Hatha

ATLAS Mentor Letter

From a new ATLAS Mentor

When Clark first approached me about becoming a mentor, the wheels started spinning in my head. “Think, Brenda, think.  How can you get out of this gracefully without alienating Clark?”  So I sat through the first meeting with him and nodded when it was time to nod. “Think about it,” he told me, “Its one hour a week.” Think about what? The fact that I am so not capable of being a mentor? The fact that I must have just as much baggage in my life as the person he wanted me to mentor? The fact that others around me “look” so much more capable of mentoring? Is ATLAS this desperate to ask me for help?

I finally did agree to mentor. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. Clark introduced the two of us and then left. I spilled out immediately, “I have been down your road.  I cannot solve your problems. What I can do is be a friend that you can call when you are having a bad day, a shoulder for you to lean on when you need to lean. I am hoping that our relationship can develop in that direction.” I also told her I was just as nervous as she was. We smiled at one another, exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet the following week.

What has happened since we started meeting? We are slowly getting to know one another, talking about our families, our failures and our successes. Laughing with one another and being serious when seriousness is called for. We are becoming comfortable with one another, and I am hopeful that I will be that shoulder for her when a shoulder is needed.

Whatever the result, I can tell you that God is working.  I am not called by God to do His work; He has got it all under control. What He does require of me, and all of us, is to be His willing instrument and disciple. I probably could have found an excuse to get out of mentoring, but that little voice in your head. . . that’s God telling you to do something for His kingdom. I don’t know what the outcome of my mentoring will be, but I believe it is for the greater good for both me and my new friend.  I am hopeful that a new relationship can be built, and also excited of see where this mentoring road may lead me and my mentor-ee.  The journey is new and the road may be difficult at times, but I believe every step will be worth it.