Coach Galen

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  • Mackenzie and God

    “Dear God, I saw the movie, ‘The Shack’ last night. It attempts to depict You and MacKenzie dealing with the murder of his daughter Missy.

    It speaks to a number of questions humans have about You. Some are trivial. Some are profound. Some center on matters of faith and trust. As with all of us, reflections and questions about You are personal, in that they affect our faith relationship with You.

    Please help us find the answers to our questions about You as if we are Mac in ‘The Shack.’ Lead us to a place of encounter with You. Break through our doubts, our fears, our bitterness, our confusion, our agony, and our pain.

    Help us come to understand Your love, what forgiveness is, and what it means to trust others, but most of all, what it is to trust You.

    I pray this in Your Name as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.”

  • Who Will Know What Next?

    “Dear God, between Jewel Foods, Sam’s Club, Aldi, and Costco they know practically everything Carol and I eat and how often we eat it. Our public, personal, and private lives hold few secrets.

    Amazon remembers not just what we buy, but what we’ve considered buying. Facebook knows more about our friends than we do. Our phone provider knows who we talk to, who talks to our friends, and who their friends talk to. Quicken knows what we make, how we spend our money, what our savings are and who we give donations to. The medical profession knows us inside and out: Drs. A…, F…, M…, P…, S…, W…, Z…, have made sure of that regarding me. My Internet company knows what I like to watch and/or listen to, what my political preferences are, and my choices regarding the arts.

    In light of the above, there seems little that is not known about me/us. But only You know us completely. You understand who I am and what my passions are.  To You it is no mystery how I feel toward others, how I love my wife, my kids, and my grandkids. You know even the secrets of my heart.

    Your awareness, knowledge, understanding, comprehension, and discernment of each human: man, woman, child, and infant are unfathomable. No information system in this world can be compared to Your omniscience. No data crunching programs can measure up to Your Divine Wisdom. No self-indulgent entertainment can satisfy longings as can Your Amazing Loving Care for us.

    Whether we like it or not, we cannot hide much from this world in which we live, and we sure can’t hide anything from You. What is also true is that You know everything about us, and find us worthy of being loved by You, even knowing our faults, sins and failures.

    Thank You, God, for giving us significance, value, identity, and personhood. Thank You for remembering us. Now help us, and each one who reads this prayer, to know You personally, intimately, and freely, even as we are known (by You). In the name of Your Son Jesus, Amen.”

  • Prayer for our Nation

    “Dear God, You are the Almighty One. We are still as Job, silenced as he was when You ask us ‘Can we…?’ for our answer is still ‘no.’ We can not control the sea. We can not control the wind. We can not stop earthquakes, mud slides, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, or even the rain and snow.

    We can not stop hatred, lying, cheating, robbery, and murder. We can’t even stop ourselves from thinking evil of others, wishing ill on our enemies, desiring revenge, cutting ourselves off from those who oppose our point of view. We are no less guilty of injustice than those we accuse of being so.

    Your righteousness is our only hope. Forgive our sins and heal our land. May we repent as did the nation of Nineveh when they heard from Jonah of Your coming judgement. Our currency reminds us every day how far we have distanced ourselves from You. May ‘In God we trust ‘ become true again.

    Have mercy on us. Forgive our sins and heal our land. I pray this prayer to You on behalf of all my loved ones, friends, and family. In the name of Jesus, amen.”

  • A Prayer for Our Nation

    “Dear God, in the midst of the mayhem in the world, the secularization of the church, and the deterioration of civil discourse, have mercy on us. We have lost our sense of what is true and what is false. We seek justice without, while holding deceit within. We consume, instead of showing compassion. We speak words of love, while harboring bitterness and hate. Lord God, have mercy on us. Bring spiritual healing to our nation, restore our family relationships, and help truth prevail. We are an embittered people, hunkered down with fear. Lord God, have mercy on us. Lead us to fresh waters and green pastures. Restore our souls. Bring back hope to our personal worlds. Give us today what we need for life, productivity, and good will. In the name of Jesus, amen. One more thing. Watch lovingly over whoever is reading this. Thank You.”

