Hello! I feel like I should be greeting and almost re-introducing myself to many of you as I haven’t actually written a blog post in nearly a year! I do most of my writing on social media (Facebook and instagram) so if you don’t follow me there, you may feel a little out of the loop with what I’ve been doing with this ministry. I wrote a post last week that hinted towards this series I was praying and working through and now it’s finally here.

 

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I had someone this week tell me out of the blue, “Clare, I know what you are…a transformation coach!” I thought on that for a second and was like yeah, I guess that would be a good way to describe me! . I’ve often tried to figure out my place in this online world. Am I a blogger? Influencer? Health coach? Trainer? Speaker? Writer? I don’t know that I fit any of those boxes exactly , which is hard for someone who enjoys neat, well-defined boxes! It can be a struggle as I write, create, encourage and lead here, while holding the balance of what is really important that is never seen on my socials, the real-life relationships God has for me. I really hold to being authentic offline as I am on. . All that to say, transformation never comes in a linear fashion or pre-determined timeline. We are all being transformed whether we like it or not, myself included. I love encouraging and coaching women along the way while I’m imperfectly going through it too. . I have a new series that I’m planning on announcing next week which is going to help you in your transformation and it isn’t primarily about your body but will overflow into some clarity there! I hope you stay tuned for something I believe God pretty specifically confirmed He wanted me to talk to and I’ll be going through with you. #inthistogether . 📷: @rachelfigueroaphotography

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I typically am gearing up for the “Living and Active” challenge right about now but I felt the Lord directing me to something different. As I was processing my upcoming weeks with the kids starting back to school, new commitments and more, I was reminded of how important it was for me to lay before the Lord what I should be doing. A few years back, I created a challenge called,  “Dream it. Do it.” It was a way for us to kick off the new year and focus on 4 areas that we felt God was growing us in. I took you through the process of creating a vision board and the feedback I got was great! Although I don’t do this challenge live every year, a few people have and  email me with pictures of their vision boards.

What the Lord laid on my heart to do is to take us through a process I work through every fall when my kids go back to school. I consider it “my second new year”. You see, as a mama, I have learned that the natural rhythm of life gives me 2 “new years.” In addition to the New Year every January 1st, we consider the start of every school year a new year too. Even if you’re not a mom, many people consider the fall a new year for them too, so this series isn’t meant to just be for mamas-so I’m really hoping everyone will participate!

Let’s see if any of these questions resonate with you:

  • Do you feel that you’ve lost traction with what you were focused on in January?
  • Have you found your interests changing?
  • Are you an empty nester, or did your house which was filled with littles all of a sudden empty as they all entered school?
  • Did a relationship in your life take a sudden twist to where you need to put some extra energy in it? (or perhaps are adjusting to them not being there anymore)
  • Have your health goals changed either because of something new you found out about your body, or time restraints?
  • Did you have a desire to grow a business or dream, but you’ve come up against resistance?

Welcome to life. It’s these twists and turns that can take us from a goal we have, be it in our health, finances, career or more to finding ourselves out of steam, getting lost, and feeling stuck. Good news- I’m here to coach you through all this and regain your flow for the fall!

 

 

Part of what I feel has kept me fairly content in my seasons of life and able to keep an identity apart from the title of mother, wife, or friend, is that I try and stay in touch with where the Holy Spirit has me. I am constantly asking Him how He wants to change and grow me. What was relevant in your life isn’t necessarily relevant now. What always worked won’t always work in the future.

When we stop being mindful about what God has for us each season of life we make 2 errors:

  • We assume what we were supposed to be doing “x” months ago is still what we are supposed to be doing
  • We give up and drift through life

Part of why this message resonates with me so much is because of the many conversations I have with women, either officially through my health coaching, after I speak at women’s retreats, or the casual ones I have with my friends. Many women are stuck because, while their season has changed, they haven’t. Or perhaps they found identity or their worth in a title or position that is no longer a major part of their lives.

I don’t want that for your life. There is too much at stake for us to be wondering through life, guilt-ridden about what we haven’t done, and scared of what we could do. You see, I believe strongly in this verse in Acts 17:26-27:

“And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.”

The zip code in which you live. The fact that you are alive and kickin’ in 2018. The fact you are the age you are right now. It all means something. God didn’t just throw people on earth like a glitter bomb and hope they made something of themselves. No. He intentionally placed each of us for a reason and I want to help you cut through the clutter to get there. He also was very intentional about the family dynamic you have, personality strengths and weaknesses, and financial situation. We may overlook the beauty of all this, but I’m here to tell you, there is great purpose to it all.

♦♦♦

Today is our introduction and in a couple days, I’ll be sharing with you your first step in the whole process. It will take us a few sessions to get through it and to be honest, I’m pretty open in regards to the timeline! I’m usually pretty scheduled out with these things but as I’ve been writing this, the Lord has been adding and changing things along the way and I want to be open to that. But for those of you who want to see a basic outline of what we’ll be working through, here we go:

  • Time of prayer (and fasting if it’s something you are interested in), journaling, and committing the next few months to the Lord and where He is calling you
  • Focusing in on 4 areas of purpose/vision OR perhaps 1 word for you to focus on
  • Creating a vision board or binder
  • Eliminating distractions (unfollowing, unsubscribing, and lightening up your load)

There are no “sign-ups” and no “check-in’s”, you’ll virtually follow along with me here and on my social media accounts. You never know… I may have a random “check-in” and have a couple prizes for you to win!! Another thing to consider is that this can be done by yourself, with your spouse, or with your family and kids! So many options!

I’ll be posting many things on my social media channels (primarily instagram and Facebook) along with videos so I encourage you to follow me there. I would also recommend that you sign up to get my emails sent straight to you so you don’t miss a thing! (Sometimes relying on Facebook/instagram algorithms can be hard)!  Please be sure to share this series with a friend because we all could use a little encouragement and focus as we ramp up for this “second new year!” I’ll see you back here in a couple days as I talk about how I work through a day of prayer/fasting/journaling!