Relections
along the way
written portraits of randy & his journey
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
 My birthday is October 4th. Because of the time of the year, I tend to subconsciously associate things on the calendar with it: football; major league baseball playoffs; a full calendar of school events; and cooling temperatures – to name a few. I am guessing that you might have things that you associate with your birthday as well! On October 4, 2015, I turned 61. And, it was the 10th time in my adult life that I found myself cloistered in a classroom studying - while “celebrating” the passing of another birthday. I was embarking on my fourth “major” course of study: Life & Leadership Coaching. And, to put it bluntly, I was tired of having a classroom associated with my birthday. I wasn’t a happy camper! There was a momentary pause during class while my fellow “life-coaches-in-training” sang a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday”. Then, we moved on. I really tried to let my peer's enthusiasm buoy my sagging spirits. But, inside, I was struggling. Disparaging thoughts rattled around in my brain. "Lord, I don't think I can do this!" "Why am I making another career transition when "retirement" is just around the corner?” "Is all this work really worth the time and effort?" "God are you done using me?" It felt like a chapter out of the Book of Ecclesiastes. Overall, I liked the idea of being a professional life coach. I loved the experience of coaching ministry leaders. I knew that God had directed me to Coaching Mission International. I liked their mission: “Impacting Nations by Upholding Leaders”. But, I could not for the life of me dredge up enthusiasm for completing another training program. I was exhausted just by looking at the timeline and the requirements. Life had plenty of challenges without adding something new to the mix. My plate was already full. Still, I dutifully resigned myself to finish what I had started. I was trying to trust that I had heard God correctly the year before. But, as Christmas 2015 rolled around, I had been in coach training for nearly a year - and I was tired. I was discouraged! And, I desperately needed some clarity and purpose in my life. In January 2016, another training course began. It was six months long, and it was called "Life Purpose Discovery Coaching". While I knew it was coming, and I could have vaguely anticipated its content, I couldn't have predicted its impact. It was God's gift to me at a time when I desperately needed it. Hmm!  There were two workbooks used in the course. Both were written by the same author: Tony Stoltzfus. The workbook A Leader's Life Purpose had lots of good tools to help sort out and untangle life purpose. But, God spoke to me most about my definition of "calling". I had always looked at "calling" in terms of something that I did. It was task-driven. The emphasis was on me "doing" something. It was like a job. While this is important, I was challenged to look at "my being call". The question I had to answer was: "How do people see Jesus in me?" "Do they only see what I do, or do they see Jesus - in my person?" Then, there was another question. "What messages has God given especially to me to intentionally show him to the world?" This shift in my focus, made Jesus and his message - primary, and the tasks to accomplish it - secondary. It also made the number of "careers" that I did - not quite so important. They were roles that I took on as part of living out Jesus in my life. God let me see that a message had been there all along, but I just couldn't see it. The message was pretty clear when I started looking for it. It was: "God can be trusted in every transition in life."  The second workbook was The Calling Journey. It helped me to see the ebb and flow in my life's journey. I saw predictable valley experiences - being surrounded by seasons of growth and skill development. A major takeaway for me was that I shouldn't be surprised when valleys happen. They are common, and to be expected. I was encouraged to embrace and meet God in the deep valley experiences. While painful and uncomfortable, the valley experiences develop deep messages within me. They shape my character, my belief systems, and my relationship with God. In doing so, they can qualify and motivate me to intentionally speak to people who need to hear the same message. Hmm? Just so you know, my experience of unpacking and sorting through the 60+ years of my journey took me longer than six months of class time. In fact, it took me nearly two years because I started digging, praying, and mulling over my journey. Then, during Christmas week 2016, I started jotting down a timeline of major life events. I followed the stages and valleys mapped out in The Calling Journey. Out of this timeline, my first story morphed into written form: "The Dragster & the Toyota". (This being my first story shouldn't surprise many of you.) Next, I started digging further into life events and began to look at them more closely. I started "mining for the messages" within my own story. As I did this, it helped me to start to articulate and describe nuggets of God's purposes for me that were already there - just undiscovered. Because I was reflecting on life, and looking at messages that God had been developing all along, a title began to emerge for this collection of stories. I started calling them Reflections in the Mirror: Looking Back to See Ahead. Then, a funny thing happened. God met me in a profound way during the act of writing down my life's stories. I began to see how he had been at work around me, and within me - even when I wasn't aware of it at the time. Christmas 2018 arrived, and it marked the end of the second year of chronicling my stories. Low and behold, when I counted, I had over 90 stories written down. I was also in my fourth year of life coaching. And, my wife and I wrestled with giving a name to what I/we were doing. After oodles of options, we felt like ALIGN Coaching & Ministry Support described our heart and how God was leading us. Then, one thing began to snowball into another. Christmas day 2018 was quiet around our house, so I went Christmas shopping - online. I shopped for a couple of things that I never ever dreamed of having: a domain name and a website host. I was mostly clueless about any of that stuff. Yet, with the help of a web host, I began building a website - and stumbled across another foreign concept. At least, the concept was foreign to me. It was this thing call a "Blog". God prompted me to try using the Blog function on the website. So, I decided to select stories that were mostly already written to share with my "Life Purpose Discovery" clients. I intended it as a tool for those who were searching for their calling and life purpose - much like I had been. I wanted my story to encourage others. So, on January 30, 2019, I posted my first ever Blog Post. It was entitled: "What's Behind This Blog?" It was then that my wife asked me "the question". She asked, "Can I send this to our friends?" I balked a bit, but then I cautiously agreed. And, that's how most of you started getting my Blog. This story is now #19 out of probably 60. And, it is all because of a (meeting at a convention, that turned into training, that led to a) "Life Purpose Discovery Coaching" course that God used to bring focus to my life! It helped me to clearly see God at work throughout my entire life. It brought clarity to a seemingly haphazard series of life experiences - which now make sense. Six careers really boiled down to one message. The process brought clarity. And with the clarity, it helps me to be more intentional in living out God's purposes for my life. In all of this, I am reminded that God is always at work around me, and that he can be trusted. I am so glad I persevered and kept going beyond that birthday in 2015. I hope you are too. So, there you have it. That's "The Story behind the Story."
Check out my website if you want to know more about life purpose discovery coaching.
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Randy CarrRandy is a life-purpose and legacy coach with a passion to help seniors be purposeful in retirement. He has a background in history, education, ministry, publishing, and crossing cultures. Randy's Story
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