Mrs. PIE

Mentorship That Matters: Lessons from Ruth and Naomi

• Shelley Jeffcoat • Season 4 • Episode 116

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Mentorship is hidden in unexpected places – including the biblical story of Ruth and Naomi where we discover powerful truths about how we influence others even without formal arrangements.

• People are constantly watching your moves – both good and bad
• Informal mentorship happens naturally through relationships and observation
• Position yourself for abundance like Naomi heading to Judah where opportunity awaited
• True mentors must be on track in their own lives to effectively guide others
• Mentorship is about relationship, not transaction – it works both ways
• Being humble enough to receive mentorship requires letting go of ego
• Everyone is an informal mentor to someone whether they realize it or not
• How you respond to crisis speaks volumes to those watching your example
• Your words and actions carry significant weight and responsibility

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Speaker 1:

no-transcript. Good morning y'all. Happy Thursday. It's Shelly. I hope y'all are doing okay and welcome back to Come Out of the Wilderness.

Speaker 1:

This is our Thursday teaching. For those who might be coming across this video on Facebook or LinkedIn or YouTube or Parade Deck TV and wondering, like, what's going on? Who is this? So I'm really excited about this topic. We're nerding out in this month of March, just going a little bit deeper into some of the Bible stories and scriptures and tying it back to our daily lives. So today we're going to be in Ruth one. We're talking about mentorship and I think this is going to bless you, whether you consider yourself a mentor or not. There's some, just some really cool things that I want to pull out from. We're talking about mentorship and I think this is going to bless you, whether you consider yourself a mentor or not. There's some, just some really cool things that I want to pull out from Ruth and I really think this is going to bless us. I'm trying to be better at looking and following the comment section.

Speaker 1:

Good morning, dr Tracy, and good morning Dump and Ground podcast. Good morning y'all. So, lord, we just thank you for giving us another day. Thank you for this amazing Thursday. Thank you for good news of this day and I pray for every person under the sound of my voice, whether they have been here before or this is new for them, that they'll be blessed, that they'll hear something today that will inspire and encourage them to just have better, more fruitful, impactful lives, and I just thank you for blessing each of us. I thank you for those more fruitful, impactful lives and I just thank you for blessing each of us. I thank you for those, lord, god, even those who are standing in need right now, who just want some encouragement. I pray that this teaching today will encourage all of us. Amen, so y'all.

Speaker 1:

So Ruth and Naomi. You know, maybe you haven't thought about I'm going to share my screen, so I'm going to come out of the scripture so you can follow along with me, but maybe you haven't thought about it in this way. I think, for the most part, whenever I hear teachers or Bible teachers or pastors or, you know, whoever talk about Ruth and Naomi, they really focus more on, you know, moving into a new season and taking it from that perspective, how you know the relationship between the two women and they kind of pivoted to that way. And Ruth again, ruth's loyalty to Naomi, as you're seeing here in the ESV version. But there were some things that I wanted to share with us. First of all, when it comes to the way we look at this in terms of mentorship and I know you're probably like, wow, how do you get mentorship out of this? And I'm going to show you how right.

Speaker 1:

And also, I think this is just a season, you know, I am fully aware we have, by the way, we have a phone prayer line called Three Praying Sisters and we are on every Thursday 1 pm, 7 pm, eastern Standard Time. So if you are going through the things and you need a community to pray alongside with you, you know 30 minutes of prayer and you're welcome to join. There is no seed needed. You just need to pick up the phone, call in and that's all All right. The number should be scrolling on the screen. So I want to start in the first thing that happened.

Speaker 1:

And now, actually, before I jump into this, I just want to start in the first thing that happened and then, actually, before I jump into this, I just want to share something, just because I think a lot of us don't realize this most of the time because we're busy, just kind of living our lives out, that you have to be aware that there are people watching your move. And it's not always a bad thing y'all. A lot of times when you hear people say, oh, people watching your move, it comes across as if someone's competing with you or they're trying to attack or trying to take something from you. But it just so happens that that you know, especially for well women and men, you know, we kind of watch the way we move and maybe you've seen someone you admire on the job or at your church or in your community, maybe even in your family, you have that one special uncle that you just like. You know he's just like the best thing ever and you're watching his move, but that uncle is informally mentoring you and that's just because of the relationship, what you see.

