Where is Home?
Where Do You Live?
Recently a woman I worked with spoke these words,
I never made it home.
Instantly I saw a split in the meaning of the words.
On the one hand she was saying she had never made the place she lived feel like home. Instead she had resented this house since life had fallen apart and she had been forced to settle there.
But the words resonated loudly for me with another, more poignant meaning.
I never made it home.
I’ve pondered that phrase often since the day we spoke.
How many times have women that I have met with uttered phrases very similar to that?
I never made it home. Continue reading Where Do You Live?
I Don’t Feel Safe
As I have listened in on conversations or processed life with clients or friends, a theme I hear often is “if God is good, why is life so hard?”
And when the challenges and losses of life threaten us, it is hard to feel safe.
And when we don’t feel safe it is hard to trust that God is present, let alone in control, let alone good.
Oh we might night say it, but our behaviors often reveal that we are not sure we believe God is who he says he is.
I’m not immune to the struggle. A few days ago Continue reading I Don’t Feel Safe
Prayer for Lent
Pondering this prayer during Lent. Pastor Brian shared it during our Ash Wednesday service at Crossroads Church.
So. Much. Pain.
I’m in the people business
Know people
Care for people
Feel for people
Because of this I have to be very aware of how I take in the emotions & pain of others. It can effect me not only emotionally, but physically as well.
Over the last few days a series of losses took my breathe away.
Death of a 26 year old friend of Leisha’s
Death of a 16 year old friend of a friend
Our friend’s 17 year old fighting for his life
Watching our parents process letting go of strength, while mourning each week the death of another friend or loved one.
Watching the girls navigate life and wondering what’s ahead for them and any future generations.
I’m not trying to take on all this pain but I’m struggling about what to do with my own emotions as I create a bigger picture for ministry I know I am part of
That involves more people
More stories
More pain.
Ah!
There it is!
The truth!
I fear feeling more.
Hurting more.
Then I reflected on the other messages
Continue reading So. Much. Pain.
Plans to Give You Hope!
I’ve read this passage so many times.
I memorized it as a child.
It was given to me in cards and notes over and over again after Leisha died.
God has plans to prosper me- not harm me
God has plans to give me hope and a future.
But I today I read the verse in context of chapter 29.
This is the text of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets and all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
First thing I notice is to be in exile is the condition of someone being sent or kept away from their own country, village, home, etc. CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH DICTIONARY
The Lord tells them through Jeremiah to:
Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce.6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.
Hmmm? Sounds like God is saying make the most of the situation you are in – whether it is good or not, whether it is where you want to be or not.
Then in verse 10 the Lord says; ”
When seventy years are completed in Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
And that is where Jeremiah 29:11 comes in.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
SEVENTY YEARS????
Hope Shines Brightest
Twenty-Eight Days to Done!
As a coach, I know the value of coaching. So I consider it essential that I utilize coaches for different aspects of my own journey (life, business, finances, etc.)
Sometimes Rennie, my husband becomes my coach. We enjoy (well I enjoy) our times of asking the hard questions to prompt thought. Other times it may be a close friend or a perfect stranger that asks a question, or challenges a thought that moves me to my next best step.
But there is something about having a coach that is not family nor friend, but curious, objective guide to help me find the truth of my problem or challenge.
I’m sure it has to something to do with the fact that they are more detached from and not part of the problem or challenge we are facing.
Maybe it’s because it is harder to be accountable to a family member than to a coach that you are paying to help you ‘get ‘er done’.
The point is, the simple art of coaching can bring about powerful transformation. That’s what I’m after for my own life!
So I am working with my long-time coaching mentor, Coach Cheryl Thacker and her Successful Coaches Mastermind to get clear on my next steps, largely in my business, but also as a coach.
At our last mastermind session, Coach Cheryl issued a challenge. I tweaked it a bit to combine two of my goals at the same time.
- To develop a coaching technique called Laser coaching.
- To use this laser coaching skill with 28 new clients in 28 days.
That’s a win-win! I get to practice my skill, my client gets clear on their next best step and creates an action plan to get ‘er done!
My typical coaching session is face2face and lasts 45 minutes to an hour. That is ideal for some topics that demand the extra attention. Plus I do enjoy the in-person connections. However, as my client base has grown, my available time alloted for coaching has not.
Though the laser sessions are shorter in length (15- 30 minutes), they are often much more effective and cutting away the clutter of our thoughts and stories and lasering in on the most significant issues at hand.
In an effort to be available for more clients and still offer tremendous value, I will offer a laser phone session that is
- 15-30 minutes in length
- over the phone
- designed to get to the heart of the problem or challenge the client in facing.
Because I can’t really practice my laser coaching without a client, I am passing a challenge and an offer on to you! I’m calling it the 28 DAYS Challenge!
What is the ONE THING you want done in February?
Let’s Do it!
For the next 28 DAYS I am offering
28 Laser Coaching Phone Sessions
Each 28 minutes long
for $28.
That’s a super low price considering what I will be charging for them when the challenge is complete.
TO REGISTER or to get more information, click here.
I’d love to help you get your ONE THING done! Will you help me with mine? Together we can do this.
WOMAN: the difference you make
Hi! This is Kathy Burrus from Green Hope Coaching!
I, like many of you, have been pondering the images of the past weekend of the inauguration and the women’s marches. Now I’m not here to use my platform to make a statement one way or the other. There may be a time I do that, but this is not that time.
I’m here today because I was struck by one thing: WOMAN. Not one particular woman, but woman like you and me.
Click here for a complete transcript of this video.
EmPOWERful Series:
Five week phone sessions over lunch designed to help you accomplish the ONE THING that will make the greatest difference this month. Click here to register.
Group sessions hosted virtually designed to help women look at their own story and glean from it the significant, defining moments that influence how they live and behave.
Embrace the wonderful story of you and live MAD-ly! (Make-A-Difference)
More details will be coming out soon. Click this link to sign up to receive upcoming emails regarding these groups. Whether you live nearby or far away, you can be part of this interactive session.
GREEN GRIEF GATHERING:
Green Grief is designed to help us find the slivers of green – the Lovely Traces of Hope in our losses. As we begin to see the hope in our story, many times we are able to take our next step toward the difference we want to make through it.
Again, click this link to get updates on this event- which for the time being will be local. If you are interested in a virtual group- send me an email and we will find a way to make that happen.
Here’s to you making the difference you were meant to make.
Kathy
Green Hope Coaching
A Conversation about YOU: Woman!
What started with simple greetings and an order of coffee, became a conversation about YOU. Not you personally, but you WOMAN, family member, friend, professional.
WOMAN who wants to make a difference in the world but feels enveloped by so many important things; spouse, kids, parents, job and friends. These are surely the people we want to serve and influence for good. But sometimes there are so many ‘good’ things going on that we forget we ARE making a difference.
WOMAN who wonders if we truly know what we want to be true of our lives. We find ourselves in a new place; an empty nest, a season of life, a change in job or relationships, and we puzzle over what we have accomplished in the past or whether we are on track to do all we want to have done at the end of our life.
Are we doing what is most important? Or are we just reacting to the urgent that comes up in any given day. Continue reading A Conversation about YOU: Woman!