How did I end up being a Christian Life Coach and an Artist?
My Life-Changing Circumstances
After coaching hundreds of coaching sessions, and using the skills I had taught so many clients to get great results in my own life, I experienced the one situation I had always been a bit leery of being faced with as a coach… You see, I had coached clients on almost EVERYTHING imaginable: relationships, career paths, building businesses, finding love, parenting, addictions, perfectionism, and procrastination. I felt confident coaching anyone on any subject, except… traumatic/chronic illness. I had a myriad of health issues, I had not experienced the kind of sickness that lasted for years and completely changed my life. I was afraid o admit that a part of me wondered if Christian Life Coaching could help someone in such a circumstance.
That all changed when I was told I had Meniere’s Vestibular Disorder (for which they say there is no cure) with severe, disabling, and unpredictable vertigo attacks lasting 12-15 hours at a time and leaving me housebound and bedridden for much of 3 years. I only tell you this to show you that there is nothing God cannot help and does not care about.
I saw more practitioners than I care to count - most saying I just had to live with it. One told me it wouldn’t kill me, but it would make me wish I was dead, and he was glad he wasn’t me…. seriously. Some said it was my misaligned jaw putting pressure on my inner ear, some said my eyes were the problem, my upper spine, others said surgery to remove my entire inner ear-and certainly what’s left of my hearing was the only option. I often had to have my husband drive me to my appointments with the hazard lights flashing because every acceleration, turn, or stop caused my head to spin.
Of course, I couldn’t coach. In fact, there wasn’t much of anything I could do. Reading was challenging, so were screens of all kinds, and even sounds including music. (This is where my return to art comes in, but more on that below).
This life-altering circumstance seemed way too big for me to cope with. And honestly, I struggled to find God in all of it. But He was always there.
Christian Life Coaching
This is from an actual coaching post of mine from 2020. It’s a great reminder for me in my current circumstances to be an example of what is possible for you.
My love of life coaching began over a decade ago. Because I was so fascinated with how our thoughts affect our lives (“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” - Proverbs 23:7), and because I wanted to be the best life coach possible, I became certified by not one, but two of the most prestigious life coaching schools. But… it isn’t my education that I consider by most valuable asset as a life coach. It is in partnering with God to help people see truth in the circumstances of their lives. I love seeing God do what only He can do and having a front row seat to the real transformation that happens when we see Him at work in every kind of circumstance.
My belief in Jesus as my Savior has been central to renewing my mind. Finally, what the Bible has said all along has been proven true in the medical and scientific world. We have the ability to change our brain pathways by changing the way we think. Many times we don’t take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 10:5). We have to remember to “think about what we think about”, and not believe everything we think.
Sometimes we can benefit from having someone outside our circumstances remind us of what is true and have patience with us as we are honest with God in the midst of struggling. As the old saying goes, “We just can’t see what we can’t see.”
God led me to a practitioner who helped me see that I needed to help my brain and nervous system feel safe, basically to calm/retrain the malfunctioning alarm system, and trust God. I discovered I had developed a nervous system dysfunction, trusting everything but God to protect and heal me. Basically, the cumulative traumas throughout my life left my brain thinking everything is dangerous. It tried to send me messages of threat through my health, I believe, including my vestibular issues. Then the traumatization of the unpredictable vertigo episodes left my brain sensing danger virtually every minute of every day & night.
My brain was crying out to make me sense danger so I would take protective measures to stay safe. It’s really fascinating how God designed our brains to try to protect us.
As well as correcting things like severe iron deficiency with anemia, I have been working to train my brain to stop seeing everything as a threat.
God has gifted me to be able to be a compassionate, encouraging, tough-love, Christian Life Coach, I am here to coach you in full belief that WHATEVER you are struggling with can be better, whether you are dealing with:
challenging / strained / estranged relationships
a difficult (or perhaps seemingly insurmountable) struggle in your marriage
persistent sin
help with business growth/planning
truly, anything at all
It can be better when we invite God in to show us the way through, How do I know this? Because God’s Word tells us in Romans 8:28 that He is working ALL (even the nearly unbearable and confusing) things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Trust me, I know It sometimes seems impossible to believe, but the Bible says it, and God cannot lie. And I could share stories with you of how I am living proof, myself.
My coaching sessions are held online over Zoom from the comfort of your own home - so you don’t even have to be local. I will offer to pray with you at the beginning of our session, and we will start right away identifying the way forward without having to dredge up painful memories, not ignoring them, rather letting God direct us in seeing how you can cooperate with Him in what He is doing in your life in a way that allows you to have confidence and direction moving forward.
TERMS:
Coaching sessions last one hour and cost $150. After we agree on a session time, and invoice will be sent to you for a $50 deposit to reserve your appointment. If an appointment is not cancelled at least 24 hours before the appointment time, deposits are non-refundable. Refunds for emergency cancellations in less than 24 hours will be made at Sunshine’s sole discretion. An invoice will be sent out separately for the remaining $100 to be paid before your appointment.
A package of 4 weekly coaching sessions (one month) of coaching is available at the discounted rate of $500/ $125 per session.
I have been interested in art since I was 4 years old. I remember getting a big red “X” over a coloring book page of a butterfly in preschool because I used more than one color as the teacher had said. I just couldn’t see coloring a butterfly with detailed patterns just one color. But for years I believed that following a set of arbitrary rules was more important than giving in to my love of color.
As I went through school, we moved around a lot and every time we moved, I was told I couldn’t take art at school if I hadn’t had the prerequisite class. So, by the time I got to college, although I wanted to study art, I was not about to take classes with students who had years of experience.
Fast forward to about 2014. I wanted to paint, but I was limited in my understanding of color theory, color mixing, etc. (although I knew a lot about composition from years of being a professional photographer as I homeschooled our children.) Anyway, I began doing a little painting here and there just to display on shelves around the house.
Then, I bought a few large canvases and just did some “abstract” paintings for our new house to change out with the seasons. I didn’t have much time for painting when I was coaching, quickly building a six figure business in my first year.
But when I became sick and was bedridden, I couldn’t stand doing nothing. And I felt a bit better when I stayed in bed, I took a $10 online art course and learned the missing pieces I needed. I started to paint whatever I wanted to paint from a bedside desk so I didn’t even have to get out of bed.
Little did I know that painting is one of the best forms of vestibular therapy. I started to get out of bed to paint. We bought a large easel to hold large canvases (they’re my favorite). And before I knew it, I had painted over 80 paintings!
I sometimes paint in silence and pray when sound is too much for me, but when I can, I listen to worship music, No matter which it is, painting is a form of therapy to me… but even more, it’s an act of worship.
And I love to use ALL the colors. I figure God didn’t make them for nothing!
I hope my artwork brings you joy, hope, and more than anything, I hope His light shines through me, and you think of Him, the ultimate artist and creator of everything.
Below you’ll see a few of my favorite paintings from a collection I am working about the feet of Jesus. You can see more of my work by clicking on my “Art” link in the menu at the top of the page.
My Artist Journey
