Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.—2 Corinthians 1:3, 4, NKJV
As a young woman, I desperately wanted a mentor. In my mind’s eye, she was in her fifties, of another race, large bosomed, wise, experienced, and compassionate. I think I named her something like “Geraldine.” When I’d bring her my stories of interpersonal drama, wildly fluctuating emotions, heart-stopping fears, and hopeless thoughts, she’d look at me knowingly and gently dispense her counsel. She’d be blessed knowing she helped me, and I’d be blessed being helped. We’d hug. It was awesome. Yet no such mentor appeared in my life, so I struggled through my young-adult years with a mentor-shaped hole in my heart just about the size of Geraldine.
Once my two daughters flew the nest, I decided to return to graduate school for a degree in counseling. In spite of my own need for support, I’d always been the type that found herself listening to endless stories from a seemingly infinite number of people who likewise needed to be heard. Maybe I can make a career out of this, I thought, I seem to have a knack for it. Three years later, I launched my private counseling practice, and it’s going strong to this day.
A funny thing happened when I started counseling. The needy woman inside me, the waif, who had never been fully mentored—that inner lost child—found solace. I’m not sure of all the hows and whys, except that giving what I’d always craved helped satisfy the yearning. I’m not a large-bosomed woman of another race; I’m just me and, well, modestly endowed. But other than that, I am being Geraldine on a daily basis these days.
It would be awesome if there were enough mentors to go around. But the sad fact is, there’s a deficiency. This is why I’ve added counseling and coaching training to my practice—I want to help people be able to help people. I want to help multiply counselors, coaches, mentors, and disciplers in our midst. But I cling to the belief that, should the help not be found, God can fill the deficit. And He does it sometimes by leading us to give the very thing we crave.
Jennifer Jill Schwirzer
First published in Carolyn Rathbun Sutton, ed., In His Presence (Silver Spring, MD: General Conference Women’s Ministries Department, 2018), 331.
