Christi Davis Coaching

We are in the process right now of building a guest house. (And when I say we , I really mean my husband and two oldest boys. They are doing all the work themselves.) This guesthouse has been a dream of mine for a long time.  We spent A LOT of time thinking and re-thinking and thinking again about exactly what we wanted. The official plans now contain all of the little details that will be included in the house.   The hope is that all of the time spent in the planning stage will pay off, and we will be happy with the finished project. We know that Heavenly Father used a similar process when He created the earth. He created all things spiritually before He created them physically. (Moses 3:5) Genesis 2:4-6 even tells us that He made every plant before it was in the earth.  That was a pretty detailed plan! What if we apply this same principle to the "creation" of our thoughts and feelings?  Bear with me as I get a little abstract here.  What if, ins...

A few years ago for Mother's Day, the 16-18 year old boys were invited in to Relief Society (the women's meeting at church) to talk about their moms.  They each told us something that they loved about their moms.  Many of their responses, predictably, centered around food.  Some were grateful for all the rides to sports practices, some for a listening ear.  But one young man, Jesse, gave a response that really struck me.  So much so that it has stayed with me all of these years. Jesse said, and I paraphrase, "I love that my mom always seemed so happy to be our mom.  I never felt like there was anything in the world that she would rather be doing than staying home with us." Wow!  What a beautiful gift that mom gave to her children!  I chose to be a stay-at-home mom too.  I intentionally decided that was the most meaningful and important work I could do.  But I wonder if my kids feel how much I love it?  Can they tell by my atti...

This post is kind of a follow up to last week.  Using the example of a sprout growing in my bathroom sink, I was trying to illustrate a principle:  We can take any circumstance in our lives, and choose what we want to make it mean. The circumstances in our lives are all neutral.  They don't feel neutral sometimes, but they are.  The weather, the things that happen around us, other peoples' words or actions, all of those things are neutral.  They just are.  They don't have any effect on us, positive or negative, until we assign some sort of meaning to them. This is the best news!!  That means that no matter what happens "to" us, or around us, we are always in control of how it affects us.  We are the ones who get to create all the meaning in our lives! This is the ultimate mastery of our God-given agency! Here are a few lighthearted examples (taken from my journal several years ago) of taking a common circumstance, and choosing to make ...

On an average Wednesday morning I heard a squeal of delight coming from the bathroom, where Eli had gone to comb his hair.  "Mom!  Come look what I found!" I was almost, but not really, as pleased as Eli was to discover a tiny green sprout peeking out from the overflow drain in the sink. For a split second, my brain tried to tell me how disgusting it is to have a sink dirty enough that something can GROW there! But before that thought could even take root, I chose a different one.  I decided that I love that I have the kind of home where people (and plants, apparently) are thriving.  I reminded myself that life is welcome here, in all its messiness.  I want my home to be a safe place for the people I love to settle in, put down their roots, and begin to grow- always reaching toward the light. I love the freedom of knowing I can just choose to think and feel anything I want to!  Consciously choosing our thoughts really is the ul...