My book, The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring; Women Mentoring Women with Christ at the Center

I am so excited to share my news with you!  My book, The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring with the subtitle of Women Mentoring Women with Christ at the Center has finally been published! For the last 13 years, the Lord has, through the anointing of the Holy Spirit, had me writing a book on Active Relational Christian Mentoring for women. The book is now finished and has been published. In fact, it can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, Ingram, and Spring Harbor, as well as from my Publisher, Christian Faith Publishing Co. The e-book will also be available in about four weeks and can be down loaded from Amazon, I Tunes, and Google Play.

What is my book about?

Although this book focuses on specifically encouraging women to become active relational Christian mentors, it is really a book for both men and women who are interested in serving the Lord in a ministry that can make a huge difference in the lives of the mentees, with women mentoring women and men mentoring men. Along with the interesting true mentoring stories, this book provides a look into the different types of active Christian mentoring available while giving examples of each category and type of mentoring available. It is also a book that can be used as a guide for churches wanting to develop a mentoring ministry within their congregation that can further enhance the discipleship of all Christians.

This Holy Spirit inspired book is about many of the different aspects of this fruit producing service or ministry that I have entitled Active Relational Christian Mentoring. Along with interesting true stories about personal Christian mentoring relationships, there is also an explanation of what Active Relational Christian Mentoring is and the difference between active and passive mentoring. Although most Christians engage in some type of passive mentoring, we must take Christ’s commission to share the Good News and to help others to heart by becoming active relational Christian mentors. So, this book also gives an easy explanation and directions on how one can become involved in mentoring for the Lord.

As my friend Donna says, “This book is gives everyone a look at where mentoring started, how mentoring was used in the Bible, the Ultimate Mentor, Our God and Lord and Savior, and how you, too, can touch the lives of others today through a Christian mentoring relationship with those who are Christians and those who aren’t. In addition, the reader will be able to see how active mentoring fills a place of great need while giving a helping hand to others. It is just one way we can reflect the loving kindness of Jesus, as in a mirror.”

I know that although most Christian women wear several hats covering many responsibilities, many feel that they have little time to fulfill their desire to be of service to the Lord and others. Indeed, many women probably wish that they could do more for the Lord, but they simply do not know where to begin or how to fit a service for the Lord into their schedules. But, The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring is a ministry or service that any Christian woman can engage in, because it is about our relationships with other women, and women usually can find time for relationships whether it is a relationship with a family member or friend. Moreover, because we are born-again Christians, Christ is with us and will guide us into the right mentoring relationships with acquaintance, work related, or church related relationships. Furthermore, Christian mentoring relationships do not require us to go to another country or to put in hours of extra time.

I have discovered that whether you are a wife, mother, partner to your spouse, sole breadwinner, or even a career woman, most Christian women have a heart for serving the Lord. However, women often do not know where to start serving even though they may have a deep longing to serve God and others or a need to bring Christ’s message to those who don’t know Him. This book, The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring, will show women the importance of and the ease of engaging in Active Relation Christian Mentoring (ARCM).

Through true mentoring stories throughout the book, I explain and show the importance of Christ being at the center of all mentoring relationships and how Christ and the Holy Spirit will guide each of us into a mentoring relationship if we are just willing to listen to the Holy Spirit’s still small voice inside of us. Then, when we start to form a mentoring relationship with another woman, we do not have to be afraid, because Christ is right there with us guiding us with insight and discernment.

 Having Christ at the center of the braided three-strand cord of mentoring (i.e., one strand of the cord is you, the mentor, while another strand is the mentee, with the middle strand being Christ), means positive, meaningful, and loving help is there for the mentee, while guidance, insight, and the empowerment to work for the Lord is there for the mentor through Christ’s help. The three-strand cord of ARCM then provides a caring and efficient way for Christian women to support, encourage, enlighten, and empower another woman through the development of godly mentoring relationships. It is through their personal mentoring relationships that women are given the opportunity to shine the light of Christ on others.

My book on The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring: Women Mentoring Women with Christ at the Center is an easy read. The book starts with a true mentoring story and then explains the meaning of the three-strand cord and why the words active and relational are important in mentoring. It then gives the reader the Biblical background of relational mentoring which was established by God. For, it was God who gave us the ability to form relationships. Furthermore, it is God who gives each of us the ability to mentor one another, to be able to share the knowledge that God has specifically bestowed upon us or to be able to share the knowledge that we have acquired through our God-given abilities to study and observe. I also explain within the pages of the book the importance of developing personal active mentoring relationships within the lives of women. I have further included several personal mentoring stories throughout the book that demonstrate the importance of and the different kinds of mentoring relationships available, as well as how they can mirror the different types of mentoring categories.

