I have so enjoyed this journey into the heart of mentoring. Sharing Life has been all about, well, sharing our lives with others…the ups, the downs, the good, the bad, and the ugly. My friends and I have offered posts that we hope have spoken into your heart in beautiful, blessed ways. Here is a sampling of some of the posts:
Someone Needs YOU To Be Their People
When Faith Feels More Frustration Than Song – Kimberly Henderson
I have a few more posts scheduled in December. I would love to hear how these Sharing Life posts have impacted you. Would you like to see this series continued in 2017?
Today at Sharing Life I welcome a new friend, Nancy Lindgren. She is a friend of a friend, and she came highly recommended to offer a post on mentoring to us.
Nancy is a mentor to moms, coach to mentors, and a consultant to ministry leaders. She has been married to her husband, Mark, for 29 years and has 4 grown children who she counts as her best friends.
Email: [email protected]
FB: nancylindgren
IG: nancylindgren
Twitter: nancylindgren
I remember the first time a young mom asked me to be her mentor. The word “mentor” alone freaked me out! It sounded so formal—like I had to have all the answers and have my life put together, as well as be an advisor, teacher, counselor, and Bible scholar. Well, she and I quickly realized that’s not what she was looking for and that’s not who I was. We just started meeting together. I loved her, listened to her, and encouraged her. Then we prayed together over all the things that were heavy on her heart for that day. We watched God answer prayer after prayer in the most creative and miraculous ways. Together, we grew in awe of our great God.
What I loved about this style of mentoring is that it took all the pressure off of me as the mentor! I actually didn’t have to have all the answers. I didn’t have to portray perfection. Whew! I was just real with her and she was real with me and we talked with a very real God about every little thing that concerned us and He provided amazing answers that we could have never figured out on our own.
We experienced Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
I didn’t just tell my mentee I would pray for her. We actually prayed. We prayed while we walked. We prayed at the coffee shop. We prayed amidst kids climbing all over us. We agreed together and believed together that God was able to change hearts and situations and we watched Him do it.
We both grew in our love for God and our trust in Him. The greatest benefit in our prayer times together was the freedom from worry, anxiety, fear and doubt. It was like they were lifted off of us as we began to pray together. What a gift!
Here’s how my mentee describes it in her own words: “Being mentored by Nancy truly changed my life! Nancy was so loving, encouraging, and the best listener. I felt like I could share intimate things because I was not judged by her and I trusted her. She always pointed me to God’s Word. I never left my time with her without us praying together. Nancy truly taught me how to PRAY! And that is what changes everything!!! She would pray so beautifully, specifically, and expectantly and then be so patient and encourage me to pray. I learned about the power of praying in agreement together! I loved getting to know Nancy more as she would also share with me how I could pray for her. We would pray each week specifically over our marriages, our children, and many other details/decisions of our lives. There is nothing more bonding than to pray together and rejoice together when God so faithfully answers.”
I have a huge heart for moms with young children because I remember how hard those years were. We had four kids in six years so most of those years were spent in survivalhood mode. I loved being a mom but I was also exhausted. I was sleep- deprived, time-by-myself deprived and time-with-God-deprived. I believe if I would have had a mentor during that season, it would have made all the difference.
I also have a have a huge place in my heart for seasoned moms. I know so many women who would make amazing mentors, yet they don’t see themselves as one. They are fearful of not knowing what to say or not knowing enough or being enough. I get it. I felt the same way.
I would love to look you straight in the eyes and remind you that you have everything you need to be an amazing mentor. Just be You. Be Real. Just love, listen, encourage and pray and watch God do the rest. You will be so blessed and so blown away by how God can use your availability to change lives.
If you feel like you would either love to have a mentor or become a mentor and don’t know where to start, I have just the resource for you called MORE Mentoring – A 12-Session Jumpstart Guide for Mentors and Mentees. I would love to share it with you! You can email me ([email protected]) and I will send it to you as an e-book. My desire is to see more mentoring happen all over the world!
