Back to School ... Again

"Back to School" will be the topic these days (next to electricity cuts of course)! Leila and Farida started their school year this week, and obviously as all proud parents like you, we joined them on the first morning after a series on endless photos  To my surprise, taking them through the list of students in their class to as a mean of encouragement, I still saw their concerned looks, they missed an important piece of info: Who's their teacher? Knowing it will be "Marc", a sigh of relief and glitter of content flashed in their eyes pushing them to admit "Papi, he plays guitar, we will learn a lot by singing, it will surely be fun coming everyday". An eye opener on how crucial is the knowledge seeder in the way they preview their year...and they are 100% right!

Dear friends, our life does not cease needing a teacher, a coach or a counselor. Unfortunately, we believe we stop learning once studies are over, but just a review or check of your first morning minutes thoughts will tell you how desperately you wish you had a teacher to guide you and tell you what to do when you are clueless (which I am in many many circumstances). We are created creative, smart and with a free will to seek learning, growth and guidance. Sometimes, we search so far to get advice, yet we forget that THE teacher is available, is as near as your breath to you...How many times, we decide skipping the class just to chat with a friend or whoever can help us through..before even checking what the teacher has to say. Our heavenly Father says it loud and clear: 

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. (Psalm 32:8 NIV)
«أُعَلِّمُكَ وأُرشِدُكَ الطريقَ الّتي تسلُكُها. أنصَحُكَ. عَيني علَيكَ. (32 المَزاميرُ:8 )

I pray today that we set our chairs toward the podium, towards the teacher. If you believe that He is a promise keeper, if you believe that He has got the whole world in His hands, then just believe that as He said, He is the teacher we need to listen to every morning..or better said, every minute of the day..and I am sure He wont let us down. Just sit down close, get focused and listen!

Have a blessed "Life" school year my friends...

The "Wanting" to Change

"Coaching" is the big thing now in the world of human development. Who ever is in the business world knows what "coaching" means. Most of the time, it is a one to one tailor made form of training made for executives, that unlike traditional therapy, which often focuses on the past, on who you got to where you are now, coaching focus on the present and future, on where you want to go (in life or business) and the most effective way to get there.

I am reading these days a book by one of the top business coaches in our days "Marshall Goldsmith" with an interesting title and topic "What Got You Here Wont Get You There". He was talking about his role as a coach and his ability to make success with his clients who with, a big ego, tend to resist a needed change. He wrote a statement that caught my attention "I have now made peace with the fact that I can not 'make' people change. I can only help them get better at what they 'choose' to change". This "wanting to change" is the key. Boom! This is so simple..yet powerfully true!

Same in the spiritual world, our Loving god has created us with the free will to "choose and want". I guess that the most amazing changes happened to the ones wanting to go the extra mile..wanting to reject their reality and embrace a new world...the ones that made God's might meet their heart's desire. Their boldness and courage melt my heart. Every time I read the story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar at the wall of Jericho, I see this boldness that I pray having one day. Those 6 lines in Mark 10:46-52 are worth reading..every letter of it. The scene is great to imagine and allow me to quote these three verses:

فلَمّا سمِعَ أنَّهُ يَسوعُ النّاصِريُّ، ابتَدأَ يَصرُخُ ويقولُ: «يا يَسوعُ ابنَ داوُدَ، ارحَمني!» فانتَهَرَهُ كثيرونَ ليَسكُتَ، فصَرَخَ أكثَرَ كثيرًا: «يا ابنَ داوُدَ، ارحَمني!». فوَقَفَ يَسوعُ وأمَرَ أنْ يُنادَى. فنادَوْا الأعمَى قائلينَ لهُ: «ثِقْ! قُمْ! هوذا يُناديكَ». (مَرقُسَ.  10:47-49)

He heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking by. So he began shouting, “Jesus, Son of David, please help me!” Many people criticized the blind man and told him to be quiet. But he shouted more and more, “Son of David, please help me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.”” (Mark 10:47-49 ERV)

The blind Bartimaeus's deep manifested desire caught the attention of Jesus and literally stopped Him! This is a person that took 4 crucial decisions: He knew he was blind...He didnt accept his situation...wanted deep down to change..and finally he knew in Whose hands to put his faith! I am sure if Marshall Goldsmith had Bartimaeus as an executive under coaching..He would have written about his success story of change!

God, i pray to have this faith..I pray to have the listening soul for the "coaching" of your Holy Spirit. Amen

May the blind open the eyes of our heart, Lord!