Mentoring Is About Trust

When I began to dream about the founding of Brave Strong Girl I was in a particularly weak season of life.  I had a strong passion to mentor others in the Spirit-filled walk, but I lacked the capacity, time or resources to do it.

Every example I could imagine wasn't really a fit for me. 

• I didn't have the capacity to engage in much one-on-one mentoring.

• I didn't feel I had the expertise to really become some form of a life coach.

• I felt limited by the idea of becoming a traveling speaker.

• It felt like I lacked time, energy and resources. (Can you relate?)

• On top of all that I had (and still have) other priority responsibilities - wife, mom, daughter and employee.

Yet I longed to form relationships with many others. I guess it's the mom in me - I wanted to help so many be strong and brave when they felt weak and afraid.

Eventually, I changed my focus from what I lacked and decided to move forward with what I had - faith, friends and some real-life experience.

As I pondered what to do, I thought a lot about how mentoring is fundamentally about building trust in a relationship.  It is often accomplished through an informal network of connections and needs.  It naturally bridges gaps in relationships, seasons and even interest.  I wondered how I could build greater trust into my relationships.

Brave Strong Girl is a mentoring platform where you can meet, follow and receive from some of the most trusted women I know.  As you become familiar with the community, I hope you will expand your expectation of mentoring from just one form of relationship to the possibility of many. If you allow us to encourage you through wise counsel, great resources and models of excellence, you will be able to glean richly from this platform. 

You'll soon begin to be more formally introduced and hear from some BSG featured mentors that have impacted my life richly.  You may not get to meet them personally, or engage in a relationship where you visit one another or talk on the phone daily.  But none the less, you can draw from their well to water your garden.

The same is true of our collection of blogs and resources.  There is so much wisdom here for those who are willing to seek it.

We aren't yet ready to form community at BSG that is based upon a face-to-face gathering.  (Don't worry - I've got dreams in my heart for this and I am prayerfully deciding how to make a way for us to gather - both digitally and eventually, in person.)  We have so much to look forward to.

So here's what I'm asking you to do now:

1)  Subscribe to our community.  (You will receive free gifts to get your started and you will be among the first to know about new content, upcoming events and anything new related to BSG.) I promise not to spam you and I will not share your contact information.

2) Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest and share, share, share.

3) Join our new Facebook Group.  This will be our first "meet up" location.  This is simple, easy and fun.  If you join the group you will be much more likely to see BSG in your feed and you will help us by getting the message into the feeds of others who have not even heard about our resources yet.  I'll be asking you for feedback and insight.  We will help one another.

So for now, I hope you will trust me and take advantage of this on-line community where you can begin to form a sense of belonging right here in the midst of your digital world. 

Together, we can mentor thousands of others, one brave strong girl at a time.

How to Overcome Anxiety And Worry

All of us struggle with fear and anxiety, but you and I were not made to bear the kind of fear that generates a constant flow of anxiety and worry. It’s not good for us and it’s not fruitful. This video reminds us that we are called to be worry-free and to resist the kind of anxiety that is crippling.

This video is included in Gateway Church’s Fresh Start Bible series called “Fresh Start Journey” by Pastor Jimmy Evans. Open your Bible and follow along with me. This is question #33.

Matthew 6:25-33

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

• This video is a part of a 52-part series designed for new believers from Gateway Church. Each video answers a common and pressing questions from all of Christianity and is designed to help YOU develop a more intimate relationship with God. You can access all 52 videos on the Gateway Discipleship Resources Youtube channel. Be sure to subscribe to the channel so you can access all of the great resources provided for your spiritual development.