Her kitchen became a sacred place. It was where I poured out my heart in desperation as she peeled potatoes for dinner. It was where my walls came down as I told her my darkest secrets. It was where we shed tears and shared laughs. It was also simply where we stood, side-by-side, washing and drying dishes in a kind of comforting silence.
To this day, her kitchen is where I feel safe and vulnerable enough to tell her about the intensity of my emotions. It is where I go from discussing the mundane details of my week to unveiling the weight of my struggles. It is where she offers both guidance and reassurance, gently admonishing me when necessary, and providing encouragement and the warmth of a hug.
Mentorship often follows a structured approach with scheduled meetings. In our case, however, it is much more informal and organic. We don’t go through book studies or arrange mid-week coffee visits. I am simply involved in her regular, day-to-day life. We run errands together, like trips to Costco. We spend evenings working on puzzles and playing Scrabble. I watch her make dinner as we have a glass of wine and talk. I sit next to her in church.
While formal mentorship is undeniably important, the value of everyday mentorship is equally crucial to a woman’s personal growth in the Lord.
Young women yearn to be invited and involved in an older woman’s day-to-day life. She desires to be included and nurtured and uplifted. She desires to grow with her mentor and learn how she navigates both the ordinary challenges and the life-altering difficulties. She wants to see Christ embodied.
Written in the early 1900s, the poem Call Back, expresses beautifully how a young woman longs to know, from an older woman, how to press forward through life’s storms.
If you have gone a little way ahead of me, call back—
’Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track;
And, if perchance, Faith’s light is dim, because the oil is low,
Your call will guide my lagging course as wearily I go.
Call back, and tell me that He went with you into the storm;
Call back, and say He kept you when the forest’s roots were torn;
That, when the heavens thundered and the earthquake shook the hill,
He bore you up and held you when the very air was still.
O friend, call back and tell me, for I cannot see your face;
They say it glows with triumph, and your feet bound in the race;
But there are mists between us and my spirit eyes are dim,
And I cannot see the glory, though I long for word of Him.
But if you’ll say He heard you when your prayer was but a cry,
And if you’ll say He saw you through the night’s sin-darkened sky—
If you have gone a little way ahead, O friend, call back—
’Twill cheer my heart and help my feet along the stony track.
More than anything, I want to know from my mentor how she endured the trials that came into her life. I need to know how God upheld her through adversity and how he demonstrated his faithfulness time and time again.
And I want to live with the same faith and perseverance she demonstrates and to follow her example of grace and compassion.
Questions for consideration:
How involved would you want your mentor to be in your personal life?
Why is it important to be involved in your mentor’s life? Likewise, why is it important to be involved in your mentee’s life?
How can you support your mentor or mentee in her spiritual journey?
How can you balance being involved in your mentor’s life while also respecting her boundaries?
Comments