Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Thoughts On Mentoring

This will be another one of those non-DIY design posts for me today. It is a bit of a different direction than I usually take because I am always blogging about decorating, but since the idea of mentoring has been on my mind lately, I figured I would write a post about it. Not because I don't have any decorating to blog about (because I do) but because I don't want to forget some of my thoughts and conversations with others about the topic.

So here it goes!

My husband and I have had the chance to be mentored by a couple in Florida years ago that made a huge impact on our lives...and still does to this day. Once we moved to Virginia, I found myself expecting to be mentored by similar couples at the church we joined. When that didn't happen, and 3 1/2 years later still hasn't, I found myself getting frustrated and saddened. Maybe a little angry at times. Now that I have prayed and thought about it some more, I wonder if those thoughts were incorrect....they probably were. Well, actually, I think to some extent it was okay to be upset that we haven't experienced that to the same degree that we did in Florida because I think having a mentor is SO important.
But back to my thoughts on this now...instead of getting angry about it, I am actual thankful that we even had the chance to be mentored by this couple years ago because it is such a rarity to have these days. Both my husband and I found that this particular couple mentored us in pretty much any aspect of life you can think of. They were wise beyond their years and had much life experience...and it was very apparent that they loved the Lord and He has blessed them tremendously. Their 3 children and grandchildren love Him as well and that speaks volumes in and of itself.

So, I have come to the conclusion that since being here, we each have had mentors in some way, shape, or form. It may not be to the extent of what we experienced in Florida all those years ago, and truthfully may never happen that way again, but that is okay. We have been thankful that God has allowed us even that experience in the past and can pass that on to others. And we are thankful that we have mentors now that disciple us in smaller ways even though it is a different way than what we thought we were going to have when we first moved here.

I know I may be babbling, but these were some thoughts I had recently that I wanted to share so that I remember to be thankful for those experiences and not bitter or angry because of the fact that we may not have that again. We are just grateful that by God's grace we were able to experience it all in the first place.

And now I want to leave you with a quote I found from the Magnolia Mom. I made this sign in our home with this quote from her and put it up in our mudroom. A few people have mentioned they really like it so I will share it. It goes a little something like this:
"Let whatever you do today be enough."
Seems fitting for this kind of conversation today.


Thanks for stopping by!

2 comments :

  1. How wonderful to have known your mentors of yesterday. I'm sure they prepared you for today, and tomorrow. I applaud you for being open to the idea of being mentored; so many young couples feel they know it all before they ever turn 40 these days. I'm a firm believer in mentoring and always pray for an opportunity to do just that, because I've had a lot of help along the way myself.

    I loved the quote. Much needed here.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is funny because when I just had one child I thought I knew a lot...now that I have 2 I realize there is always so much more to learn!

    ReplyDelete

I always love to hear from my readers! Thanks for taking the time to post an encouraging & uplifting comment.