How To Prepare For Mentoring

he is not denying you in the delay

How to prepare for mentoring. I can tell you it starts with knowing who you are in Christ. Because everything you do, at whatever level you’re at, will fight against that knowledge.

I was one of 12 chosen out of more than a 100 to be a part of Michele Cushatt’s Inspired Life Mastermind. The anticipation was palpable. I stepped into the house and Michele greeted me with a life-long friend hug. Then my eye caught a legend standing in the corner. Her red-rimmed glasses gave no need for introduction. She paved the way for many of us in women’s ministry, Patsy Clairmont, author of 17+ books and a founding speaker of Women of Faith reached out her arms to hug me. In that moment I knew I was on a whole new playing field.

The Wait

Decades of prayer and self-doubt were sent up to heaven as I begged God for someone, anyone, to give me my next step. I longed for one who gets what I do and is doing it. I had spent years pouring into women, stepping aside so they could move ahead, and watched so few turn back to give back. I was tired, disillusioned, and wondering if God was even listening.

Perhaps you can identify with my wait. If you do, I know you’ve talked to God endlessly about following someone who is ahead of you. Waiting for the wiser one to come can be ever so lonely and terribly confusing. It’s easy to question the call and wonder if we made it all up in our heads. Doubt is the isolated person’s playground. So, we search online, read the books, and attempt to reverse engineer whatever success we see. Doing it on our own is depleting, frustrating, and discouraging. Maybe like me you’re in the wait, too.

The Meeting

Years of prayers were answered in a single trip to Tennessee. I stood amongst educated professionals, published authors, speakers, entrepreneurs, pastors, and business women of multimillion dollar accounts. These were the women I had prayed to learn from and connect with. It didn’t take long before I heard the whisper, “What are you doing here?” I wondered what I could possibly offer such successful women. The urge to shine brighter and know more competed with the impulse to shrink back, turn and hi-tail it out of there. As Michael Hyatt, Kathi Lipp, and Michele poured into the 12 of us I took notes. And prayed I wouldn’t say something stupid. Nevertheless, because I favor the Apostle Peter more than I do Paul, I assure you I did open mouth and insert foot on more than one occasion.

By day two, of information by firehose, I was feeling a need to retreat. I wanted to hear His voice over the noise in my head, but it was proving to be harder than I thought. I texted a friend and shared my doubts on why I was even there. To which the reply simply was “Did the Lord send you there?” The lies and fears melted from the truth, and it took everything I had not to fall apart in front of the 12.  Again, I knew in my knower God had prepared me for this.

How To Prepare For Mentoring

On the flight back to California, I began digesting my time in Nashville. It became clear what God meant when He called my 2016 a year of preparation. The Lord made sure I was clear on 3 important things so I wouldn’t sabatoge what He was doing. I encourage you to prepare for the mentor you’re praying about by being clear on:

  • Who You Are In Christ: When my emotions were shaking me, my identity stayed intact.
  • What You Stand For: I may have questioned if I belonged, but my values confirmed I was in the right place.

Final Thoughts

I told God in a 100 different ways I was ready for the next level. Yet, regardless of what I believed, in His mercy He refused to send me before He prepared me. As hard as I tried, I was never allowed to position myself, and it served me well in Tennessee. There I saw His sovereign hand, and I knew where I stood was holy ground, laid by the lamenting prayers of a desperate woman. God cared more about showing me His character, and refining mine than giving me what I wanted when I wanted it. So, friend, let Him do His perfect work in you. He is not denying you in the delay. He is protecting you in the preparation. He doesn’t want you to sabotage the momentum coming through the mentorship you’re praying for.

Keep up the journey friend,

JOIN ME

I am notorious for self sabotaging what God is building. Join me LIVE as we talk more in depth on Mentor Monday in our closed Facebook Group. Click here to join.

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