I was at the roller-rink when I spotted this lady trying to show someone how to do a move that she couldn’t do herself and I thought,
“Hmmm! The world is full of coaches.”
It is okay to coach someone as long as you know how to do the thing that you are coaching.
The vision of this skater conjured up images of people that I knew, in the past, coaching in varying fields that they needed to learn. I thought particularly of a lady that I knew who coached another lady in the area of family relationships when her own marriage was a complete disaster. I realize that there is another side of it because a divorcee can be a good family coach provided they have learned from their mistakes.
I am forever looking for good coaches. With that being said, I have two criteria for coaches to whom I gravitate.
I look for expertise, i.e., someone who demonstrates understanding. They understand the subject matter and they are at least willing to try to understand me.
I also look for love. Here I am not necessarily speaking of the mushy kind of love, but the kind of love that cares and bears with me. Paul was right, because he said this about love:
“It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things.” (1 Cor. 13:7)
In fact, he said that love never fails.
There was a time when my life was particularly chaotic, to put it mildly and I needed a coach to help me bring some order out of the chaos. I found a man. That man pointed me to Jesus. Jesus became my Ultimate Coach. I started reading the Bible for advice, especially the books that were easier for me to understand . I read Ecclesiastes. When I got to Chapter 12, I felt like I had found the key. It said,
“Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth…”
I eventually found my way to the gospels. It is okay to have a coach as long as you have a good one.
Life Step Ministries 
Well written, and profound. We need to choose coaches, and mentors carefully. I can visualize how funny the lady at the skating rink must have looked. Praise God for those wonderful coaches who lead others to the Lord.🤗
LikeLike
Thanks Sally. The skating event was awkward because each time she attempted to demonstrate the move, she wobbled terribly, she never made the required turn, and each attempt brought her close to a fall. That being said, roller skating is a lot of fun especially when done with friends in safe gatherings.
LikeLike
Yes, roller skating is a lot of fun, for sure. 🤗
LikeLike
Response from C. Smith January 27, 2020 at 4:00pm
So you remember when common sense was common. I just shared some funny stories with someone about some things that I learned from some people. They won’t necessarily be trying to teach and this is not directly related to your point. I have been pointing out how people who are not truthful get in the way of everything. I had him to understand how we often misunderstand what lying is. We often believe that lying is only verbal. The point is that no matter what the situation is I always pray that their is truth in the picture.
So even if that lady doesn’t know what she is doing, it can make the picture much more clear that that child needs someone else to teach/coach her. While my father could not ever check my science homework, he made sure that I had the right attitude about school and I was always prepared. When I was a high school coach one of the things that I had to learn was that some parents did not want to release their children to a coach, even though they encouraged them to try out for the team.
Again, this is not meant to take away from your point. I have just seen so many cases that are loaded with subtle stuff that makes it easy for someone to end up with the wrong coach.
LikeLike
Reply to C. Smith on January 27, 2020 at 4:16pm
Hello Friend. I think much of this is related from my perspective. On the phrase, “weren’t necessarily trying to teach,” I think some of the best coaches don’t see themselves as coaches when they perform act itself. They are just trying to help. Last Thursday I gently skated up beside a skater and started counting rhythmically and her skating smoothed out and she began to smile because she was getting it. I wasn’t trying to coach, but just trying to help and it turned out to be a good developmental moment. Here again you are on point, at least from my perspective, when you speak of truth being in the picture because, I have tried to bring my entire belief system under the dominion of God because I made Him my Ultimate Coach. I believe that truth is in Him regardless to what I believe or might have believed. Well, on parents not wanting to release their children to the coach, I think some parents want to help the coach do the coaching and that will not work. LOL!
PS: I am forever looking for coaches. If someone does something particularly well, that I need to learn, I will often ask them how they do it.
Also, here’s another PS on the subject of needing another coach that you mentioned. I had an excellent piano teacher when I took lessons, and after I had mastered the complete, “Michael Aaron” piano curriculum, she wisely recognized that I needed advanced lessons so lateraled me to a more advanced teacher. I suspect any good coach would generally know when to lateral a student to more specialized learning regardless of the subject.
LikeLike