The stakes that landscapers use for newly planted trees provide a great metaphor for coaching. These stakes are there to support the tree so it can thrive and grow, and after a while they are removed. Similarly, coaches come alongside people in times of growth, change, or hardship in order to support and encourage them for a time.
Our strengths are what we can most naturally live and love well out of. We each have different talents that help us live well. There are many ways we can love the people in our lives well. When we know our natural style for living and loving, we can be intentional and more effective in our own unique way.
Each of these pictures represents one of the Top 5 Strengths Themes that I live and love out of. My themes are Responsibility, Empathy, Discipline, Connectedness, and Positivity. Can you guess which picture goes with which theme? (See answers at the end of this post!)
God has shaped each of us uniquely with talents – things that we tend to do well. Our talents are patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that come naturally to us. We each have a variety of talents that we can use in different ways. And this causes each of us to see and respond to life differently.
For example, here’s a picture of the edge of our neighborhood where I often take walks. Now, imagine yourself in this picture taking a walk. Let me ask you a question …
In Elgin, Iowa, local farmers create an amazing corn maze each fall. The photo below shows the dairy theme they designed the year we visited there. Some ways were dead-ends or led us in a circle. And some areas had more than one way through. The corn was tall, and once we were in the maze we couldn’t see the beginning or the end. After experiencing our share of dead-ends and circling back, it was rewarding to make our way out! 
Live a Life of Love 