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| |  | Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of m�agine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.
Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.�
Do you know someone
who might benefit
from our weekly email?
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My grandparent's home--a lovely, Spanish ranch-style house in a Los Angeles suburb--was a refuge in my youth. The property itself was a garden of rare beauty adorned with trees bearing avocados, olives, and citrus; bushes yielding roses of multiple variety and color; a natural rock pond filled with Koi; and numerous corners rich with adventure. All of which were secreted behind massive walls of stone and stucco and imposing sets of wooden gates.
It's the nearest I've come to a sense of Eden.
Even so, for all of its natural beauty, Eden's most compelling feature was not the garden itself, but the authentic intimacy shared by the Creator and the garden's first inhabitants--caretakers of God's good creation.
Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed; and God walked among them in the garden in the cool of the day.
When Adam and Eve were cast from the garden, when the gate closed behind them, perhaps the greatest loss they endured was that of innocence and intimacy in relationship to God. And, arguably, in relationship to each other.
To this day we crave and--yet at the same time--resist intimacy, the desire to know and to be known. Unable, unwilling, to cast ourselves into, what one has described as, the emotional free fall of intimacy, we may find ourselves either avoiding relationships of depth and vulnerability or troubled by anxiety around the relationships we do have. Those who avoid intimacy, in its place, may seek solace in attachment, addiction, acquisition, or attainment.
No less than Jesus, Son of Man, longed to know and to be known. On the eve of his crucifixion he prayed of his apostles: "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).
What does intimacy look like to you?
Consider a key relationship. How does intimacy show up in this relationship? Or not?
What are the risks of intimacy? What are its benefits?
How might your patterns of intimacy/non-intimacy with others reflect your relationship with God...or vice versa?
How might the two foremost commandments--"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength...love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:30-31)--nurture healthy, intimate relationships?
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Michael Fox
m�agine!
530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241 |
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In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--
as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.
Michael's books include
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.
Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.
Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.
View our archives!
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