The Greatest and Riskiest Life Investment
So, last night I was talking to one of my oldest and dearest youth. She is one of those that are just so close to your heart, you are sure she owns a piece of it. We were laughing and crying together, just sharing life. As I got off the phone, I realized, yet again, how very much I LOVE THIS GIRL. I feel a sense of protector, comforter, & encourager. A love that really is usually only shared between a mother and a daughter. This love is intertwined, tied together with a level of friendship that is so rare and precious to find.
I thought back to the many girls I've ministered too in the last almost 10 years of youth ministry. There are others, boy are there others, that have stolen my heart, and to this day are so very special and dear to me. I thought about all the stings of youth ministry. All the girls and young woman that I poured into, counselled, cried with, cried over, prayed over, worried over...
And then there are the few, well, maybe the many. I couldn't really tell you how many, because the immense heartbreak from just one that I loved, felt like heartbreak from a million. You know, the one's along the way that completely turned on me, stabbed me in the back, or just simply didn't listen to a a word I said! I thought about the pain of those moments, and how I just WANTED TO GIVE UP this ministry thing COMPLETELY!
And then, there's moments like last night, when I can feel my heart sting me to the core when one of them is hurt, when one of them lives life, only to be scarred by it. The emotion that I have in that moment, the connection I feel, the overwhelming love, the pride of the woman they have become, is ALL WORTH IT. If I would have given up when someone hurt me, if I would have stopped loving with all that I had. If I would have surrounded my heart with an iron wall and excused it as, "protecting myself", then, I would never know the amazing privilege and honor it is to be called "mentor". To meet the girl, and all the ones that own a piece of my heart. I don't think there is anything else in life (that we can choose to do) as rewarding. Parenting our own children is a GREAT honor, but not everyone is called to be a parent. Not everyone will be able to have children. But everyone can be a mentor. Everyone can be a spiritual father or mother to the next generation.
If you're reading this and you've given up. You've built a wall around your heart, or you're contemplating starting construction. Don't give up. Don't allow the few to stop you from reaching the millions. Don't miss the rewarding, overwhelming return on the greatest investment you can ever make. When you reach one, you teach that one how to reach another.
And if you're young and you've never had a mentor I'll tell you what a mighty woman of God told me when I was just a mere 19 years old, "Don't sit around waiting for someone to be, to you, what you never had, BE that person to the next generation!"
I thought back to the many girls I've ministered too in the last almost 10 years of youth ministry. There are others, boy are there others, that have stolen my heart, and to this day are so very special and dear to me. I thought about all the stings of youth ministry. All the girls and young woman that I poured into, counselled, cried with, cried over, prayed over, worried over...
And then there are the few, well, maybe the many. I couldn't really tell you how many, because the immense heartbreak from just one that I loved, felt like heartbreak from a million. You know, the one's along the way that completely turned on me, stabbed me in the back, or just simply didn't listen to a a word I said! I thought about the pain of those moments, and how I just WANTED TO GIVE UP this ministry thing COMPLETELY!
And then, there's moments like last night, when I can feel my heart sting me to the core when one of them is hurt, when one of them lives life, only to be scarred by it. The emotion that I have in that moment, the connection I feel, the overwhelming love, the pride of the woman they have become, is ALL WORTH IT. If I would have given up when someone hurt me, if I would have stopped loving with all that I had. If I would have surrounded my heart with an iron wall and excused it as, "protecting myself", then, I would never know the amazing privilege and honor it is to be called "mentor". To meet the girl, and all the ones that own a piece of my heart. I don't think there is anything else in life (that we can choose to do) as rewarding. Parenting our own children is a GREAT honor, but not everyone is called to be a parent. Not everyone will be able to have children. But everyone can be a mentor. Everyone can be a spiritual father or mother to the next generation.
If you're reading this and you've given up. You've built a wall around your heart, or you're contemplating starting construction. Don't give up. Don't allow the few to stop you from reaching the millions. Don't miss the rewarding, overwhelming return on the greatest investment you can ever make. When you reach one, you teach that one how to reach another.
And if you're young and you've never had a mentor I'll tell you what a mighty woman of God told me when I was just a mere 19 years old, "Don't sit around waiting for someone to be, to you, what you never had, BE that person to the next generation!"
So good! Honored to have been a part of your ministry!
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