Lastly, I would love to hear from some of you concerning felt needs related to this blog and other coaching resources we could potentially offer in the future. Thanks for standing by us through our own transition and the beginnings of Encompass Life Coaching.
