Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Step Thirty-Nine: Mentor

Dear Readers,

One of the most life fulfilling things I have ever had the opportunity to do is mentor young girls. Aside from being amazed and blessed by the girls, I have also found that in mentoring I have become a better mentee and disciple. 

Tonight I was talking to one of my mentees. I was telling her that sometimes there just aren't any words to be had, but that you have trust that everything is in God's very capable hands. As I said this, my heart flashed to my own life and the many circumstances that make me feel so...  unsteady. From sweet babies, to friends moving, to sad brothers... I want so badly to "help", "fix" or "protect" these things. In fact, I get so fixated on doing something that I forget that I am a how-to-for-dummies to God's Ph.D. Imagine, for instance you have a burst pipe in your plumbing causing a leaky faucet (by the way I don't claim any plumbing accuracy here). I can come along and replace the leaky faucet, but that won't fix the plumbing. But I get so fixated on that faucet, I keep God from replacing the burst pipe. Anyways thats a whole separate  blog on trusting God, the point of the story is that God uses us to communicate to us. I am a firm believer that those we mentor have as much to learn from us as we do from them. And, often times, in the process of loving and teaching them, we teach ourselves too. The truth is, God doesn't create parasitic relationships. Every person who comes into our lives has something to offer us. Even (and perhaps, especially) those we least expect it from. When we befriend, walk alongside, and mentor those people we open our hearts to what they have to say, what God wants to say through them. 

So be on the look out, let your heart be open to the messages God is sending you through the people in your life. You might be surprised. 

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