Hospitality of a mentor

Reflecting on hospitality, I recall the year I spent with Darren Daugherty at Summit Church in St. Paul between resigning my first position and returning to school. I asked him if he would mentor me. He told me that he didn’t feel ready to mentor someone but we began to meet weekly anyway. I dove into helping him with children’s ministry events on Sundays and Wednesdays. I started working four 10-hour days so that I could have Wednesdays free. Darren would take me out just about every Wednesday for lunch and listen as I ranted about my new convictions about ministering to families. Darren was a pioneer in family ministries and I had learned a lot of my convictions from him, yet he patiently listened as I reiterated things that he said. That year he created a space where I could test my convictions and grow my philosophy of ministry. I am struck by his patience during that time. Truly, I think he was more of a mentor than he realized.