Speaker 1:

So it starts out with Naomi being widowed. There was a situation that caused these two women to have this kind of relationship. It was clear that there was a relationship there before. It doesn't tell you in detail of how deep the relationship was. What we know was it says that in the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. I'm not going to read the whole thing because I want you all to go back in Ruth 1, chapter 1, verses 1 through 18. That's our bio study, okay, but just to give you an idea and a context, ruth's husband passed away and so did her sons, malon and Chilion, and they were from Bethlehem in Judah and when they passed they left both their wives right.

Speaker 1:

So when Naomi rose, it says in verse six, she arose with her daughters-in-law and the intention it says, to return from the country of Moab. There was an opportunity, for she heard in the fields of Moab that the Lord had visited these people and given them food. So Naomi was in a position where she was seeking out a new opportunity and so it says she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-laws and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. So they were moving into different opportunity. So I think about this when you see certain people and you see them moving and it seems like they're moving into a different opportunity, different levels, all the things right, and you're captivated by who you know, that move that they're making, just thinking about it from that perspective. It says in verse eight.

Speaker 1:

But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law go, return each of you to her mother's house. Go to your mother's house, like go to your mother's house, okay, may the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me talking about her son. So she's blessing them, right, you know? You know, go on back to your, your home, your, your, your family's home, and she's blessing them. The Lord grant that you may find, rest each of you in the house of her husband, all the things. And it says that then she kissed them, so she's blessing them. And they lifted up their voices, that they wept, so that here again there was a connection between these women and Naomi.

Speaker 1:

Now, when it comes down to this is where people you know most folks when they're reading about Ruth and Naomi, they kind of get stuck into this. But Naomi said turn back my daughters because, again, when they didn't want to break that she was the continuation, if you will the relationship tied to their husbands who passed right, they're all widows at this point. They all had tremendous loss. And Naomi said turn back my daughters. Why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they might you know? Why are you following me? Turn back my daughters go your way, for I'm too old to have a husband. There's nothing I can do for you, right? And if I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband, in the night and bears and all the things that she's basically giving them an escape, giving them a way out, don't follow me, y'all.

Speaker 1:

So what I loved about verse 14, I guess this is where a lot of us kind of tie into and this is where you can pick up on some of the themes of mentorship. Then they lifted up their voices and wept again and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law but Ruth clung to her and she said see, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods. Return after your sister-in-law. But Ruth says don't urge me to leave you or to return from following you, because where you go, I will go and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, your God, my God. All right, so I'm going to stop there and I'm going to come back and then we're going to kind of punch down into those verses a little bit more when it comes to mentorship. So one of the first things I want to just remind us is that what I said before that there are people watching your moves and you just have to be self-aware, and so that means they watch your good moves and they watch your bad moves, right.

Speaker 1:

Informal mentorship is for real, you know, you don't have to pay someone to be your mentor. A mentor is someone who, by the virtue of what they're doing with their lives, there's some things that you learn from them, maybe some things that help you get, to quote the next level. You know what I mean. There's information or experience that that person has that you're tapping into. You would have seen some measure of success in that person's life you're tapping into. You would have seen some measure of success in that person's life. Like I always tell people, you never have a mentor who doesn't have success in the area that they're trying to coach you through. Don't do that, because then you're just it's not a mentor, it's a friend, right. But just being aware, y'all, that even as mothers of adult children, you know a lot of times we have this incredible informal relationship as a mentor with them.

Speaker 1:

So how you show up really does matter, how you respond to crisis in your life For those of y'all who are, you know, believers or Christians or whatever you want to call it how you respond to all of the chaos and crazy. And I promise you, I know there's a lot of chaos and crazy, there's a lot of things happening and everyone's going through something, right, but how you respond to those situations, it speaks volumes and as a mentor, that shows up right, how you respond, as people are watching, how you respond and you can either hurt or harm the folks that are kind of watching from afar. Right? So that's the first thing. The second thing is, with this story of Ruth and Naomi, is that you have to remember that Naomi was moving into a situation or she was positioning herself so that she could go into a land of plenty, if you will. She was positioning herself so that she could go back where again, where in the word again, I'm coming from Ruth 1, ruth 1 and urging you guys 1 through 18, where it talks about she was returning to the land of Judah, because she was going where it says the Lord had visited his people and given them food, so she was going to a place of abundance, if you will. So, naomi the mentor, right?

