Mentoring Friendships

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

Proverbs 13:20

While I love my friends who are close to my age and in roughly the same parenting stage that I am, I’ve discovered that we all tend to be flailing through life together. While these friends and I can (and do) give one another advice, I’ve grown to especially treasure the advice I receive from Rachael, a woman who is ten years my junior, and from Carol, who is roughly the same age as my mom.

Rachael is like the younger sister I never had and never knew I needed. I teasingly call her my fashion consultant, and she laughingly calls me her life coach. And it’s true. She is my litmus test for what is going on in the heads and hearts of women in their twenties, and she also helps me to avoid mom jeans and sweetly offers her opinions when I anxiously text her pictures of outfits from the fitting room. Recently, she has started acting as my personal trainer as I’ve taken up running races, including a 10K in the not-too-distant future. She pushes me to try harder and do more than what I would do on my own. I, on the other hand, am just far enough ahead on the marriage and career paths to help her navigate pitfalls I’ve seen others (or myself) inadvertently stumble into.

On the other end of my friendship spectrum is Carol. She is a grandmother many times over and is the best leader I’ve ever had the privilege to follow. She is wise and steady and has walked with Jesus for so long that there is a sense of peace in her presence, regardless of the chaos that might be swirling in a situation. Her advice is always filled with the perspective of life experience that I just don’t have and with an objectivity that my mother and mother-in-law can’t always provide.

The beauty of a friendship that spans time and life stages is that the perspective of each person broadens the horizons of the other. When we seek out wise people, we are made wise, but when we hang out with fools, we can become foolish. My life is made richer and broader by these two women and the unique perspectives they so generously share with me, and their investments make me a better mother, wife, and follower of Christ.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Find someone at least ten years younger or older than you, and start a mentoring friendship.

From the book