Grace: Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part series. You may want to take a minute to read Part 1 before you continue.

Listen to the five-minute Grace: Part 2 audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Matthew 5:5)

Wow. The meek will inherit the earth. Really? This might have something to do with grace: God’s unwarranted favor.

Grace: Part 1

Listen to the five-minute Grace: Part 1 audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

I love the line from former Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer:

Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple.

Today I’m talking about grace and how it relates to leadership. Understanding the concept of grace—God’s grace and also our grace—is important to Christian leaders who desire to have great impact.

Conflict: Part 3

This is Part 3 in a series on conflict and leadership. You may want to read Part 1 and Part 2 before you continue.

Listen to the five-minute Conflict: Part 3 audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

Seek first to understand, and only then to be understood.

Seeking first to understand, then be understood is a term coined by Steven Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  Seeking first to understand, and only then to be understood, is at the core of engaging healthy conflict.

Conflict: Part 2

This is Part 2 in a series on conflict and leadership. You may want to read Part 1 before you continue.

Listen to the five-minute Conflict: Part 2 audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

Truth without love can be mean and love without truth can be a lie. We all need both truth and love.

Today’s post is the second in a series on conflict: the importance of engaging it proactively and how to do it in a healthy way.

Conflict: Part 1

Listen to the five-minute Conflict: Part 1 audio program from Coach’s Corner. 

Truth without love can be mean, and love without truth can be a lie.

Today’s post kicks off a series on conflict and how to deal with it in healthy ways—yet another critical trait for any Christian leader.

Hardship: Part 3

This is the third in a series on hardship. You might want to read Part 1 and Part 2 before diving into today’s post.

Looking back over my seven years of infertility, I can see how much God changed me through that particular hardship. As I break that down, think about parallels in your own life. Our world is broken. Hardships will come. The beauty of God is that he uses all things for his glory, even our most painful experiences. Here’s what God did for me:

Hardship: Part 2

Before diving into my story of hardship, take a look at Hardship: Part 1. Ready? All right, let’s go.

My husband and I decided to have a baby in October 2002. After eleven months, I got pregnant. Six weeks later, I miscarried. Seven months later I was pregnant again, and six weeks after that, I wasn’t.  But it was okay. I was fine, even if my smile was becoming a bit brittle. God had everything under control, right? God had a plan, and it was my job to just trust in that plan…Right? Then my sister-in-law got pregnant the first month they tried and I. Fell. Apart.

Cheerful Liver

Listen for the five-minute Cheerful Liver audio program from Coach’s Corner.

2 Corinthians 9:7 says:

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

My question of you today is, “Are you a cheerful “liver”?

Hardship: Part 1

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4)

For years I hated this verse—strong language, but true. I’ll tell you why in a bit. But first, hardship. We all face hardship in life. They can provoke those dark winters of the soul: doubt, fear, uncertainty, rage, bitterness. And in the end, they also provoke our greatest growth. That was certainly the case for me. I wouldn’t be where I am in life now if I hadn’t experienced seven dark and difficult years.

Margin: Part 3

(This is Part 3 of a series on Margin and Leadership. You may want to read Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t already.)

Listen to the five-minute Margin: Part Three audio program from Coach’s Corner.

Do you have rhythm? Can you move your body like a great dancer, looking effortless as if it took no work to become so graceful?

How about your life? Does it have rhythm in this same way? If so, did it just happen or did you have to work at it just like a graceful dancer?

Today’s post is third in a series about leaders and margin. Today I’ll be writing about rhythm and the role it plays in margin. We’ll also explore the often misunderstood concept of balance.