Who am I and what do I have to offer you?

Grab your coffee and have a seat. This will be a bit wordy but I believe it is important. A common thing I have been told by friends and family and those I have had the pleasure of doing life with is that relatability and authenticity are things that are important to them when it comes to connecting with others. I sort of pride myself (in a humble way...or so I try) in being both relatable and authentic. So here goes; a little about me:

I have been fortunate to be a stay-at-home and work-from-home mom for a majority of our children’s growing up. I am eternally grateful for the freedom and flexibility my life has afforded me. At the same time, this flexibility has presented some challenges. 

📝 I have had to be intentional in order to accomplish goals. 

📝 I have had to create routines and schedules where there were none. 

📝 I have also had to learn that I only have control over my own thoughts, feelings, and actions.

📝 I have had to reach out and ask others for the accountability that I knew was necessary, which p.s. not one of us was meant to do any part of this life alone. 

Over the years, I have personally experienced love, loss, marriage (twice), as well as divorce (once). I am also a child of divorce twice myself; I have embraced motherhood, miscarriage, along with complicated relationship struggles. As tricky as those all have been at times, opportunities for growth exist within conflict. I endured an across-the-United-States family move, leaving our church family, joining a new church family, falling in and out of healthy routines, add in there a couple of eye-opening health scares, hospitalizations, surgeries, wavering health and fitness, and diet fails. Again, all opportunities to experience additional growth and learn more about myself and what it is I truly need. Our family has been able to host four separate foreign exchange students over the years; an experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives. Relationships are important and to be able to establish relationships with people that are quite different than us builds a powerful bridge. I highly recommend this experience if you ever feel that nudge. I built and closed up shop on three separate businesses, and here I go again! Clearly, I have an entrepreneurial heart, right Lord? Oh, and we cannot forget my most recent, "going back to school" in my forties, which I joke about as being part of my mid-life crisis moment. I have felt the pain alongside hurting children in my own home (physically and emotionally). We have had to literally learn to learn differently; because surprise; no two children are the same! All this to be said, every single thing that I have walked through, I am eternally grateful to have never felt fully alone along the way. Don't get me wrong, I have felt alone at times even when I was surrounded by a loving and supportive husband and the best friends a girl could ask for. That kind of alone is real and it is hard. Yet, the peace and companionship I am referring to is my relationship with the Lord. This is a connection I am deeply passionate about helping others to also experience. I want this peace and security for you too! A strength of mine is dreaming up great things and bringing them to fruition; I love the creative process. Finishing, however, is not a strong suit. This is where I need others. I need accountability. Thankfully, God is still writing the rest of my story and I am here for it! I cannot wait to see what He does in yours as well.

🤍 Lovingly, I urge you to allow others into your space. Something beautiful happens on all sides...we end up being a blessing to them as well when they are able to walk out their giftings and abilities in helping us.

🤍 In this exact space is where I began to connect with Life Coaching. What began for me as counseling ended up as coaching. Hiring my own personal coach (who happens to also be a licensed Mental Health Counselor) has been such a blessing. I continue to coach with her through several areas of my life today. She's been a great encouragement to me for following what I know God has placed upon my heart for a very long time (to coach others from a Christian perspective). I just never felt ready. p.s, we never do!! I knew that I needed guidance and accountability outside of my friends and family. This connection has helped me to show up healthier for those that I love. 

This year I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Colorado Christian University with my Bachelors degree in Psychology. My emphasis is in Clinical Counseling and I minored in Biblical Studies. Basically, I brought my heart for relational health and took it to school. It was such a rich experience to combine what Science has to say regarding Psychology and how these findings support the Truth of the Bible on how we are made and what impacts our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Biblically-based Psychology is absolute perfection! In my spare time, I read, write, and listen to podcasts and teachings about all things spirituality and emotional health. Most of my books are very well-read and very well-written in. My notes have notes. My passion runs deep in both of these areas. As an active member of both The Christian Life Coach Business Academy and Life Mentoring School, I am continually gaining additional experience and education in both business and coaching.

I knew early on that I had no intention of working in a clinical setting when it came to mental health. While I do agree that there are times and needs for diagnosis, I also believe there is a great need for a more whole-person-centered approach when it comes to the area of health in general. Regardless of the issue presented, there can be many contributing factors, such as biological and environmental, along with some that often are overlooked. Particularly in the area of mental and spiritual health, I am passionate about the need to look deeper at the thoughts that may be driving the feelings and in turn the resulting behaviors. I find that this is best worked out within a trusted relationship, such as the one that coaching offers.

🤍 I also believe we hold within ourselves so much ability and power to heal what ails us. My goal and prayer is to empower others to find strength within themselves and then to build upon that! 

🤍 I am a Christian and have been for as long as I can remember. My faith is an important, foundational part of who I am and how I live my life. While I will never force my views upon you, you can trust that I will always invite the Lord into the coaching relationship and depending on your comfort level, would be happy to pray for and with you as you wish.

I believe my experiences have been for a reason. I am humbly appreciative to be able to share with you what has been working for me, along with what hasn't. I promise to always coach from a place of going first. I am here to partner WITH you! I am not immune to the experiences that life so lovingly provides. I too am on this journey! There is a saying to "practice what you preach" and that is one that I take very seriously. I promise to always be actively practicing whatever it is that I am recommending to you. I understand that practice does not always guarantee perfection, but what it does guarantee is progress.

I love that God has led me to this space to help others in these areas that I too have needed it most!! He is pretty amazing like that.

⚓ IDENTITY

⚓ PURPOSE

⚓ CONNECTION (to oneself, to others, and to God).