Mentoring, Ministry, and Melanie T.

~The following was written as a part of our upcoming Women's Ministry Kick Off at CBC. Melanie Turner and I have been in a successful mentoring relationship for several years, and we were asked to comment on our experience...the following is my comment.....

God’s timing is perfect. At a point in my life where my kids were spreading their wings, preparing to flee the nest, God sent me a special gift. That gift being the mentoring opportunity with Melanie Turner. Married for only a few years, she still remembered what it felt like to have that unquenchable need to fluently fly into young adulthood. I, on the other hand, having experienced firsthand, the role of the hovering “mother hen” knew exactly where Melanie, who had just given birth to her first son, was about to land!

Who else but God could have paired us together at just the right time? Her prayers, and opinions, and friendship have helped me gracefully unfurl my wings and let my baby birds experience life outside the nest….assuring me that they would always come back when they were hungry. (And she was right.) And I, realizing and remembering and missing the days when my babies were small and up under me all the time, had the opportunity to pray with and encourage and mentor Melanie as she securely tightened her wings around her new little chicks….knowing that her protection was crucial and that the stages of infancy and childhood would pass ever so quickly!

I would not trade anything in the world for the special bond I have with Melanie. It is a friendship based on mutual Godly respect and love. And while we have learned much about God, attending bible studies and worshipping together, the greatest benefit, by far…for me…has been just having her in my life as my friend. Knowing that I could and would call her, and that she could and would call me if we needed anything at all…..Sometimes it is just for fun….sometimes it is about sick little chicks….sometimes it is about bossy momma hens …..but it is always about being there for one another.

So as the New Mother Hen (Melanie) and the Bossy Mother Hen (that would be me), daily tend to our nests, it is nice to know that God has allowed us to perch in the same tree. That as we fly, soar, hover, peck, and sometimes squawk through life, that we always have each other to watch out for one another….whether the sky be peaceful and blue or dark and stormy. We are building our nests together, feather by feather, as God preens us daily to become more like Him.

Melanie, my life is blessed by having you, Will, Cole, and William in it....I love you all dearly.

Spiritual Birds of a feather definitely should flock together....so I challenge each and everyone of you to pray about entering into a mentoring relationship...you will be more than glad that you did...you will be blessed, she will be blessed, and He will be glorified.

Tweet,Tweet Ya'll!
~Scarlett