As iron
sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
I am sharing in this week’s notes about opportunities
for 2012. Today I want to focus on
relationships. People are our most
important resource and more important than anything else.
Often we put our time and energy into things that we
believe are vital, yet when those things, budgets or planning, are done and
gone, the people we are around will still be there. Are we sacrificing people for things that are
not so important?
Years ago I met some people who began pouring into my
life. Some of them gave me character
insight about living as a strong individual, others taught me about faith and
serving others and some sat with me and God’s word helping me know God and lead
others to know Him. I am grateful for Trisha
Elliott, Dan Korver, Phil Dietz, Harry Thompson, Gil Fisher, Herb Hodges, Ken
Keene, my dad, my brother Steve and more … recently several pastors and leaders
I’ve connected with online and through ministry like Matthew Barnett, Dino
Rizzo, Mark Harvoth and others … and close to home, our church leaders.
These people and so many others have really had a mentoring
relationship with me. That is where I
learn from them, and they maybe, I hope, learn from me. That is what the verse above is about. We sharpen others when we spend time
together. Some of those relationships
and conversations are planned; others are not.
But we encourage others as we seek God and live for Him.
Mentoring is something close to my heart. As a young preacher I longed for others who
would teach and guide me. We need to
seek others out and pour into their lives.
God has called us to serve others and to help them be stronger and
strong in the Lord, that being most important.
for now we
really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.
Great
Expectations Mentoring is a program that Patrick Henry Community College in
our community, and other Virginia colleges, started this last semester. Their baseball coach is one of the program
leaders, and he asked if I would be part of it.
I didn’t know much of the details until it began. What I found was amazing.
The young people in the program are in foster
care. The program links adults to a
young person with similar interests. I
was linked with Raymond who is from a county near ours and was removed from his
home due to anger and other issues between he and his mother. He is in his last couple years of high
school. It was an amazing time, and I
have committed to being part of the program again as have some other folks from
our church and the Dream Center. It our
desire to pour ourselves into the lives of hurting people, and kids in the
foster care offer a great opportunity for this.
I was able to share my faith with Raymond and encourage him in several
ways. (If you are interested in the
Great Expectations program, send Paul an email by clicking
here.)
Find someone or a place to pour your life into the
lives of others. This could be someone
close to you or someone you have to do find.
God poured into your life not only to make you stronger, but He poured
in to you so that you can give what you have to others.
Over the years I have sought out younger pastors to
spend time with. I have found men in our
church who want to be stronger in faith and spent time with them. On the other side, I have sought out strong
pastors and leaders to learn from. Most
recently Jon Morris
is a man I am learning from. Jon is the
executive director of STEP, Inc that
serves people in the midst of poverty.
Jon is a giant in faith, faithful to God and his church, and he is
passionate about serving people in need.
Who will you pour your life in to in 2012? Our lives are stronger, as the verse above
says, when other people live stronger and more confident in faith because we
spent time with them. May God use us to
mentor others!
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