Dearest Lindsey,
I am so honored that I would be able to read a draft of your upcoming book, which, by the way, CONGRATULATIONS on. What a privilege that God has called you to write such a beautiful tome and that He would provide such a reputable publisher to get it into the hands of people whose soul sickness could begin to heal if they could hook up with a God-loving and honoring mentor.
I apologize for taking a few days to respond to your request for me to be an endorser to your book… first, I was a little stunned; why would you want my endorsement? But then also, I didn’t want to hastily respond until I had had a chance to really spend some time with the book… and God gave me that opportunity in the form of a big block of time on Friday in between concerts in Sacramento. I wanted to be thoughtful in my response and if I were to right a statement for you, I wanted it to come from a place of having actually read your book and spent some time in prayer and reflection over it.
I have had the luxury of having three incredible mentors in my renewed Christian life… two were sponsors in my 12-step program, and one is my current mentor, Gail. Gail sounds like your Joy. Gail is much older than I am, married to a pastor, and kicks my patootie like no one else ever has. And I depend on her for that! Not many people will give me the ol’ spiritual “one-two” and Gail is one who, when she does, I pay attention. And she is teaching me how to have a fulfilling marriage. And to be a deep and abiding friend. And the women I now mentor are recipients of her great influence and teaching in my life. It’s as if God has made her the conduit that allows me to hear His voice. Somewhere in Chapter 2 or 3, you beg the questions “Who is pushing you closer to Jesus?” If not for Gail, I’m not sure my iron would remain as sharp. I now know that I personally need this kind of relationship to remind me that I’m His!
You said something profound on page 74: You said ”When you have a mentor or someone in your path who is successfully well into their journey in life, their wisdom and experience has the potential to catapult you into your place of destiny simply because they have already learned the hard lessons of life and are willing to pass them on to you if you are willing to receive them.” “Catapult” is right! This is the key to moving on in life towards our destiny… yet so many people won’t do it! I remember lamenting to my first sponsor about how unchanged so many “sober” people were in the program and her responding by saying “most people don’t want this”. I was shocked. How could they not? I was so “done” with my old way of living that the new life I found in AA and simultaneously, the renewed life I found in my new honest relationship with Christ, I was ready to do whatever it took to change my life. How could others not? Today, I understand more what she meant. Today, I see this in the church… many Christians really don’t want to do whatever it takes to live the abundant life… it costs too much! And Gail has helped me taste, touch, and feel the abundant life as she shows me how to live through the teachings in His word and through the great modeling in her own life.
In Chapter 6, I love your description of the legacy we can leave… I especially appreciate the insights fleshed out there about living an attitude of forgiveness. When you shared about feeling like you had blown it one time and telling Joy about it, and then her responding to you “Why honey, if you had told me you had killed someone, I would love you no matter what.” I was struck with the “being taught and healed at the same time” thing…
A couple other things I like about this book… You show the reader HOW to mentor and to be mentored. So many authors talk about it and around it, but not many actually describe how it can be done. I hear this all the time by women who ask me to teach them how to mentor in the way that I mentor. Aaaughgh! So tough to articulate! But you’ve done a great job of it. Thank you. I also appreciate the way you weave the premise of sponsorship (in our 12-step world) into your definition of mentoring. Brilliantly done without “giving away” anything. I also really like the “Personal Process Assessment” pieces at the end of each chapter as it forces the reader to stop and think about what they’ve just heard and apply it to their life. Nice touch.
Well, all that to say, I would be honored to write an endorsement. I can’t believe Thomas Nelson Publishers would care one little bit about one from someone as obtuse as me, but if they do, perhaps this might be usable:
“For a practical mentoring ‘how-to’, Make A Difference Mentoring Woman To Woman is a must-read. How a woman can expect to grow to her fullest God-given potential is beyond me without the nudging, tough love and unconditional support that comes from a focused and committed Christian mentor. Using the example born out of their own precious relationship, Lindsey and Joy show us how it’s done.”
- Sylvia Lange
In closing, I just wanted to share this. All my life, my mom has always told me “you are only as good a tennis player as the person you play tennis with”… without a God-focused friend and mentor, such as the one I have in Gail, I would be hitting the net on each serve. Thank you for taking the time to write such a beautiful treatise on the merits of such an important relationship, and with such style and grace.
