One of the first descriptions about me that I remember
hearing as a child was, “She’s shy. Don’t even look at her or she’ll cry.”
Wait! Wait! No worries, friends! While I still do cry
easily, there’s no need to turn away. I’ve come a long way since then. But I’ll
be honest with you. My shyness hasn’t disappeared, and temperamentally I’m an
introvert so it still takes a lot of effort for me to engage in conversation or
interact with people I don’t know. In previous blog posts, Role to Minister and MonstrousLimitations vs Super Power, I dealt with this. Good for me to review!
Good to remember also that once I get started with a
particular interaction and can focus on the other person, and as long as I give
myself time to re-energize afterward, I generally enjoy it, which is what I’ve
experienced over the past few days.
In my last post I shared about “Be the One”, a mentoring
program, and the writing opportunity I’ve been offered. What that entails is
getting the stories of the mentors and mentees, how the program has affected
them, and then putting the stories into readable form. The plan is to undertake
that task the first couple weeks of May. In addition I was asked if I would
take on interviewing local businesses that sponsor the program and get their
feedback. I said, “Yes.”
Whoa! That’s a whole lot of interacting with people I don’t
know, folks! So what motivates me to overcome my shyness and get out there and
do it?
Well, the idea that kids are falling through the cracks when
there’s a God-designed someone for each one of those kids to throw them a
little life line, and here’s a program that can match these people up if only
the word can get out there sort of starts the fire in me. And as I said in my
previous post, my heart responded to that scenario in a big way. This is the
purpose God designed me to fulfill—helping to get that word out there.
So far the sponsoring businesses I’ve contacted have been
incredibly receptive and willing to share their hearts for the program and this
community. I admire them!
Now, excuse me while I re-energize before it’s time to gather up
