Find a Mentor, Be a Mentor

This happy little bundle of joy is Mugisha.

Last week I got to spend some time helping him and several of our other African friends move. Amanda and I met them while teaching ESL on Wednesday nights last winter at Christ Church. I hope I am an encouragement to them. I am truly inspired by them, and intrigued by their culture. In my attempt to enlighten them about the countless things they need to know as they continue to make the transition to becoming African Americans, I have remembered some of the people who have been important in directing my life.

My good friend Amanda Phillips always likes to get information in bullets, not paragraphs. So, in honor of Amanda, I will give a list of reasons why you should find a mentor and be a mentor.

1. There is no possible way you know everything you need to know about what you do/want to do. If you just look around there are certainly people who know way more than you who need to share their skills with you.

2. It is guaranteed that someone around you is suffering because they do not know something that you could be sharing with them if you would just notice, and make them a priority.

3. Relationships, to me, are the most important thing in life. If you are mentoring and are being mentored, you are building on to the quality of your life and others lives around you.

4. You get paid for what you know, not for what you do. It is a way for you to know more.

5. A mentor is someone whose mistakes you do not have to repeat.

6. You will need good people around you when you get old. The people you mentor might be those people.

7. Being a mentor is a wonderful way that you can leave a legacy.




This is Bertha. They pronounce her name "Mmberta." That laundry basket was overflowing with not only laundry, but all kinds of very heavy things, and she was balancing it with no hands while walking!