Much love and prayers for success on this project,
Sylvia
I am so honored that I would be able to read a draft of your upcoming book, which, by the way, CONGRATULATIONS on. What a privilege that God has called you to write such a beautiful tome and that He would provide such a reputable publisher to get it into the hands of people whose soul sickness could begin to heal if they could hook up with a God-loving and honoring mentor.
I apologize for taking a few days to respond to your request for me to be an endorser to your book… first, I was a little stunned; why would you want my endorsement? But then also, I didn’t want to hastily respond until I had had a chance to really spend some time with the book… and God gave me that opportunity in the form of a big block of time on Friday in between concerts in Sacramento. I wanted to be thoughtful in my response and if I were to right a statement for you, I wanted it to come from a place of having actually read your book and spent some time in prayer and reflection over it.
I have had the luxury of having three incredible mentors in my renewed Christian life… two were sponsors in my 12-step program, and one is my current mentor, Gail. Gail sounds like your Joy. Gail is much older than I am, married to a pastor, and kicks my patootie like no one else ever has. And I depend on her for that! Not many people will give me the ol’ spiritual “one-two” and Gail is one who, when she does, I pay attention. And she is teaching me how to have a fulfilling marriage. And to be a deep and abiding friend. And the women I now mentor are recipients of her great influence and teaching in my life. It’s as if God has made her the conduit that allows me to hear His voice. Somewhere in Chapter 2 or 3, you beg the questions “Who is pushing you closer to Jesus?” If not for Gail, I’m not sure my iron would remain as sharp. I now know that I personally need this kind of relationship to remind me that I’m His!
You said something profound on page 74: You said ”When you have a mentor or someone in your path who is successfully well into their journey in life, their wisdom and experience has the potential to catapult you into your place of destiny simply because they have already learned the hard lessons of life and are willing to pass them on to you if you are willing to receive them.” “Catapult” is right! This is the key to moving on in life towards our destiny… yet so many people won’t do it! I remember lamenting to my first sponsor about how unchanged so many “sober” people were in the program and her responding by saying “most people don’t want this”. I was shocked. How could they not? I was so “done” with my old way of living that the new life I found in AA and simultaneously, the renewed life I found in my new honest relationship with Christ, I was ready to do whatever it took to change my life. How could others not? Today, I understand more what she meant. Today, I see this in the church… many Christians really don’t want to do whatever it takes to live the abundant life… it costs too much! And Gail has helped me taste, touch, and feel the abundant life as she shows me how to live through the teachings in His word and through the great modeling in her own life.
In Chapter 6, I love your description of the legacy we can leave… I especially appreciate the insights fleshed out there about living an attitude of forgiveness. When you shared about feeling like you had blown it one time and telling Joy about it, and then her responding to you “Why honey, if you had told me you had killed someone, I would love you no matter what.” I was struck with the “being taught and healed at the same time” thing…
A couple other things I like about this book… You show the reader HOW to mentor and to be mentored. So many authors talk about it and around it, but not many actually describe how it can be done. I hear this all the time by women who ask me to teach them how to mentor in the way that I mentor. Aaaughgh! So tough to articulate! But you’ve done a great job of it. Thank you. I also appreciate the way you weave the premise of sponsorship (in our 12-step world) into your definition of mentoring. Brilliantly done without “giving away” anything. I also really like the “Personal Process Assessment” pieces at the end of each chapter as it forces the reader to stop and think about what they’ve just heard and apply it to their life. Nice touch.
Well, all that to say, I would be honored to write an endorsement. I can’t believe Thomas Nelson Publishers would care one little bit about one from someone as obtuse as me, but if they do, perhaps this might be usable:
“For a practical mentoring ‘how-to’, Make A Difference Mentoring Woman To Woman is a must-read. How a woman can expect to grow to her fullest God-given potential is beyond me without the nudging, tough love and unconditional support that comes from a focused and committed Christian mentor. Using the example born out of their own precious relationship, Lindsey and Joy show us how it’s done.”
- Sylvia Lange
In closing, I just wanted to share this. All my life, my mom has always told me “you are only as good a tennis player as the person you play tennis with”… without a God-focused friend and mentor, such as the one I have in Gail, I would be hitting the net on each serve. Thank you for taking the time to write such a beautiful treatise on the merits of such an important relationship, and with such style and grace.
Much love and prayers for success on this project,
Sylvia
posted by Lindsey at 1:37 PM
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