  • The Influence of Others – Purposeful Living

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    The flyleaf of my well-worn Bible holds the signatures of men and women who influenced me as a teenager. They encouraged me to give my life to God and commit to do his will. Over the years, I have been blessed with other like-minded individuals committed to God, honoring him through their lives, and influencing me as I traveled with them on a purposeful journey of faithfulness to Jesus Christ.

    Some years later, in my forties  a fifty-six year old associate told me he was pursuing a doctorate. I thought, “Oh what a waste to do it so late in life.” Well, here I am. Having achieved mine at seventy. Do I still think it is a waste to do it so late in life?  I think not.  Actually it has taken me this long and the influence of many people to have adequately prepared me for the task. I found the time of study to be a time of reflection and clarification of much of my learning about purposeful living.

  • Prayer for our Nation

    “Dear God, I pray for our nation today; for those who are afraid, and for those who are hopeful. May both groups remember that You are the One who is in control of the universe.

    May all of us keep in mind we are mere men and women, humans, all dependent on You for life, liberty, and happiness. For my family, friends, neighbors, and fellow Americans, guide our incoming President and his administration to do what is right, honorable, just, compassionate, fair, and equitable. May they reverence You, hearken to  Your Word of Truth, and lead our nation with Your mercy and grace. Though they will most likely never know many of us by name, You know them. And You know us. Make the connection for them and us to be a people who can truly proclaim, ‘In God we trust.’

    Help us remember that it is Your Son Jesus Christ Who will reign over the whole earth, in justice, truth, and compassion. Encourage us even in this moment that You are God, our God, and our Saviour through Jesus Christ. In whose name I pray, amen.”

  • False Certainties to True Uncertainities

    “The movement from illusion to prayer is hard to make since it leads us from false certainties to true uncertainties, from an easy support system to a risky surrender, and from the many ‘safe’ gods to the God whose love has no limits.”  From Reaching Out by Nenri J. M. Nouwen.

  • Spiritual Direction Enriches Coaching

    I have enhanced my coaching profession through The Transforming Center and Northern Seminary.

    My doctoral thesis focuses on helping individual pastors find their unique purpose.  Their personage, that which defines them from everyone else, is intended by God to be a blessing first to themselves and then to others.

    he same approach was also applied to the local congregation. The thesis can be found at ……………

    Through it all, coaching is still my primary ministry. I help men and women find their calling, purpose, and focus for embracing their life.  It is a delight for both me and my clients to discover who we are as unique individuals, how that is a blessing to ourselves, and through us to others. Key to their success is removing the internal and external barriers to keep it us from our True Purpose© as fully alive people!

    I welcome you to join me in this continuing journey.

    Much of my blog will focus on learning together to live “fully alive.”

    What brings us joy?  What’s getting in the way? How do we become all we are intended to be?

    Your invitation: Join me at www.coachgalen.com

     

  • Thoughts about the “inner voice”

    My heart is more likely to hear the inner voice of God than is my head. That’s a new thought to me. Deep within my heart is a God “desire” that has been disappointed by all the false voices that came “calling” to me over the years – yet my heart still desires to hear the voice of God.

    God comes calling to my soul with His invitation. He extends His hand to me. The look in His eyes tells me He hasn’t forgotten. He remembers the part in “His Play” He planned for me. And amazingly, so does my soul – its creator, designer, and most of all, friend.

    The stage was set for me. The moment for my appearance came. In a single moment, all eyes of the divine universe acknowledged my arrival and my purpose. And they rejoiced.

    I belong in the role. He knew it. I now know it. And others will know it.

    So here I am talking, sharing, dining, laughing, and crying with joy – with Him. His essence sweeps over me. Then He puts his finger to my lips to silence my racing heart.

    Quietly He speaks. “There is so much more I’ve written for you in “My Story.” The Divine Play is not just earthbound. The stage shifts to eternity and He gives me just a glimpse of the storyline. And then He turns the page….

  • New Blog and Site Design

    My web designer, who happens to be my son, has updated this website with a new design and blog. Feel free to take a look around and read about my coaching practice. You can also follow along on the blog on the front page. Check back often for more updates.