Growing up with just one brother, 5 years older than me, I’ve had mentor type figures in my life for as long asĀ I can remember. There were times they were there whether I wanted them or not (in the case of my brother), and there were times I actively sought themĀ out. When Joe approached me about putting a group of guys together from Kairos to participate in a version of Radical Mentoring, it seemed right up my alley.
For the past 7-8 months, I participated (as a mentee) with a group of 8 others,Ā and led by two mentors in a group mentoring experience. We met once per month and had discussion around a variety of topics and books. I won’t go into too much detail, but will say the experience of writing our own obituaries and reading them aloud to theĀ group was a really informative and quite vulnerable way to kick the group off. Since then, our discussions have usually been catalyzed by whichever book we’d been reading for that month. We covered topics ranging from temptation, leadership, andĀ marriage to name just a few. Towards the end of this process, we all went up to Jim Ditzel’s mountain house for a weekend retreat andĀ an intentional time away as aĀ group.
When Joe asked me to write this reflection, I hesitated because I wanted to write about a meaningful experience that happened as a result of my participation in this group. But in full disclosure, the most meaningful experience I had while in the group happened while we were away on that retreat, but it happened very early on Saturday morning while all of the guys were still asleep.
My body (no thanks to 3 kids I’m sure), just decided to wake up around 5 AM on Saturday of the retreat. I had been looking forward to the prospect of “sleeping in” since there were no kids with us, but my internal clock decided otherwise. Fortunately, rather than staying irritated about my early rising, I remembered that the Ryder Cup was on since it was being played in Europe. I rolled out of bed and found my way to the TV that sits in front of the wall of windows overlooking Lake Toxaway from about 3000 feet up. There I sat, Bible, journal, and devotional on my lap, the Ryder Cup playing in the foreground with the beautiful rising sun framing the entire background. My devotional (written from the Lord’s perspective) from that morning started with this: “Live first and foremost in My presence. Gradually you will become more aware of Me.”
I long to be aware of God’sĀ presence in everything I do. As I sat watching golf on TV, with the sun slowly rising in the background, and I had my Bible, journal and devotional spread all around; I became aware of what felt like the Lordās pleasure. Rather than shaming myself for my ADD moment ofĀ distractability, I realized that God made me to enjoy golf, and read His Word, while taking in His creation at the same time. He made me to love all of those things, and I sensed Him redeeming mydistractabilityĀ as I toggled between the three…I sensed the Lord smiling as I found deep enjoyment.
Again, it would have been so easy to be irritated by the fact that I didnāt sleep in, or I could say thank you for having an hour of quiet to experience and enjoy things the Lord made me to enjoy. While it wasnāt a direct moment with the guys from our group, as a result of being in the group I received a wonderful gift of deep connection with God the Father. That hour was well worth the 8 months.
Ryan