I watch my daughter’s eyes beam with excitement as she runs down to the front of the church and takes a seat on the steps near the altar. She thinks it’s music time and any moment now her music teacher from VBS will start playing “her song.”
I tell her it’s not music time, church is over and it’s time to go. She tugs at my shirt and grunts at me as if to tell me “You’re wrong, Mama. It’s music time!” Finally admitting defeat, she walks with me back down the church aisle and we leave.
It’s Because of Your Impact!
If you are a Sunday School teacher or VBS coordinator, a nursery worker or a youth group leader, a mentor of any kind . . . my heart is heavy with thoughts of you, especially if you think you don’t make a difference. I need you to hear these words today:
Thank you.
I wonder, do you know the effects you have on those around you, no matter how small the person?
Sure, I can teach my daughter the same things you can. But YOU, you will teach her in a way I cannot. You will come alongside my husband and me as we teach her to grow in Biblical truth and God’s love.
What a special role you will play in her life!
You will help us raise her to be a young woman who knows the One she belongs to.
You will help us shape her into a person whose foundation is the Word of God.
You will make Bible stories come to life for her: make her feel as though she too can fight Goliath, build an ark, fish for men.
All the while, she will watch you closely just as she watches me. She will watch how you handle situations, how you treat others, how you reflect God’s love in your own sometimes messy everyday life. And as she’s growing and watching you — you will be influencing her beautiful mind and soul with the love you give and the commitment you show.
But somehow the enemy taunts you and tells you that you don’t make a difference. That the scriptures you recite and the stories you tell go in one ear and out the other. He screams at you that you should give up and do something else because these kids, they just aren’t getting it.
But oh, sweet friend, The Lord speaks to us so differently than the enemy does.
[Tweet “I need you to hear today that you make a difference.”]
Believe me, I understand how hard this mentoring journey can be sometimes. But you must keep pushing. You must keep striving to do the work God has called you to do. Because one day, probably even sooner than I can imagine, my little one will grow up and she’ll be blindsided by lies from the enemy.
She’ll think she’s ugly. She’ll believe she’s not worthy. She may even lose sight of God’s love for her and believe those awful lies the enemy spits at us.
I need you to combat those lies with me.
I need you to never give up on making those Bible stories come to life or give up reading those powerful scriptures out loud, because they make a difference.
One day the work you do will make a difference . . .
. . . to the wobbly little toddler sitting at the front of the church who thinks it’s music time.
. . . to the teenager rolling her eyes at yet another Bible story.
. . . to the young twenty-something who thinks she’s alone in the world and doesn’t have a clue where God is calling her to next.
. . . to the married forty-something woman who just got the diagnosis no one wants to hear.
Thank you for teaching and encouraging those around you. You are equipping the next generation for something BIG in the Kingdom of God. You may not see the immediate effects of what you do, but please keep pushing. Keep working.
[Tweet “This world needs mentors, brave people who answer the call to make a difference in someone’s life.”]
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for the work you’re doing.
Have you been battling the call to mentor?
Has the enemy been feeding you lies that your work isn’t worth it?
What do you struggle with the most in mentoring?
More to Be is filled with mentoring resources just for you! Take a minute to look around and you’ll find encouragement and resources to keep you going!
