Get in the Game
The Benefits of Personal Coaching
by Gene Schrader

What is your vision for your life here on earth? What do you see as your mission here on earth?

In one way, all of us who call ourselves Christians should have a similar vision—to know Him and to make Him known. I believe God has equipped each one of us for a purpose that uniquely fits the gifts and abilities He has given us.

So many people I have met have no vision and therefore receive no fulfillment in what they do. If we only expect just to earn a living and serve no higher purpose, we will become very frustrated and miserable.

In the article on page 3, “My Path: Becoming a Personal Coach,” I’ve described the coaching aspect that God has added to my vision. I believe God called me to my profession through a verse, Isaiah 50:4 (this verse is in my heart and will be my life script or vision):

“The Lord God has given me the tongue of one who was taught, that I may know how to restore the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens - wakens my ear to listen to those who are taught.”

I have been praying and thinking for some time about what other dimension God will add to my life as I reach my 60’s. Believe it or not, I turned 60 on February 28, 2002. Life coaching is the added dimension He has shown me.

Life coaching is different from traditional counseling or therapy in that you don’t deal with a past that usually involves pain. Obviously, most people come to counseling when they are in pain. Life coaching deals with the present and future in people’s lives. The client is the expert. The coach helps the client find his/her passion in life that will bring fulfillment. The coach helps people find a balance in life between worship, work and play.

Once the client identifies an area in which change or growth needs to take place, the coach helps determine where he is and where he would like to be. Closing the gap or gaps between these two is what the client is coached through.

My wife, Eldeen, and I have just finished a 30- hour class in life coaching, and I have been coached myself since last September. Our desire is to mentor couples, helping them grow their relationship from good to great. Already, I have begun coaching 11 clients.

My plan, Lord willing, is to continue in counseling, but also to coach. Ultimately, I would like to spend 50% of my life in both fields. I am so excited about what God is doing and will do through the vehicle of coaching.

I pray, if you are in a position in life where you feel stuck in a job you don’t like or stuck in any area of your life, that you consider coaching to help you grow and be free to live your life more excitedly for our Lord Jesus.

I believe Bruce Wilkinson’s book, “Prayer of Jabez,” has opened the eyes of many Christians to pray for God to bless their life for His glory which will result in edifying others.

For more information on the counseling, coaching and mentoring dimensions of our services, visit our Web sites:

www.NACounseling.com
www.LifeandLivingCoaching.com

May God richly bless you as you step out in faith to gain a vision and mission for your life. We have only one life to live. It will soon be past and only what is done for Christ will last.