There’s a lot of chatter in the online parenting space right now about finding mentors to help disciple our kids. This is an awesome trend!
It can be so valuable having other trusted adult voices as influences and wise counsel in our kids’ lives. Of course, church is a great place to find those voices–whether it’s our kids’ leaders on Wednesday and Sunday or even other friendships that you have within the church family.
But have you ever considered having your own mentor as a parent?
If we see the value in having a wiser, older voice in our kids’ lives, it’s a natural correlation to realize that might be helpful in our own lives as well. Mentors can help anyone process through difficult seasons and point out blind spots that we might be missing–kids and grown ups too.
This can happen through a formal mentoring program like what is being developed at New Covenant right now, but it’s also something you can establish for yourself in a much more organic way.
A good process in finding a mentor is finding someone whose results you admire.
If you want a personal trainer, you’re going to look for someone who has reached the same health and fitness goals that you hope to achieve. The same goes with parenting.
Look at parents who are 5-10 years ahead of you. Do they have the kind of relationship with their kids that you hope to have at that age? Are their kids following and serving the Lord? What do sibling relationships look like?
If you see someone who you admire, let them know what you’ve noticed and invite them out for coffee. It doesn’t have to be scary or awkward. Maybe it will form into a formalized mentorship, or maybe you can just talk about parenting once in a while over a latte or text.
Mentors are a great tool in the discipleship journey–young or old!
“Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22).