The importance of being both a big cow and a little cow (otherwise known as “zebu” here in Mada)

This morning as we headed out our gate to walk to church we saw one of the men from the mud huts behind out house training a baby zebu. As I watched, the scene infront of me really spoke to my heart. There was an adult zebu who was yoked to a zebu who looked to be like a tweenager. The tweenager had no idea how to work together with another zebu in the yoke and so he was fighting, even though he was being wipped repeatedly by the owner. For a little while he just did nothing and let the adult zebu pull him along. Eventually he got tired of that and started walking along side the adult zebu. Later in the day I saw the same team again, but this time there was less wipping and more working together.

This scene reminded me of the importance of mentoring the younger people in our lives. They have no idea how to go through life. They watch others around them and try things, somethings work, other things lead them to falling on their “butt-tongs” (as my children call it). I went through the same things when I was younger. Thankfully I always had an adult, besides my mom and dad, who would walk beside me and share their testamony with me of things they tried when they were my age. Things that worked and things that didn't.

Looking at this team of zebu reiderated the importance to me of having a mentor, even now as an adult. But I can't stop there. I must also be that big zebu to a younger zebu. It is so important to offer ourselves to a younger generation to walk beside them, encourage them, listen to them, laugh with them, and cry with them.

Do you have a mentor? Are you a mentor? Don't know where to start? Just look around you and pray that the Lord will put someone on your heart and put you on someone's heart to create these amazing give and take relationships. I strongly encourage you to take a step forward in this area. I find that I get just as much encouragement from my mentor as I do from my “mentie”. It's also a nice way to break generational gaps and learn from one another. I think that if this happened more regularly in the church that there would be less quaraling and bickering about traditional verses contemporary worship and we would all be willing to differ to one another so that together we can worship the same God, who is both traditional and contemporary!

Just some food for thought.

Oh, and by the way, to my mentors and menties, and you know who you are , thanks for a fun and challanging ride!