A Heart 4 Business: Can I serve others well and still make a living? Dan Miller

I have always been inundated with requests for ministry (or pro bono) coaching. Just today I received a lengthy letter from a 60-yr-old pastor, whose board in his description is replacing him with “a new and younger man.” He has no health insurance, is living “paycheck to paycheck” and has no idea where to go from here.

After a “ministry” lunch meeting yesterday, I made a quick stop at the bank. The teller dissolved into tears as she told me that she too has felt “called” to do something significant, but feels trapped at the lowly position at the bank as a single mom. I ran out to my car and grabbed a copy of the new edition of 48 Days to the Work You Love and Wisdom Meets Passion but she could have used a tender 2-hour listening and counseling session.

I get poignant pleas from disabled workers, professionals who have been let go and others who feel off track in their life’s position. Joanne’s work at the Tennessee Prison for Women provides us with a steady stream of ladies who need a hand-up and a fresh start. Many have read 48 Days to the Work You Love and feel connected to me as a possible lifeline to a more purposeful life. In this week’s 48 Days Online Radio I respond to a newly divorced mother of five whose husband had an affair with and married her best friend. She needs a plan for her own future. Another mother wrote that her 23 year-old son had a head on collision in December that has left him with severe physical limitations for working. He needs help in creating a realistic, but creative, plan for generating income. I just spoke with my nephew who is executive director of a program in Richmond, VA that is doing a great job of breaking the cycle of poverty and illiteracy. He desperately needs financial support and materials to open new doors of opportunity in work and income for kids who want to embrace their God-given talents.

If you are a coach, or just a person people seek out for counsel and advice, how do you handle that desire to help a hurting world? Specifically, how do you balance your desire to serve and your responsibility to provide for your own family?

On September 3-4^th we’ll be having our last Coaching with Excellence event of the year here at the Sanctuary in Franklin, TN. We’ll be covering how to position yourself for ministry – and for profit. There is no shame in doing well as you are doing good. I’ll share how we create a variety of resources to help people in multiple ways – and how you can do the same. I’ll show you the 90% free resources we provide, and the 5% that is carefully structured to create income beyond our needs. We’ll talk about stewardship and lifestyle and how I look for “and” solutions rather than “either/or.” If you are already coaching, we want to hear how you are making it work: how you are fulfilling your calling and at the same time keeping the mortgage paid, and more.