Mentorship or friendship?

Available for 27 days

Good morning. A few years ago, I was promoted in my job as a Community Centre Manager and the new responsibilities that came with becoming a manager terrified me. Shortly after, a more experienced work colleague stepped in and offered to mentor me. With her help, I went from being a timid caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. Since the start of this year, I have been challenged to try and find a mentor again. It has been a while since I was intentional about having an older person step into my life as a trusted guide, an influential role model who can teach me crucial life lessons by simply sharing their experience. As I am evolving in my career, personal development and spiritual life, I realised that there are so many areas I still need to grow in and would appreciate someone who can bring in fresh perspective, a gentle challenge and space to reflect on my journey so far. In Proverbs we read “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”. This well-known and well quoted Bible scripture reminded me that we as people are refined and strengthened through close, constructive and challenging interactions and relationships. Mentorship is a perfect example of this as it involves mutual growth, accountability and character development. It is a two-way stream of teaching and learning where both parties develop friendship and go on this journey of giving and receiving and what an adventure it can be. That’s when I had my lightbulb moment, I recognised that I already had a friend who plays this role so well in my life but our quarterly catch-ups have just never been formerly labelled as ‘mentorship’. Today, I take a moment to be grateful for the people that show up in my life as a mentor and for their devotion in seeing me mature into the fullness of who I was created to be. Amen.