Regarding Mentors …

Our last celebrity guest Blogger, Dena Dyer, recently posted about “Mentors.” (You can scroll down to read her message below.) Her message made me think about another aspect to mentoring.

I’d love to hear from readers about mentors in your life who have helped you although they are not specifically your personal mentor in the sense that they have knowingly come alongside to help you. I’ve found in my journey over the past years that I have learned from amazing people with servant hearts who teach what they know in group settings—and thus become mentors without being fully aware they are doing so.

“Mentor” means; “A trusted counselor or guide.” It doesn’t necessarily mean that we intimately know the person who has mentored us – or vice versa.

A prime example is my relationship with best selling author, speaker and teacher, Gayle Roper. The photo above was recently taken at the Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference last month.

Many years ago I attended a “Writing for Fiction” class Gayle taught at the Glorietta Christian Writers Conference. I had met Gayle briefly at a CLASS Seminar but as a newbie I was horribly intimidated by her talent. Yet she was oh so gracious. Later, I ordered the cassette tape set from her and used it extensively to study how to write my first novel. Although we are sisters-in-the-Lord, Gayle and I are not close personal friends in that either of us knows intimate details of one another’s life – but we do occasionally email and we frequently run into each other at writer’s conferences. I do not call her up for personal mentoring advice, although I did ask if she would read and endorse my debut novel (which she most graciously did.)

And yet I consider Gayle Roper one of the strongest mentors I have ever had.

I have read many of her books, studied her teachings, and I’ve heard her give several keynote addresses over the years. I have learned greatly from this awesome woman of God. I’m not sure she’s even aware how much she has touched my life.

Let’s hear from others who have mentors who might not even be aware of what they have done for your life and/or for your career.

And remember, everyone who posts a comment to our blog will be entered into a prize drawing for free books at the end of the month.

Have a blessed day!

And that’s what’s on my mind today.