Mentors

An elderly woman from our old church here in town passed away today. I used to spend a bit of time talking to her and really enjoyed learning some things from her - she was somewhere around 85 years old. She was the lady who insisted I take a bunch of fabric she had and make Amanda some things. Well, I made a jumper but that's about as far as I got. Ada had made Heidi's kids some cute blankets and she showed them to me before giving them. It was like her to think of others like that.

Tonight I spent some time thinking of Ada and some of the other older women I know. I've heard lots and lots of talk about mentors and the importance of them. Certainly, Paul talked about the older women teaching the younger women and how that was important. I do know that the ladies I spend time with teach me things that I need to learn.

When I was in the Setting Captives Free program - The Lord's Table - I wrote back and forth to my "mentor" who encouraged me to stick with my new eating (and exercising) plan. She was able to help me because she'd been right where I found myself at the time - overweight and unhappy.

I believe in mentoring. I believe that as I grow older I should begin to mentor younger gals. I believe that I should also spend time with older women who know infinitely more than I do about so many issues. But I also believe that it's important to spend time with many Christians who can encourage and uplift me. It's not good to get the teachings of just one person because they are, after all, human just like me. They make mistakes and are never 100% right all of the time. It's good to get different viewpoints in life.

Something to remember is that the Bible speaks a lot about corporate worship and community. We're not meant to be alone. We need each other in our quest to grow spiritually.

Try hooking up with some older people today if you want to be blessed. Ask them about their pasts if you really want to learn something. Then sit back and enjoy the blessings that fall your way.