Speaker 1:

So maybe this is you y'all, you're the mentor and you're moving into a place of abundance, you're moving into your land, your Judah, if you will, and so that is important. You have to be in position that you're on the right track. You cannot mentor people if you're not your Judah, if you will, and so that is important. You have to be in position that you're on the right track. You cannot mentor people if you're not on the right track, if you're not disciplined, all right, because you'll end up encouraging people to do the wrong thing, right. So that's really important. So are you on track as a mentor yourself? Like I'm a mentor to many people.

Speaker 1:

It always surprises me. I you know, just yesterday I had someone, two people actually who I actually I look up to them as peer mentors, and both of these individuals were sharing with me that they saw me as a mentor, and it's the most amazing and humbling thing. But it also reminds you that the way you move on the job, y'all a lot of y'all are going to these jobs and forgetting the impact that you have on the job, right, you're forgetting that. You know you have to have that level of self awareness. So when I'm working, I have the same mindset, where I'm always putting myself in position of growth or abundance or impact or helping. You know that's, that's, that's kind of, that's just my thing, and so people will see that, just as they see it in me, y'all, they'll see it in you, okay. So that's the second thing. Don't and don't ask people to do what you're not willing to do, right? Same thing with our kids, right? We don't ask people to do what we're not willing to do. We don't ask you to make the kind of sacrifices that we're not willing to do, okay, because then it hurts your credibility as a mentor, all right. Now the third thing I want to share with y'all is that this is also something that I find in the story of Ruth and Naomi is that bond of loyalty and that love, and I also want to caution you. So I am really blessed.

Speaker 1:

I've always had mentors my entire life, but I've never positioned my relationship with my mentors as you do something for me. It's never been like that. It's always been about a relationship. It's a relationship. There are some things that I admire and something, and I ask for feedback so that I can grow y'all. But I never position it as like what can you do for me? And in fact, I always say that mentorship works both ways. So in the same way that I'm a mentor to many. That mentorship works both ways. So, in the same way that I'm a mentor to many, those folks are mentoring me as well. It works both ways. There's a relationship involved.

Speaker 1:

What I love about the story of Ruth and Naomi is that you can see that there was a relationship before they had to make the decision. Before Ruth made the decision to stay on the path with Naomi, and she didn't know if this path was going to be easy. She didn't know that there was going to be. You know what was going to transpire at the end of it. There was a significant loss. There was a situation that brought them together, y'all, if you will. So the loss of both their husbands. They were both widowed, right. So there was a situation, a crisis, if you will. They had to move out of the place where they are.

Speaker 1:

Some of y'all need to move out of the place where you are. You have been stuck and sitting in this wilderness for way too long. The Lord has sent you divine help, but you refuse to listen, right? You know what I'm saying. He sent you and Naomi and you're like I don't want to go right. So some of you have to, you know again, be self-aware enough to know when the Lord is telling you it's time to move.

Speaker 1:

If you've been tied to someone out of loyalty and you've seen no fruits, no, you know, from them there's the. You know, we call it the fruit of the spirit. Is not in them, nothing, no seed they've planted, you know, have yielded anything for the folks they're mentoring. That shows you something, right. So I want you to you know, be aware of these relationships and how we're showing up again, as I mentioned before informal mentors is real. How we show up, it's not just on your job, it's not just with your clients, it's not just with your kids. How you show up really matters. And I think that when we talk about living authentically and we drop all the terms y'all, I think authentic living and being authentic was the term we were using in 2021. I don't hear that so much anymore, because some folks showed up in their true selves and we didn't like it. Right, just be for real, okay, but we have to get back to the point where we're self-aware about how we show up wherever we go, and that again, you have to be in a position where you are on track with what your assignment is what is it that you're meant to do? All right, and so again, this is Ruth and Naomi. I told you we're nerding out a little bit in this month of March. We have one more teaching to go.

