Mentoring Winners

Introduction

It is ironic, but innovators like Steve Jobs (who unfortunately died as I was writing this book), in the effort to make our world simpler, made it more complex for many of us who are not tech-articulate. Concepts, technology, culture, and everything related to life are changing at quantum-leap speed, so that sometimes you get the feeling that living a simple life is no longer possible. From today’s language of communication to the cyber language we’ve been forced to learn, it seems we all need a coach or a guide on a daily basis if we are to successfully reach our destination in everything that we do.

There used to be a time when you placed a phone call and a real person answered on the other end. Not today. Often, your call is answered by a prerecorded message. If you want to place the call from your cell phone, you first have to know how to unlock the device and how to prompt the call before you can speak with your caller. God forbid you have a smartphone—you truly need a “mentor” to make sure you succeed in having a telephone conversation.

Texting is another story altogether! By now, you might realize that I am one of those people who doesn’t possess technological ability. It may seem funny, and I would agree that to a certain degree, it is, but truly, this is only a sample of the reality that’s going on right now in today’s world. If you don’t get with the game, then you risk the chance of being run over by this juggernaut of present technology. We all need to get with it!

I fit the baby boomer definition—I was born in 1948. (To some people, this would explain my low technical ability.) Sometimes, I am embarrassed to confess, I have to ask my grandson Daniel, who is eight years old, to teach me how to use the TV controls. At times, I press a button by mistake and find myself struggling to get back to the program I was watching.

I have another young helper whose name is Joe. He’s thirteen years old and my oldest grandson. I go to him when I need to understand the lingo of today’s teenagers. Hey, I’ll do whatever it takes to remain relevant and go with the flow of today’s generation. We could use a mentor for everything we do today.

We live in a digital era, and if we are to become effective in today’s world, we need to keep up with the progress of technology. We all need to have access to someone with up-to-date technical knowledge. It can be your grandchild, as in my case, but at some point, we will need an individual to assist in taking us from point A to point B, unless we are gifted with a high degree of technical ability.

I could use our needing help when we have no technical ability as an analogy for how to succeed in life. Many people have tried to reach their life’s destination on their own, without a guide, coach, or mentor. The truth is that navigating without a compass in the sea of life can cause us to go in the wrong destination or even to shipwreck.

We cannot afford the luxury of failing and cannot continue our journey in the context of the Father’s plan and purpose by traveling like a ship without a rudder. I hope Mentoring Winners will serve as your motivator. My heart’s wish is to provide a bit of help in personally connecting the dots of as far as the plan and purpose the Father has for you.

I personally didn’t have a single mentor in my life; I had many. I am thankful and forever grateful to those men and women who invested their lifetime of experiences by writing books, making videos, recording their teachings and revelations, and making them available to all of us. They lived a life of sacrifice so you and I could benefit. I can’t do less than to sow a tiny seed into your life by sharing the lessons I’ve learned as a protégé of all of them.