Mentoring Moments

Doing the Bible Study "Influence" by Jan Silvious and Pam Gillaspie this summer....it's really good. This week Pam wrote " Mentoring doesn't always involve long periods of time.  Mentoring opportunities can surface in an instant.  If we're not paying attention, though, we can miss it."

Been thinking on this, what a fantastic thought(s).  Two things hit me.  First, mentoring doesn't mean BFF (Best Friends Forever). In order to be mentored or to mentor....you don't have to have everything in common, or love shoe shopping and late night chick flicks!  For Biblical mentoring to happen, you both need to love Jesus and love what He loves.  Do you realize what kind of pressure and expectations this kind of understanding can release?!  We can be ourselves and still impact each other....without complete common ground in this earthly realm.  We share common ground in the eternal realm and that's what most important.  

I'm not saying it's not important to have girlfriends, but from an eternal perspective what we REALLY  need to grow up in discipleship are some sisters in Christ to walk with (and we don't have to be best friends). We need pouring in and pouring out.  This can happen in a moment ....in person, by a book, in a class, on Facebook, at church or in a casual conversation that turns to the things of The Lord.  Ok. So this brings up a great point....do we look for the things of The Lord around us?  To talk, think and express the things of Jesus? 

Second thing that hit me.  This kind of mentoring can happen in an instant so I need to be paying attention.  See why the understanding is so important....if I'm waiting around for the perfect mentoring relationship where the heavens part and the angels sing ( get the picture in your head!) I might very well be missing a boatload of mentoring moments....to learn, be challenged, stretched and grown in.  Because I'm longingly looking off up in sky for the "perfect" mentoring fit for me.  

So. I'm being challenged and sharpened in how I look at mentoring moments in my life,...both in receiving them and offering them.  Love it!  Think on this with me, it's worth your time!

Trained eye...

You need a trained eye when caring for flowers.  I've never had a green thumb, more like a black one. I kill things that are alive, not human or animal things, don't worry!  But green things?  Ummmm....they don't last long.  I'm pushing myself this year, stretching and growing and trying to keep 3 (yes only 3) potted flower pots alive!  It's been 2 weeks now....I feel so accomplished!   

As I was purchasing my flowers from Walmart, I asked the lady next to me if the plants that I had chosen were easy to kill?  Yes, I'm just that inept.  I had chosen wisely but she leaned over my cart and started to pull off wilted blooms....while pulling she said, "just water and pull off the dead flowers."  Ok, I can handle that, did you know you were supposed to pull off the dead flowers?  And if you do, others will come up?  

No wonder my thumb is black and I always kill plants....I knew they needed water and sunlight but I've always tossed them out when they got all wilted and dead....and come to think of it, many times while the plant itself was still green.  Could it be that the plants were still alive and able to flourish and all that was needed was the care of cleaning the dead blooms off and allowing the new growth to come out? 

Can I just interject, there is a boatload of spiritual principals to glean here!   Shocker, I know.  How often do I look at areas of my life (or more likely others) and consider it too dead, too useless, too unusable and "toss it out", when fresh blooms are hiding right there....in plain trained eyesight?  

Well, I was excited to get these flower planted and start caring for them in a much healthier way.....after a few days I inspected and started pulling those dead wilted blooms....but as I looked, I honestly couldn't tell if some of the blooms were dying or just coming to life.  They looked the same to me.  Obviously, the dead dead ones were easy to see....but there were a lot that looked " mostly dead" and I pulled them out but realized that they were the new growth ones instead....I needed a more trained eye. 

Lessons learned:  Trained eye needed, practice needed, careful inspection needed....patience needed.  And that's just for plants, what about life?!    Yet another spiritual lesson.  Oh how I need a "Trained Eye" pruning my life and need my eyes trained as I look around at myself and others.  What grace to have a Master Gardener working in the garden of life....and training His Sevants to have a trained eye.