Beach Lesson on Mentoring

This summer we took our first ever “adult only parents/twin daughters and their hubbys” beach trip. We were celebrating our 50th anniversary and their birthday.

We had an amazing week and some great weather. But, not a lot of shells. If you’ve read earlier “beach lessons” blog posts, you may remember my love for shell hunting!

One morning our daughter Amanda (who set up the Ninja tent each morning bright and early to get a great spot) was gone about an hour longer than it takes to set up the tent so we began to get a little worried. Then she walked in with a handful of the most beautiful and unusual shells. My “shell envy” kicked in immediately.

I asked her where in the world she went to find them. Then I quickly headed down to the beach, grabbed my other daughter Alycia who was already under the tent and said, “want to walk a long way to get some shells?” So, we headed off a couple of miles to see what we could find.

Unfortunately, we did not find what Amanda found. We had a great walk and talk on our hunt, but realized we’d missed the opportunity. What we learned is that you must get up EARLY to find the best shells, before others find them. The left overs just weren’t as special. We also learned we had to walk in the direction of a particular place where the tide had moved in further and deposited the shells.

Amanda’s experience was what would equip us for the next hunt! So, mentoring is not about age, it’s about experience and willingness to share what we know. This same daughter learned a hard lesson when she had a miscarriage…about pain and loss, and, now, she’s the first to be able to minister to another woman losing a baby.

For a believer, mentoring is about sharing what Jesus is teaching us. It’s about holding out hope that we have experienced in tough and painful experiences. It’s about telling someone you are praying for them to have the same peace you have experienced in crisis and fear.

It’s about being a disciple. Paul tells Timothy to teach what he has learned to those who will pass it on too:

“What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2

Ask yourself these questions:

• What do you need to know that someone else knows? (I had to ask Amanda where to look for the shells.) Ask them!
• What do you know someone else needs to know? (She had to share her knowledge with me.) Tell them!

Become a disciple who learns from disciples, then teach another to be a disciplemaker.

P. S. Watch next week for part 2 of this story!

Banner photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash