I grew up in the USA, but after meeting my husband John in South Africa, we spent 30 years raising our five children there, living in a few different locations, but finally making our home in Cape Town in 2001. We loved serving God and others at Southpoint Church and were blessed in so many different ways. In May 2013 we disentangled ourselves from most of our earthly possessions in Cape Town, South Africa to find ourselves with our three suitcases each, in Warner Robins, Georgia, to begin a brand new season of life where John is serving as Lead Pastor of Longleaf Church, Rachel is excelling at Middle Georgia State College and Leah is enjoying her first school experience two days a week with a hybrid homeschooling program called Veritas Classical Education. We were happy to be close enough to connect more frequently with our three adult sons, two daughters-in-love and three grandchildren – two we’d never met!

It is always difficult and traumatic to move, and moving cross-continentally from a place we loved, full of people we loved, has had the expected challenges.  We have learned to play a game I invented called, “It’s good because _______” where everyone takes a turn to fill in the blank.

Sometimes God needs to disentangle us from some things so that He can make us available for MORE.  We continue to look for all the MORE He has for us and especially how we can be MORE effective in sharing the love of Christ with others.

For most of my adult life I have been wondering what I was going to do “when I grow up.” Raising five children and homeschooling them has been my focus for many years.This move has caused me to begin seriously thinking about useful ways of using the next phase of life.  With only two children remaining at home (Rachel, 20 and Leah, 13), I have more discretionary time than ever before.

In examining my strengths and potential opportunities with many wise people, I was introduced to the field of Life Coaching and have completed my first course towards becoming a Certified Professional Life Coach.  I am enjoying all aspects of this endeavor: the learning, the peer coaching, and coaching actual clients.  I am realizing that I have been doing coaching for many years in a variety of capacities and I love the privilege of working with clients to discover and achieve their goals.

I am looking forward to continuing my training and personal development through taking more classes while at the same time offering my services at a reduced rate to clients who are ready to make some thoughtful changes in different areas of their lives.  I am currently coaching moms with children at home who want to improve family relationships; seasoned executives who want to make wise choices about nutrition and lifestyle so they can enjoy long life AND vitality; and business owners who just want to be better at everything.  I continue to pursue my passion for health and wellness through on-line conferences and education and love helping others find practical economical ways to improve their health and enjoyment of life!

‘Ready, Fire, Aim’ is an approach to life that resonates well with me.  I do like to get ready, but I like to get into motion and refine as I go.  God has been getting me ready for coaching through:

• 34 years as a Christ follower, learning lessons daily;

• 34 years of progressive awareness of health and nutrition all built upon a Nutritional Chemistry Course taken at Vanderbilt University;

• 33 years married to John with all the learning and adapting marriage requires;

• 31 years of mothering five children through all their different developmental learning stages;

• 20+ years passionately coaching young moms towards mothering through breastfeeding with the incredible support of La Leche League South Africa;

• 17 years of homeschooling five different personalities and learning styles;

• 15 years of facilitating Communication workshops for small groups;

• 13 years as a Pastor’s wife;

• 6 years as a member of an amazing staff team at Southpoint Church seeking to create environments so people could come to know and love Jesus as we do!

So, as I look back I see that God has been preparing me and getting me ready for this phase of my life.  I look ahead with anticipation to how He might use me to help others.

I imagine taking all that experience and using it to help and bless others in 2014 and beyond…

• Help people learn healthier living options through my blog;

• Help people navigate their life choices through personal one on one coaching via Skype or telephone;

• Help groups of people realize their personal goals – whether in terms of nutrition, exercise, organization, relationships, communication etc. through group coaching interaction;

• Help people by giving motivational/inspirational talks;

• Help teams (especially church or non-profit staffs) with team building, communication and development.

I am completely open to any doors that God will guide me to, but these are some of the things that He has given me a burden for.

So I would value your prayers as I begin this new phase of life and I would also appreciate any referrals you may have if you or someone you know resonates with the type of help I am offering.

I was caught by surprise when Mark Sisson (Mark’s Daily Apple) shared his BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) in his first email of 2014:  “Greetings, as many of you know, it’s my life goal to help 10 million people get healthy.”

Wow!  My first thought was ‘I wonder how many people I can help?’  If I can help 10 thousand I think I will be accomplishing a lot!  But I pray I may be available to truly help as many people as God sends my way!  I praise Jesus Christ for all He has done for me and hope I can be a channel to share His blessing with others!

Thanks for your prayers, help and support! Use the contact form below me if I can help you in any way.

Becky Hastings

PS: You might enjoy my latest updated recipe for Raw Chocolate.  It is so easy anyone can make it and so delicious you’ll want to have some every day!!