Good Coaching

As Journey Church was preparing to launch during the fall of 2005, one of the best things that happened to (for) us was our connection to CMA. CMA is a grassroots church planting organization affiliated with my tribe. The relationship has been huge! The biggest personal takeaway has been the coaching I have received the past 17+ months. I can quickly recall several pivotal conversations that took place that God used to shape me and what He has done at Journey.

I had my weekly call with my CMA coach this afternoon. Fred leads a new church in Indianapolis that is a few paces ahead of us. The conversation was engaging. Fred shared a post-it note that he keeps by his computer. It reads, "3 things I promised God I wouldn’t do when struggling with emotions (frustrations). 1) No self-pity 2) No excuses 3) Focus on the task at hand!" I asked him to send that to me in an email. He added this line, "God’s not on the other side of the wall, he’s with you! He led you there, let him take you over it!"

Often times in life and ministry, we find ourselves faced with walls. These walls present new challenges and barriers to the road ahead. Every time we approach them frustration and a plethora of emotions accompany us on the journey. In the past, I have had the tendency to give into self-pity, making excuses, and lose focus of the task at hand.

Most of my posts the past few days have been driven by my passion to go deeper--as a leader and a follower. I know this will require a new set of tools (responses). God continues to add tools to my toolbox that are important and necessary. I have added a digital post-it to my computer. I am publicly committing to keep these promises. With God's help, I will climb over the walls that arrive on my doorstep.

Bring on the walls!