Each of the true stories in this book also provides examples of women being empowered to be all they can be for God, themselves, their family, and their friends. Moreover, each of the stories are also examples of the different kinds of mentoring relationships that can be developed between two women. So, whether you are interested in becoming a teaching type of mentor, a coach type of mentor, an accountability mentor, a sponsor mentor, a counselor mentor, or a fellowship/friendship mentor there is some type of mentoring that every Christian woman can engage in.

How did this book come about? 

It’s funny you should ask! But the truth is that it was the Lord and the Holy Spirit who not only inspired me to write this book on mentoring, but then actually helped me to write this book for Him. And although it took me 13 years to finish it and get it published, I believe that is within the Lord’s timing that this book became a reality, while the idea for the book also came from the Lord. Let me explain further:

Nearly thirteen years ago I was meeting with a couple of my friends to work on developing a pamphlet for our church on mentoring. Our church was wanting to establish a mentoring program and our small committee of three was to write a pamphlet that set the standards and the do’s and don’ts of Christian mentoring. We had met a few times previously, but on this particular meeting day, which was probably the fourth or fifth time we had met, something different and exciting happened during one of our breaks.

Our now deceased friend, Carol Graves, had sent a Jewish prayer shawl back to Israel to have the blue tzitzith cords attached to the corners of the prayer shawl that she was giving to her husband for his P.H.D. graduation. She wanted the shawl to have the blue cords added, because she had learned in studying Jewish history and from the book of Numbers that having the blue cords on the corners of not only the prayer shawls but on the Israelites’ clothing was something that God had told Moses to tell the people to do. God told Moses: “Say to the people of Israel: ‘Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach the tassels at each corner with a blue cord. The tassels will remind you of the commands of the LORD, and that you are to obey His commands instead of following your own desires and going your ways, as you are prone to do. The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all My commands and be holy to your God. I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt that I might be your God. I am the LORD your God!’”  -- (Numbers 15: 37-41. NLT).

Carol had purchased this particular Jewish prayer shawl for her husband the previous year, but she also wanted it to be authentic, so she had sent it back to Israel for special rabbis to add the blue tzitzith to the corners of the shawl. She had just gotten the shawl back from Israel a couple of days before. She was excited to show it to us before she gave the shawl to her husband at his graduation party. So, during a break from the planning of the pamphlet, Carol got the prayer shawl out to show us.

Something dramatic was about to happen though. As Carol came back into the room with the prayer shawl, she said that when she picked up the shawl she began to get goose bumps all over her body. Then both Donna and I came close to look at the shawl. Donna touched the main part of the shawl, but I chose to touch the blue tzitzith on one of the corners of the shawl. Immediately the Holy Spirit came upon me. I felt like I was receiving the softest and most loving hug while engulfed in the softest of clouds. From somewhere in the distance, I heard the voice of Carol saying, “Donna, grab Vicky, because she is about to faint or fall over!” Then I felt both Donna’s and Carol’s hands holding me and guiding me over to a couch to sit down.

It probably took only a few minutes, but it seemed like ten or fifteen minutes before I could see the world around me again as it really was. When I was finally myself again, both Donna and Carol said my face was glowing. I did not know what had happened to me, but I knew I was in a euphoric state of peace and happiness. We tried discussing what had happened, but we could not figure it out. So, instead of trying to continue on with the writing of the pamphlet that day, Donna and I decided to go home. It was a good thing that Donna and I had driven over to Carol’s together, because Donna had to drive me home. I remember that during the drive that Donna would look over at me every once in a while, and remark that my face was glowing and that I couldn’t seem to quit smiling.

When I finally got home, I decided to sit down at the computer and type up the notes that I had made that day on our discussion of the mentoring pamphlet. But, something strange happened. I started writing about mentoring in general and I couldn’t stop writing for three or four hours. I had never wanted to write a book or article on mentoring or write any book for that matter, yet here I was writing my heart out on Christian mentoring. After I finished writing that day, I thought that was the end of my writing. But when I sat down at the computer the next day, the same type of immersion in writing on mentoring happened again. This went on for four days. In fact, it wasn’t until the fifth day that I actually felt back to my old self again and quit smiling all the time (I was still smiling quite a bit, though, for several more days). But that did not end my writing for the Lord.

For the next thirteen years, between surgeries, illnesses, and moves from one state to another I continued to write this book on mentoring for the Lord. Something continued to draw me to the computer to write and when I sat down to write, it seemed easy to do so. That’s not to say that I didn’t grow and mature in my writing ability and style, for I did. There were of course many starts and re-starts on different sections of the book, but I never had what they call “writer’s block”. I always had something to write, I just needed to choose what I wanted to include in the book from my many writings and researches on mentoring and relationships.