Speaker 1:

Last week I talked about the Jerusalem council and the week before that, our first week, I was in Genesis and we were talking about the environment that we're in and how we can allow sin to come in and really destroy the environment. That you know, and I don't care how beautiful your house is how we can allow sin to come in and really destroy the environment. That you know, and I don't care how beautiful your house is, but when you allow sin or negative thoughts or all the things that come in, it can really disrupt the environment that you're creating. So we're building on a theme here. First, you got to have the right environment, not just physically, but in your mind, mentally, also spiritually. Secondly, you know we talk about when we talked about the Jerusalem Council, it was really showing you that the grace and the goodness of God is coming from God. It's not, you know, it's not really anything we're doing. We work with God. Right, because it's not. It is still free will, but there's a partnership, if you will, we have to be obedient to when he's telling us to do stuff, even when it's uncomfortable, you know.

Speaker 1:

And then this third thing is around the people that you're aligning yourself to and, as you are also a mentor maybe you don't realize that, but you are a mentor in somebody's eyes and you may never know that. You know that person might never ever say now can I just tell you something? You might also be a mentor to people who can't stand you okay, people who don't like you, but they admire you and they respect you and they're watching your move. So I'm just urging you to be aware of you, how you're aligning yourself and then how you're playing this thing out as someone who is a mentor, I'm going to leave you with this one thought. I was at this incredible event yesterday. If you're on LinkedIn, you probably see me blowing up and I'm so excited talking about it, and I won't stop talking about it for a while.

Speaker 1:

This has been a very taxing, emotional, physically draining month of March for my family. It just has been. And yet I have watched the Lord really put me in position in places right when I was able to receive his blessings through people, right through people, and me being just coached and mentored by folks who don't even know that they're mentoring me. So the first thing is I have to be humble enough to receive that level of mentorship. Some of y'all have way too much ego. You know everything. Therefore, you can never be taught.

Speaker 1:

I am always willing to learn. I'm always willing to learn when it comes to my corporate girly role. I'm always willing to learn when it's a spiritual role. I'm always willing to learn. In all my capacities personal, emotional, all those things I'm always in a position where I'm willing to learn. So, a all my capacities personal, emotional, all those things I'm always in a position where I'm willing to learn. So a lot of y'all have got to let go of this ego thing where you've been at it too long and you don't need anybody telling you what to do. That's fine.

Speaker 1:

This is, then, not for you, okay, but this month I have watched him, watched God work in my life, and I had to be in position to receive that level of support that I was getting through informal mentors. So, as an example, today is Thursday and already this week I was listening to a panel of really amazing, incredible women that I truly respect right Again. Remember I talked about humbling right and I was listening to them talk about their mindset and professional development and their careers and how they manage those things, and so I told them, I told a couple of the folks that were on the panel that this is an opportunity for me to just drink it in. I'm just here to drink it in and I was able to do that. I had to. Again, like Naomi, I had to go where the opportunity was. So the opportunity was listening to this panel.

Speaker 1:

The second time the second opportunity actually came up yesterday I was it was a work event and I was presenting there later this day. But I didn't understand why the Lord wanted me to be there all day, because I was like Lord, I don't present until two in the afternoon. Why do you need me to be there all day? But I'm so grateful that I was obedient to being there all day, because what ended up happening is all day I was being poured into and none of these people knew that I needed this right. I think I might have only said that to one person, that man I really needed today.

Speaker 1:

So in that opportunity yesterday again, I placed myself, like Naomi, right In the place of opportunity. Then I humbled myself right, and then I listened right as a mentor. I listened right and so what happened for me yesterday is by listening to other people's experiences and their journeys and their challenges and being empowered and inspired by folks who have gone through the things y'all it really built me up, me as a mentor for someone else, because now I have, I've refilled my cup, I've picked up some new tips, I feel I feel really good, I feel encouraged and, despite any storm or anything that's happening in my life. Now, listen and I'm going to say this because there are folks, especially on LinkedIn, I know that there are people who are going through job loss and a lot of stuff happening Okay, like when I say, everybody's getting hit right now, people are getting hit right now, okay.

Speaker 1:

So I'm not saying this, that I want you to just happy your way through it, because the truth is, I woke up at three something this morning and I was talking to the Lord. I was saying I'm angry with you because you're allowing this to happen. I was having all kinds of conversations with the Lord, but then, just hours later, he was reminding me that he was shifting me and this. Look at you know, stop and look at what he's been doing just this month. This is a teaching moment for a lot of us.

