as the Pages turn – a letter to my readers

as the Pages turn – a letter to my readers has been a bit squirrelly in the back of my mind for, oh, about the last six months. For a while I’ve felt like the squirrel looks in the accompanying photo.

My internal dialogue with Holy Spirit has sounded a lot like …

What? Really? Uh-huh. Yes. Yaaassss. Ok. Uh-huh. Lemme look. That makes sense. Oh my word, I get it. Uh-huh. Really really? etc.

All that to say, I’m exploring what ‘that’ looks like of all that’s been percolating this year. It’s not going to happen overnight (you know the word process is the first ‘p’ in my coaching vocabulary), but I do believe there’s a re-focusing afoot.

Once upon a time this coach determined to lead with her life. Years before I transitioned into life coaching I was, like many of you, enrolled in a school that provided copious opportunities for fleshing out ‘leading with your life’. It’s called going to work. The OTJ lessons learned provided an experiential education for which I am grateful. Now. Those weren’t always the gracious years, but ‘through the process’ later, good things came forth.

One of those good things was going through my own life/vocation/calling transition and discovering how much I enjoy teaching and walking alongside others with a desire to do the same. Leaning into leading with your life; an ever-expanding, growing way of living life forward. Otherwise, stagnant is as stagnant does.

a new nut for squirrel to chew on

Without giving away the farm at this point (especially since I’m still attempting to raise the barn mentally), I will tell you that our being designed in God’s image has gripped me at my core (that’s a clue).

I’m a bit at a loss for words  – and you know I love words! – but as I’ve said in other writings, we often find ourselves in a season, seasons, multitude of seasons length of time before what our spirit knows begins to bubble up into our conscious mind, thereby bringing illumination and understanding.

I have spent decades discovering my design, although for years I didn’t know that’s what I was doing. Sometimes it takes something being languaged by another for fruit to ripen sufficiently that we become first partakers. Not just one time or circumstance in life, but repeatedly as we learn to lead with this life we live.

There is such delicious flavor when we taste and see just how good God is and has been in the story of our life. And not for ourselves only, but for nurture and nourishment of others too. We don’t live to and for ourselves alone. If we do, we miss the purpose and may I dare say, the distinctive design God intentioned when He created us. It’s rather like squirrel burying a prize nut, only to be lost in the dirt of forgetfulness.

stirring the nest

This may sound to you like ‘design talk’ warmed over and served up in yet another style of dishware. I don’t think so. Underneath a whole lot of soul clutter, each of us bears the imprint of God in our human spirit. How our soul and our spirit have battled, mostly with the soul triumphant and our spirit battered.

Friends, there is an original blueprint that has been deeply buried within each of us and the Architect is still in business. Don’t give up on you. I haven’t. God hasn’t.

Just thinking about it gets the squirrelly in me going. The Designer and the design of the messenger collide!

square one, a good place to start

As I said in the beginning, I believe there’s a re-focusing afoot. You are welcome to join me in prayer that I continue to hear clearly and receive well what is in the Lord’s heart for our mutual living life forward, in Him.

Whether one or many I am privileged to teach and walk with for a while, you are worth the core work. When I began at square one, little did I know how the Lord would unveil my core to me. I long to share forward, in faith-filled hope that you will discover more of, and learn to bless rather than curse, your core design. It makes such a difference in living with ourselves, our God, and His design of so many others.

As the pages turn – a letter to my readers is the leading with your life equivalent of practicing what I preach. What will change with what I offer? Time will tell. I can promise that what’s stirring is not more ‘rice again??‘

That’s where this is at the moment: taking time to flesh out yet another transition, if for now in focus only, while leading with my life and

helping others live life forward …

~ Nancy

Photo by 五玄土 ORIENTO 王杉 on Unsplash