All the time I was writing I felt like I had been given a special job to do for the Lord. Having touched the blue tzitzith on the prayer shawl, I had somehow been reminded of God’s commands and had also been given a specific job to do. Remember, that God told Moses to tell the people that “The tassels will remind you of the commands of the LORD, and that you are to obey His commands instead of following your own desires and going your ways, as you are prone to do. The tassels will help you remember that you must obey all My commands and be holy to your God.”  Touching the blue tzitzith tassels on the prayer shawl that day at Carol’s had somehow inspired me to not only write this book for the Lord, but to live my life mentoring others for the Lord. Certainly, I needed to obey God’s command and not just follow my own desires and ways. Moreover, I found that I grew closer to the Lord each and every day as I researched the Scriptures for the book, wrote, and prayed to God about what I was to do for Him.

God had also blessed me with a husband who also believed that I had been given a special commission to write a book on Christian mentoring for the Lord so that women could learn how to engage in the service of this ministry. My husband was always there to encourage me and to tell me that the book would be finished and be published in God’s timing, so do not give up. Indeed, God’s timing is perfect, for even after many writings and re-writings, God had the exact publication date and the exact day that all my efforts would come to fruition.

Now, I pray that this book, written for the Lord and for all those Christians who want to be of service to the Lord, will inspire all Christian women and perhaps even some Christian men to develop active mentoring relationships.  I pray that these three-strand mentoring relationships will be used to disciple other women, to encourage women, to empower women to be all they can be for God, for themselves, and for their families and friends, and that they will be empowered to help other women in whatever area they need help. For Christian women are to share their knowledge, their love, and their heart for the Lord with other women as they teach other women to love others just as they love themselves.

Women can be strong, smart, and caring. They also have many different gifts, talents and abilities to share. It is in using all of these individual attributes, which God has endowed us with, that women can make a difference in a world that has reached an important juncture in time. Without a doubt, women can make a difference in this world one woman at a time simply by reaching out in Christian love to help those who are in need or to help those who need to know about the Savior of the world. But with our knowledge, the truth of the Bible, and knowing the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ, I truly believe that Christian women can change the outlook of this world by sharing the Gospel message and by engaging in The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring.

If every Christian woman could reach even one woman through Christian mentoring, there could be a tidal wave of Christian mentoring throughout the earth leading to the knowledge of and love of Christ.  All it takes is to have Christ at the center of every relationship and for that active mentoring relationship to culminate in truth and love for God and each other. But, without Christ at the center of each relationship, women are just spinning around in circles without knowing that true north can guide their lives into productive eternity bound lives for the Kingdom of God.                                       

Where do you go from here?

Obviously, I hope that many of you will choose to read The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring: Women mentoring Women with Christ at the Center. For, I believe that you will find this book to both be informative in the ministry of active relational mentoring as well as inspirational. There is now a short video trailer about the book on You tube which can give you more insight into the book and how Christian mentoring can be of great service to the Lord and others. If you choose to read the book, I then also hope, if you know Christ as your personal Savior, that you will reach out in an active mentoring ministry that will enlighten and help other women to become all that they can be for God, themselves and for their family and friends.

Certainly, this book will tell you how important Active Relational Christian Mentoring is and how you, personally, can have a great effect on lives of others by engaging in Active Relational Christian Mentoring. So, if you have ever wanted to make a difference in another’s life, this book is for you. Moreover, no matter what your strength or weakness is, there is a mentoring category and type of mentoring that will fit your personality. You just need to be willing to step up to mentor another woman by developing a relationship and pursuing a mentoring style, and this book will help you do so.

If you have not yet come into the loving arms of God …

Even if you have not yet accepted Christ as your Savior, this book can show you the importance of looking closer into the Gospel message. Christ can be found throughout this book on Active Relational Christian Mentoring, for it is through Christ that lives are changed for the better, and it is The Three-Strand Cord of Active Relational Christian Mentoring that touches the lives of people. But there is a book much greater than any other book ever written and that is the Bible. For, throughout the Bible God tells us of His Son, the Redeemer, the Deliverer, and the Savior of the world. Jesus Christ is the living Son of God who died for our sins and who arose from the grave conquering eternal death and damnation. It is through Christ that we can be forgiven of all our sins and can find an eternal relationship with the Trinity. But even before we get to Heaven and while we are presently still here on this earth, Christ gives us peace, hope, and joy, as well as the assurance of a future eternity spent with God. All of us who are “saved” have become immortal, for when our souls leave this earth, we will live in eternity with God.

If you decide to read this book on mentoring, I think that you will enjoy reading the true mentoring stories of women who have come to know Christ personally. Their mentoring and salvation stories can show you how living for Christ can empower you to be all that God created you to be and how you can always have a friend in Christ who will always be there with you. I believe you will feel the importance of reaching out to others in Active Relational Christian Mentoring.

If at any time you are ready to ask Christ into your heart, it is really quite simple. For, the Bible says: “That if you confess with your mouth “Jesus as Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in Salvation…. For whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.” – (Romans 10: 9, 10. 13. NASB). Please don’t let time get away from you. Ask Christ into your heart today!  Then go and tell someone that you have been saved!