Speaker 1:

So maybe you don't have or you think you're, you know you don't have a Naomi who's a mentor for you or a coach for you. There are a lot of really good, solid businesswomen who are amazing mentors and coach and you can go find. I'm not in the business of recommending folks, you can go find them on your own, but if you are a Ruth and you're looking for someone to mentor and coach you and all the things, again, it's really important that you understand that it works both ways that you have to find someone who is on track, who's done the things that you're trying to accomplish. Maybe they haven't done 100%, but they're on the track. They have experience, but they are in position. They shifted themselves and they're in position to receive right, because if I don't have it, I can't give it to you, right?

Speaker 1:

And then the last thing is that all of us all of us are informal mentors for somebody. How we show up, how we show up in our partnerships, on the job, in our communities, as family members, aunties, uncles, step-parents, whatever how we show up really matters and that there is somebody who's actually learning from you good or bad. So I hope this blessed y'all, ruth and Naomi, just taking a different spin on this and talking about really mentorship that matters. Maybe you stop to think about. Maybe there's someone in your life who's been a mentor to you. Thank God for them, pray for them.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, lord, for as we close out, lord, I thank you for all the folks that you've placed in my life who have been mentoring me, even without them knowing they are informally mentoring me. I thank you for those who you've assigned to me so that I can be a mentor to them and that, through your work in me, lord, god, that they'll be blessed. I thank you for every voice and every family and everyone that stands listening to these podcasts and watching us and praying with us, and all the families that are impacted in such amazing positive ways. I thank you for all the strong women that I'm surrounded by, who are mentoring and coaching me, lord, god, and as we shift from season to season, as we move into you know, into bigger and greater things, that that, lord, that we will be the kind of people who have positive influence and tremendous impact on our families and our communities and everyone around us and that when people see us, that they will see you, they will come to understand the peace that we carry and the joy in our hearts and all of those things. And for those who are standing in need of anything, whether it's just a physical need, a financial need, a spiritual need, some people are just looking for peace I just ask that that will be their portion today and that, more than anything, they'll come to understand the God that I serve, that you are real and I thank you, lord, for all the opportunities, all the open doors, all the blessings. Amen. You know something I want to remind you.

Speaker 1:

I was telling someone at the event, one of the events earlier this week, and I told her she was talking about you know, speaking truth to power and all the things and how your words are so important, and it just fell out of my mouth. I was like you know what Abundance is my portion? When I say I believe all things are working together for my good, I fully believe that All things are actually working together for my good. When I tell you that I am divinely protected, I'm not just saying that it's in Psalm 91. I'm just repeating what he's already said about me. So it is actually true for me.

Speaker 1:

And there is no, there is no magic, there is no special prayer, there's nothing. It's just God's grace on my life. But you got to understand, there is a sacrifice involved. There's a sacrifice as a mentor that you make because you have responsibilities in how you show up, what you speak into other people's lives. So for those of y'all who are again, all the informal mentors, the aunties, the coaches, the teachers, all of us y'all that we have to remember that there is a responsibility that we carry you are divinely protected, you're highly favored. Carry, you are divinely protected, you're highly favored. But what you say really matters, and how you speak over your children and how you speak over your coworkers, even the ones that drive you crazy, y'all is really, really important. So I just wanted to leave that with you.

Speaker 1:

And then a last reminder we have prayer every Thursday, twice a day. It's 30 minutes. We take your prayer requests. It's a phone line, so we don't see who you are, but you know, join us for prayer If you're really standing in need. If you don't have a community to pray with, you can find us on Facebook. Come out of the wilderness. Like I said, there is no seed needed. You know, we don't rock like that. It's just a community that we pray together. We also pray live every Monday and Tuesday. I'm trying to get them all out, and then I also have a teaching on Saturday.

Speaker 1:

So to those who might look at this and say, wow, I'm doing a lot, I am doing a lot, but this is just worship. You're just joining me in worship. This is not work, y'all. This is just me worshiping God and I'm inviting y'all to come into this community so we can do life together. That's all it is. So I thank y'all so much for all of your support. I love y'all. Obviously, I always say Jesus loves you more. Please don't forget to like the video if you're on the social media street, because it does help us get more people to get the message and be blessed. So, y'all, have an amazing rest of your Thursday and I will talk to you next week. Bye.