I was thinking a bit more about what I wrote recently about being bold enough to seek out a woman to mentor you. I wanted to add a few thoughts.

Mentoring doesn’t have to come in the form of just one woman. It can be also be done indirectly from a series of women. You could be mentored–of sorts–by a particular author you enjoy reading or hear speak. You could read different blogs of women who you aspire to be like–I have a few of those that I read each day. I would encourage you, that if you choose to go about it this way, to make sure that you don’t just hone in on one person’s thoughts. Choose a broad spectrum. It will help you be more well-rounded and not so narrow-minded.

Another way that I have discovered lately is a way that I have often resisted in the past. Surround yourself with a group of older women of many ages. Purposely make sure there are some really old ladies in the group. I’ll confess, I had a not-so-great experience with being matched in a mentoring program many years ago. The woman was very nice, but our age gap was so great that we had nothing in common. I began to dread meeting with her because it was very uncomfortable. Around that same season in life, I also joined a biblestudy in which most of the women were grey-haired and I felt like there was a huge chasm between us. They liked to play the piano and sing their hymns in really high voices while I liked a more cutting edge type of worship. That wasn’t all, but it gives you the idea.

So now you know why I was apprehensive about putting myself in this situation again this year, but I do have to say that sticking it out has drawn immense benefits. I have come to respect and look forward to hearing the words of wisdom from all of the women in the room of all different ages. I am very fortunate to to be able to gather with them week after week.

I have a few younger moms who I do not regularly meet with, but every time we happen to be together, they take the opportunity to grill me with their questions as they journey through motherhood. I can tell what they are doing because I’ve done it myself with other women further down the road than I. My friend, Heather, jokes that she has a whole list of questions ready to fire at me, but she is being nice and only asking me her most urgent 1 or 2 at the time.

I can’t forget to mention the privilege I had of spending time with some older moms while in Haiti. None of them purposed to mentor me, but I learned a lot from them. I saw the value of their wisdom and spent a lot of time listening. There’s the key…listen. Look for opportunities and listen. Opportunities to hear from those who have gone before you are all around you. You just need to see it and do something about it. Sometimes it doesn’t even take anything harder than listening. I think you and I both know that you don’t know it all–and neither do I! So let’s be bold by listening and learning, Sweet Mama.

In case you can relate...

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