Laughs and Lessons with Mentors

Student Essay by Anna Clay

    What does the word mentor mean to you? To me, a mentor is someone who you can not only share a laugh with, but also they teach you in the way of the lord. I’ve gained some valuable relationships with my mentors at youth group. Some significant lessons I learned by simply talking to them, I still remember to this day. Lessons like how everyone is accepted by Christ, or even if I experience the feeling of failure, that there are many people placed into my life to set me back on track. One of the greatest lessons I grasped because of my mentors was that my worth isn’t measured by whether or not I excel at a task, but rather by Jesus’s love for me. When people like my leaders enter a room, the energy in the room seems to shift, like cheerfulness washing over the room.

    I’ve also share some hilarious times with my mentors. For example, there was the time we played Capture the Flag as a group and one of my mentors, Christina, defected to the other team, while my other leader Shirley pretended to be in shock because of that. Another time, Mrs. Chambles had a party for all the girls in high school where we played amusing board games and had homemade pizza. After one of the group Bible studies, we chatted about their celebrity crushes when they were kids and tried, but failed, the cup-flip challenge.

    Because of people like my leaders, Shirley, Christina, and Mrs. Chambles, I feel secure, like a hug in Jesus’s arms, and invigorated to share the gospel. Each time I go to youth group, I’m excited to have a grand time with the other high school girls and our leaders. So next time you hear the word mentor, remember that it means so much more than a teacher. They are people that you share laughs, lessons, and life with.