A journey of learning

*We learn and unlearn and learn again as we travel with Jesus - so that’s how I’ve written my “bio.”*
As a psychology intern fresh out of college, I discovered that I didn’t have enough life experience yet to really help people.
I learned that even though you’ve invested money and years of training, it’s okay to walk away if this isn’t who God’s created you to be.
As a newlywed almost 40 years ago, I realized that life in my new home of Yosemite National Park would be a bit different than life in L.A. (It took me a year to stop looking for the shopping mall.)
I also learned that walking under a full moon in fresh snow or watching a mama bear with cubs was better than a mall. I’ve been a nature gal ever since.

After I fell over backwards into a job directing Ansel Adams’ workshop program in Yosemite, I learned the power of creativity and the art of seeing...mixed with generosity that shares freely with fellow creatives.

As an educator of young children for 20 years, my students taught me that all humans learn best when they are loved and know they belong… and that everyone learns uniquely. What fun we had!
My Aglow Prison Ministry “mamas,” Earlene Leming and Rachel Bonshu are still teaching me the power of women raising up women through faith and love. My inmate friends and teammates showed me that with God, all things really are possible, even us.

My decade as a creative partner to Graham Cooke taught me that virtual training groups can become true communities when you take time to know the people in them and share a common passion. My eternal friends from those days have saved me more than once with their kindness and encouragement, reminding me of my true identity when it was fuzzy to me.

The years pioneering Brilliant TV taught me that creativity thrives in an atmosphere of collaborative joy and beautiful conversations. God is still in the business of turning our fishes and loaves into more than we can imagine.

In recent times, I’ve been reminded of the beauty of rest, trust and letting go. God is graciously redefining “success” as valuing what He values most.

I’ve embraced that we’re never too far along in life to train for something new. My Christian Coach Institute certification wasn’t quick, but it was powerful, collaborative and excellent. It was a significant missing piece, now found.
God has unconditionally kept me, loved me and cared for me.
My wonderful husband Randy is also my greatest champion. We’ve traveled so far and we’re still smiling. And somehow, I became rich in friends.
I’m anticipating God to be wonderful again in this season of coaching, training and relational learning together because there’s still so much to explore in Jesus.
In short (since this is not)… my life has been a Grace Space.

GRACE SPACES VALUES

Values define the culture of a community.

They describe who we are and what you can expect when we are together.

In your Grace Spaces process, you’ll be asked to create your personal values.

And since one of our values is doing what we ask of you, here are ours:

We value that God created each of us uniquely

We honor that God handcrafted each of us with a distinctive way of thinking, learning, experiencing joy, receiving and giving love.
We look to discover how God designed you to uniquely express being a New Creation in Christ.
We value authentic relationships

God’s with us, learning to receive the fullness of His love and grace.
Ours with God, loving Him in return through our gratitude, trust, worship and joy.
Ours with others, sharing the love, kindness and goodness God has shown to us.
We value leaders as fellow travelers, learning alongside our members

Any assignment asked of you, our leaders do too. You’ll hear about our challenges as well as our victories.
We expect to learn from you, not just you from us.
We value people over problems

All of us act outside of our true identity in Christ and the unique creation that we are in Him. Learning to stay relationally connected to God and others when that happens is one of the primary ways to navigate a Grace Space, so we’re happy to practice together when that happens.
We value trusting God in who He sends us

No matter how the process unfolds, you belong and are welcomed.
We are glad you’re here.
We value the power of joy

Our process of spiritual maturity is meant to be fueled by joy: God’s and ours.
Learning how to return to joy in any situation creates the resilience and the endurance needed to finish strong in every stage of life.
We value an eternal perspective of ministry

Loving God with all we are and caring for people as He would are what Jesus said are His greatest values and what He will assess about our lives at the end of the age.
We want our choices in finances and sharing about Grace Spaces to reflect the values and actions that we see in the ministry of Jesus.
Our path certainly isn’t the only way to do this, but it’s the one that fits best for us.
We value that God is in charge of all things redemptive. Our response is our responsibility

Spiritual maturity is not a gift, it’s a relational process with many levels of growth.
We grow as our capacity to receive God’s love for us expands and fuels our life choices.
We trust God to be faithful in His role as Savior, Redeemer, empowering presence, etc. We desire to be faithful in our role, partnering with the Holy Spirit in the process of growing up into all things in Christ.
We assess our values often to be sure our actions match our words, publicly and privately

Writing our values is a starting point, not a finish line.
We initiate conversations with trusted friends who know our lives well and can evaluate the alignment of our values with our choices. All of us have Grace Spaces!
If actions cannot be kindly questioned in relational conversations, something’s not right.