Mentors

We are all both Mentors and Beginners

Years ago, I looked up to an older lady at church. To me, she had “arrived”. She had a loving relationship with her husband, great kids, an organized home and just seemed to do everything right. She was a real lady.

Being the shy person that I am,

I arranged a coffee date with her and asked her if we could spend time together. I desperately wanted a “mentor”, and I told her so. She said that the scrutiny that I was giving her made her uncomfortable. Her humility could not allow her to think that she could mentor a younger woman. I sensed from then on that she was uncomfortable with me, so I left her alone.

This search for a mentor caused me to help another lady in our church start a “Titus 2” ministry. Finally, I was going to get my mentor. But alas, I became one instead to a much younger woman.

In my search for a mentor, I have visited farms hoping to find an older-wiser-yet honest woman who would take me under her wing and teach me some of the things that I wanted to learn. Though I did find one younger-wiser yet honest woman to teach me more than I already knew about goats; mostly what I found were people who needed help. But I learned in spite of that.

Helping each other find the way

So here I am, in my fifties with much to share. Willing to mentor. Sharing with those who are eager to learn. Maybe what I was really wanting to be after all was a mentor. I have ladies now who look to me as their mentor in different areas. I like it. I am not an expert but I do know a few things about backyard homesteading. Because I have actually been doing it for 30 plus years.

Now all of a sudden, backyard homesteading has gotten a lot of interest. People are going on line and blogging about it, whether they are actually doing it or not. That is so cool.

So a friend told me “Donna, you need to blog” I said “ok, teach me”. Guess what, I finally have my mentors. In the world of bloggers, there are so many wonderful people out there that are excited to share what they know.

I am just as hungry to learn what they have to teach as they are to learn what I have to teach.

Isn’t this cool?