In this blog, Emily shares how a short lunch with a nine-year old got her thinking about mentoring …

My friend’s daughter recently had an inset day on a day that I had off work. My own children were in school, and my friend and I were chatting about how Kelly would be at home with dad, but how he would need to work all day. Having two boys myself, I got excited about spending the day with my friend’s little girl and suggested that we go out for lunch so she could do something fun as well.

We had so much fun chatting away and eating cake! I loved getting time to be girly and to invest in nine-year-old Kelly’s life. It only took a couple of hours, but I wonder how God can use that relationship as she grows up: whether she will remember feeling special and valued during that lunch in years to come. At the very least her mum assured me that she enjoyed going out and that she had fun that afternoon!

Initially I’d meant that outing as a way to help my own friend out, but the more I thought about it, the more memories came to mind of occasions from my own past – where a teenager from church had taken me shopping when I was eleven; or when my youth leader had taken three of us girls out to the beach for an afternoon. I still treasure the photograph!

These were simple things, but they actually had a big impact on my life – times where the family of God showed me love, and where I discovered that spending time with others who loved God was a lot of fun!

It’s made me want to seek out men that my boys will respect and look up to, who will have a good influence on them, and who they might then be willing to talk to when we as parents become ‘uncool’. It’s definitely something I’m going to be thinking and praying about in the coming months.