Radical Acceptance🌸

Acceptance can be described as favorable reception…the act of assenting (saying yes) or believing (Dictionary.com).

As much as I tried to get around it, I have learned that radically accepting BOTH who we are (the real us, our new identity in Christ) and what God’s will is for our lives is not only crucially important—it’s necessary.

God has made us all unique with unique and tailor made calls on our lives. Often the more you figure yourself out the more you see aspects of you or what you like or how you really feel led to do things that just kinda stick out, don’t fit, or feel too different … like maybe they’re just not acceptable— and we’d all be lying if we tried to pretend we never desired or valued feeling accepted. We often begin to shush ourselves: dim this down a little bit, hide that a lot of a bit, tailor this to look a little more like that. We don’t realize we’re struggling against who we’re truly called to be, the way we’re called to be. We’re resisting God’s unique will for how He made us and wants to reveal Himself through us and through our lives. One thing I have quite forcefully learned is to resist and struggle is a form of self sabotage, a huge hindrance to progress towards the things we really want, and that God is inviting us with acceptance to quit the conforming and hiding and just be ourselves—but we have to finally greet ourselves with acceptance as well. This is what I finally had to do.

I’m not your typical life coach. I get that. But I’ve finally accepted that, and let me tell you one thing—God is with me & I know a client won’t leave the same way he/she came. I had to learn to accept myself.

In the early days when I would do my business research, I realized I didn’t look like (nor is my style like) what dominates the coaching field. I would hesitate a lot and hold back. I felt like I looked too young and unprofessional, because I liked to dress and look pretty, code-switched a lot and spoke fluent ‘ebonics’, and sometimes I honestly just felt too black. I had given up on coaching for awhile for various reasons under the guise of ‘taking a break’. When God convicted my heart and brought me back, one of the things I could tell He was just stressing to me was to be myself and accept myself. He began to use Be Yourself & Iconic, songs by the artist Wande, to minister to me. I actually used to just cry listening to that first song, because it literally felt like God was speaking directly to me.

I really believe God began trying to get it through to me that I was holding back because of who and how I was as a person...but because of who/how He made me, He was going to use me to draw, help, and speak to the heart of so many people that fall through the cracks of who is typically helped by and attracted to coaching and other fields.

He didn’t want me to be like anyone else or to hold back. He wanted me to shine exactly how He made me to. He also didn’t want me to wait until I had it all figured out to start pouring out what He’d put inside me.

I’m silly, dramatic, very passionate, sometimes I can come off with a bit of an intensity that makes people nervous, and sometimes I can come off like my heart is breaking. I’m very goofy. I’m an excellent writer, but I like to be very authentic and expressive, so on social media I often write just like I talk. I’m very passionate and unapologetic about Christ. I do not know how to really do a lot of things I feel like I’m supposed to know how to do to make things look really pretty, professional, and streamlined, but I try to do it anyway and learn as I go. I believe in obedience while building toward perfection—instead of waiting for perfection. I talk a lot. I do. If you see a short caption on my Instagram feed you should be amazed. That’s how much I usually have to say—again, I’m a passionate person. I like to dress and look cute. I like hair extensions; I’m talking bundles—long juicy, luscious ones. I love to get my nails done all cute and poppin.....

These things may sound irrelevant and silly to some of you, but these are all things I felt counted me out in the pursuit of my dreams. I felt people just weren’t going to listen or take me seriously as someone who can really assist and help them. But as God continued to encourage, draw, and convict me, I had take the leap of faith, learn to accept myself, and begin to trust God enough to be ME. I started to take His word for it that He wants me to just be myself and shine—and that that’s part of the blessing.

I hope you’re able to learn to accept and just be yourself too—Doors God opens, no man can shut.

When God says yes, the anointing will work on your behalf, and your gifts will make room for you--no matter what anyone thinks about how you look or sound. ✨

Warmly,

Coach Marie