I will never forget the day, it was a few years ago and I was meeting my former
Sunday School teacher for lunch. The cool thing was that after almost 15 years from
being in his class we were still friends and we still get together for lunch from time to time. He was one of my favorite teachers that came along in my tween years when things were awkward and weird, and he contributed greatly to my life.
This particular day I was beaten down and upset. I had 3 kids, worked a full time
job, and still served as a youth pastor, and I was frustrated trying to balance all these
things. During the lunch I remember telling him that I wish my church could hire me full time, or I wish that I could be normal and happy working a regular job. In typical mentor style he bought my lunch, gave me a cd of new music I hadn’t heard yet, and told about a few podcasts that may help me out.
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I don’t remember him really doing anything or even addressing my problem, but it
was exactly what I needed. I left that fine Chinese restaurant a little encouraged and
stoked that along with my new music I found that he had added a few tracks from the new Muse album.
These articles were all about mentors, and none of us would have been the same
without them. Just think if Luke Skywalker never met Obi Wan Kenobi, he would have been a whiney dead man instead of a Jedi Knight. If Frodo didn’t have Gandalf in his life than he would have would have been unprepared and perished in Saurons attempt to dominant the world.
I am anxious to finish this review because as soon as I finish I have the daunting
task of writing a recommendation letter so a teenager in my youth group can score a
college scholarship. This brings me to the second article I read that talked about Look Forward, Look Around, and Look Back. I felt pretty good about this article, I mean I know who is leading me, I know who Im leading with, and I know who I am leading.
I was really intrigued by the idea of pouring a little extra into a few special
students. One of my special students is the very teenager who asked my to write him
the letter of recommendation. This kid is a natural leader, responsible, and he is the key cog in my youth group audience. I remember one time we were at a summer service conference and during a leaders meeting they told us that if our teens liked the could come early and sit in on the “prayer team” meeting, and then be allowed to help pray for people at the end of service.
Right before the prayer team meeting was about to start I saw this particular teen
walking down the hall way I grabbed his shoulder and said, “Hey come here I want you to go to this meeting.” He simply agreed and went to the meeting with no questions, no fight, no inhibitions.
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As much as I would like to attribute his actions to my leadership skills, I cant. He
is just a special kid. I have to remember that God provides him with the skills, and I am to provide him with direction. Everyone needs to be led especially while they lead. These articles reminded me that while I have systems in place and people to guide me, I have to remember to take special interest, special time, and guide a few special kids.
I struggle with remembering the importance of mentors, and when Josh
referenced mentors from pop culture, it really struck a chord with me. Let me challenge you to stop reading this review and open your Bible to Titus 2. This chapter is all about how mentoring should work within the church. It’s a biblical concept that I tend to forget about until I read articles like these. Do like the article says and take some time today to Look Forward, Look Around, and Look Back.