MENTORING MATTERS
What is mentorING?
I was in my 30s when a woman in her early 20s approached me and asked, “Will you mentor me?” I panicked. I certainly didn’t feel qualified to be anyone’s mentor.
​
She was looking for an older woman to do life with, meet up with once in awhile to talk about spiritual things and how to apply them to life. We read books together - ones that she chose - and talked about what we were BOTH learning. In fact, I look back at that first mentoring experience and learned some important things:
ONE: Younger women crave relationships with older women, to learn what works and what doesn’t when it comes to a daily relationship with Christ. They want to see the good, the bad, the ugly. It ALL matters.
TWO: Mentoring is not a formal activity; it’s relational and looks as different as one life to the next. The learning goes both ways - I learn as much or more about life and God from those I mentor in a different generation.
THREE: Older woman feel “unqualified” but don’t realize it’s not their qualifications; rather, it’s their ability to be authentic and willingness.
FOUR: Mentoring is intentional discipleship, straight from the New Testament gospels.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
- Matthew 28:18-20
My passion is to teach and train older women to organically mentor younger women, and to teach and train younger women how to follow Christ more closely. The most important piece of mentoring is our authenticity - bringing our whole selves. And as Brené Brown says, telling our whole story with our whole hearts.
why mentor?
To build community and bridges between the generations in our churches and in our communities
To encourage and equip women in their specific gifts to serve Christ
To fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28 and change the course of humanity
To grow in our faith and be continual learners of the gospel
​
​
​
​
​
​