Today, my thoughts turn back to thank God for the mentors in my life… and I’m sure you can think of those who’ve blessed your life with encouragements along your journey.  I’d love to hear your stories of how others gave encouraging words as you grew up, or even those who came alongside you as an adult with a helpful perspective.  As you remember those who cheered you on, become a mentor to someone who could use your encouraging words.  (I’ve included the URL below my poem for the podcast, "Balms for the Soul", where my friend, Carla, has included my blogs - if you’d like to listen.)

What do teachers Josephine Rice of East Palmyra, NY, Clara Breeman of Clifton, NJ and Kathy Haire of Owego, NY have in common? 

We’ve all been blessed with a mentor, and likely more than one.  They come alongside to encourage us, help us understand a difficult concept, and help to guide us in the right direction.  They have an innate ability to bring out the best in us… that hidden talent or gift we didn’t even know existed. 

I’ve had my share of mentors beginning with an elementary teacher for 1^st through 3^rd grades, Josephine Rice.  A self-taught teacher at East Palmyra, NY’s Christian School, she was gifted.  And she knew how to bring out the best in her students!  I’ve always remembered her teaching skills, and ability to teach three grades of about 30+ students in the same room of a small private school.  Though I distinctly remember dreading her timed math tests as she held a stopwatch in her hand, I learned a lot under her!  She also taught the finer points of phonics, and I enjoyed the old “Dick and Jane” book series when learning to read. 

Having learned to read phonetically with certain sight recognition words, that skill continued to be a life-long benefit, particularly in my medical transcription profession when confronting unfamiliar new words.  But, it was also the foundation used to help my oldest daughter, Jenn, when she struggled learning to read.  I made flashcards for her, just as I used in Mrs. Rice’s class.  Math was also taught by rote memorization, which paid off in foundational skills retained, though math has not been my strong point.

My next mentor was my seventh-grade English teacher, Clara Breeman, at Christopher Columbus Junior High in Clifton, NJ.  A woman with the 1960s beehive hairdo, she was mocked for appearing to be quite elderly.  She was considered by my peers to be harsh and exacting, taking no guff from anyone, the last teacher you ever wanted to have.  And, I’ll never forget my fear when I learned I had her for both homeroom and English – a dreaded combination, according to the neighborhood kids.  But, I graduated high school knowing she had been one of the best! 

From Miss Breeman, I learned life-long foundational skills for writing, which I taught to my children when they began writing essays.  I learned to love sentence diagraming, and excelled under her tutelage.  But, I also felt her love when a young man, sitting next to me, began to taunt and mock me with his well-known sarcastic tongue.  Miss Breeman let him know in no uncertain terms that that was unacceptable behavior and would not be tolerated.  She insisted he apologize, and then moved him to another seat.  A Christian woman in a public-school setting, she had no qualms about promoting the use of the biblical book of Psalms for its poetry, from which I and others did our book reports.

Years later, Kathy Haire, my gym teacher as a senior in Owego Free Academy, was a mentor who used praise for her “Ladies” which brought out her students’ best.  Gifted in athletic ability, I never utilized my full potential.  At Passaic Christian School when I lived in Clifton, NJ, I had excelled in double-Dutch jump rope, basketball and tetherball, with a natural high jump to block and defeat my opponents, much to my shorter 6^th grade boyfriend’s chagrin. 

Back at Clifton, NJ’s Christopher Columbus Jr. High, I had been among the fastest runners in my class, jumping hurdles with ease and room to spare on the stadium track in gym, and played a great basketball game.  Later, gym class in Owego, NY showed skill in volleyball, serving a strong ball to the guys’ team, with a springing high jump to hit and spike that ball back down over the net to score.  Then as a senior, with praise from Kathy Haire, I again played great basketball in gym, and perfected a routine on the uneven bars in gymnastics despite my initial petrifying fear of those bars!  She believed in me and gave me confidence to succeed.  I now look back at all the years missed when I could have joined track and field, tennis, volleyball or basketball teams - and the ranks of my Tillapaugh relatives with their athletic abilities and college and state records.

Additional mentors include John and Betty LaGeorge and Pastor Doug and Lori Brock.  Their loving friendship blessed us, though they’ve moved on from the community.  Coming alongside us as a family, they included our children in babysitting and extra activities involving church and the Christian school, and simply shared God’s love and wisdom with us as a family.

And isn’t that what our God simply asks of us… that we bless others through the gifts and talents He’s blessed us with?  Mentors model and teach wisdom, showing us a better way, perhaps a way we never thought attainable.  Mentors live out their love for others, and shower those around them with evidence of their faith in action.  May we go and do the same. 

The Mentor

Linda A. Roorda

Your kind loving words enveloped my heart

And brought out the best hidden within.

You found the key to unlock the source

Releasing the gifts that I never knew.

~

You let me fly on wings that were new

Discovering self with talents and skills.

Confidence builder, you who encouraged,

Tapped into assets just waiting to bloom.

~

For like a flower about to blossom

Absorbing kind words which nourish like rain,

So discerning hearts that desire the best,

Treasure the wealth emerging like dawn.

~

Your gentle praise and guiding wisdom

Opened the doors to a world unknown.

You led the way as practice perfected

That which had worth from talent unadorned.

~

Like silver and gold refined by furnace

Is elegance true, a beauty within.

Always the mentor seeks out the hidden

And brings out the glow with encouraging love.

~~

To listen to this blog on Podcast:  https://open.spotify.com/show/7Big193iLjkZ5kAus2h4lU