{"id":30252,"date":"2023-01-18T21:55:52","date_gmt":"2023-01-19T05:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30252"},"modified":"2023-01-18T21:55:52","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T05:55:52","slug":"as-good-as-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/as-good-as-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"As Good as Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

My husband has been a dedicated fan of all gold mining shows on the Discovery channel for years. They could be mining in Alaska, in the Bering Sea, in the desert or jungle or remote rivers. The miners spend resources upon resources to dig deep in the hope of finding specks \u2013 or at best, a nugget \u2013 of gold. There are a lot of risks to find the gold. There is a necessity of a team to find the gold. There are unforeseen challenges that inevitably impact the mining. It is a messy business in every sense of the word. Even as I write this, my husband is watching one such show. While the shows feel all the same to me, it does help me contextualize the analogy that Camacho uses throughout his book, Mining for Gold<\/em>. Camacho uses an acrostic to detail the four concepts and details six principles of what he terms gold mining or coaching leadership. Between the concepts and principles, Camacho focuses on the gold that is embedded in everyone and the need for Christian leaders to be intentional and focused, partnering with God in identifying and uncovering the gem within the person.<\/p>\n

Throughout the book Camacho delves into scriptural basis for the different principles and provides practical action steps that a leader can take. While the book felt on the line of being overly spiritualized I time, I most appreciated his emphasis that it is God that does the work, and we are simply invited to cooperate with him.[1]<\/a> This felt refreshing for me as so much of leadership content today tends to feel pressurized towards the individual leader doing more, being skilled in all things, having the answers to the problems, and success or failure resting solely upon the leaders. While many of the books we have read over the last few years challenge these notions in different ways, Camacho stated it the most plainly and consistently. His focus on the need for coaches and leaders who are relational, rely on the Holy Spirit, and who know how to thrive in who they have been created to be feels to be a leadership modality that alleviates the pressure. Yes, we are called to steward well what and who we have been entrusted with, to work with excellence, and to be intentional, the real transformation is the responsibility of the Lord. I cannot do what the Lord can. But I can do what He has called me to and partner him to invest in the Kingdom work.<\/p>\n

I have been fortunate throughout my life to have wonderful coaches. I consider myself fortunate that I can think of several people that exude the principles that Camacho details and have taken interest in me while cooperating with the Lord as the gold is uncovered and refined in me. I have been mentored and coached through some of the most challenging personal and professional seasons, sponsored towards expanding my own leadership capacities, and pointed towards the cross when I am doing the work in my own strength. Right now, however, I find myself in a strange season of realizing that I have a unique coaching leadership opportunity: how to lead in and through cancer.<\/p>\n