October 24, 2019

Connection can happen in some of the most unexpected ways

This January I went on a cruise with a group of people, some I already knew but most were new “friends” for me. One of my new friends is a woman named SAM. We met the first day of the cruise and became fast friends. After the cruise, we continued to build our friendship. I had learned that she was in a transition period for her career. She knew she wanted to do something else, but was not really sure what that looked like.

The picture about is of me, SAM and Doug from the cruise in January 2019.

On my trip to East Texas and New Mexico this summer, one of the stops I made was at Sitting Bull Falls in New Mexico. SAM had been there a few years prior and highly recommended it. I have a video and a story to share about connections from the time I spent at Sitting Bull Falls, but found it funny that the reason that I ended up at Sitting Bull Falls was because of the connection that I made with SAM while on the cruise in January.

For this blog post I have asked SAM to share part of her story with us. I hope you find value in it and see how God has connected us to each other to really connect us more to Him.

Howdy! My name is SAM. No, it’s not short for Samantha, but thanks for asking. I am excited that Dale asked me to share a little bit of my story with you. I created a video to surprise Dale a few weeks ago and think he will include it on this blog post.

When I met Dale on the cruise in January, I knew we would be friends but really had no idea of how much he would impact my life is just a short period of time.
I had my own business as a publisher of a local neighborhood magazine, which I loved. However, I was feeling exhausted, overworked and underpaid. I knew that God had something different for me but was not sure what that was. By November of 2018, I had begun seeking what God would have me do next. There were so many things rolling around in my brain, but none of them seemed to make sense for where I was in my life at the time.

I have been doing advertising, marketing and administrative-type work since the mid-1990’s, but I knew I didn’t want an office job ever again. I also knew that I wanted to create or be part of something bigger than just me going to work to get a paycheck. If I could create a company that would allow me to work from home and help others do the same, that would be PERFECT!

There is a program at my church called Rooted – a 13-week discipleship class that focused on your connection with God, people and your purpose in life. I had started that class literally the day before I left for the cruise where I met Dale.

A few weeks into the class, we did a service project and I was part of a group of people helping serve people with food, clothes and prayer. While I was praying with a woman that day, she said two words I had never heard before: Recovery Coach. I have been part of Celebrate Recovery for almost ten years and have experienced such healing because of it. When I heard the words recovery coach though, something pinged my heart in a way that I knew it was God. I love how he used my time of service to show me a little bit more of what He has for me.

I went on a journey of learning what exactly a recovery coach is, and learned that it is very similar to a life coach only for people in recovery. I want to be a recovery coach. As a single person with no other form of income taking the time to train to be a recovery coach was not really something I could do unless I had a way to pay my bills.

This is where Dale comes in.

As he and I were talking, he knew I was on this path of trying to see what God had next for me. We talked about the Clifton StrengthsFinder (SF) program and worked out a deal for me to help him with some of his admin/writing needs in exchange for him doing the coaching with me. What a deal! I am so thankful that he made me that offer as I believe it is really a BIG part of why I have been able to create the company that I have.

While doing the SF program I learned several things:
 I learned so much about who I am and what I am naturally good at.
 I learned that I had been trying to fit myself in a box based on other people’s expectations of me.
 I learned that while I thought I was good at some things, they really didn’t come natural to me.
 I learned that by focusing on what I am naturally good at, I can be exponentially better at what I do.

Coach Dale was great at walking me through the process and helping me figure out what it meant to me. If I had just read the information myself, without his insight, it would not have been as valuable.

The only constant in life is change. With that in mind, in the few short weeks since I created that video I have added a few new clients and contractors to help me get all the work done. It is even more exciting than that I recently got engaged, and because I have created a business that I can truly work from wherever I am, I will be able to start traveling with my “almost husband” for his work soon.

Because of YourAdminNinja, I will be able to take my time learning what I need to know to be a great Recovery Coach. I am planning to start a fund to allow me to help people who cannot afford to pay for a Recovery Coach. Helping people realize that if they want to create a different life, they can, is a big part of why I do anything I do.

Thank you to Coach Dale for putting his heart and soul into helping others live a significant life. Because of our connection, my life will forever be different.
Remember – you only get one life, live it well.

Ms. SAM Morrison
YourAdminNinja.com