Today I want to talk about things we make and what makes us.

My brothers and I started young in our education of making things. We were just little numbskull kids when we built our first tree fort in a dead cherry tree on the edge of our property. It consisted of a couple of two-by-fours randomly nailed into the trunk at very awkward angles. Over the years, numerous platforms were attached. None of them really lasted or were very sturdy. It kind of looked like a tornado threw some wood in a tree and we just nailed it in place. We had a lot to learn about making things, but we quickly became experts on balancing our skinny butts on a single piece of wood in a tree.

I did love wood shop and metal shop in middle school. Today it’s called STEM class. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. If we had STEM class when I was in 7^th grade it would stand for Saw, Tape Measure, Elmer’s Glue and Mallets.

In metal shop, when we messed up a project, we put a groove in it and called it an ash tray. I remember watching a friend in wood shop furiously sawing through wood for his project while it balanced on sawhorses. Next thing we knew, he and his project landed on the floor with a bang! He sawed right through the sawhorses.

My most ambitious project was a group project with my kids and their friends in the neighborhood. Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace movie was just released, and pod racers were the rage. So we decided we would build some.  Our alley was on a hill and had enough potholes to make a downhill race exciting. So we got to work.

Old skateboards were screwed into metal studs. We built platforms on top of roller skates. Of course each pod racer needed engines. So we attached dual trash cans in the front of one racer and five galleon buckets on the rear of another. Pilots rode on their bellies, backs and butts. None of the kids made it to the bottom of the alley in a single run. Accidents were the norm.  And duct tape came to the rescue of pod racers and pilots alike.

We not only made those pod racers; they made our summer a Star Wars summer. And they had a role in making us, bonding those alley kids together as pilots and buddies.

I’m recording this podcast at a NC beach. Take a walk down the beach and you’ll notice the beach is never the same from morning to morning. The daily tides cleanse and polish the beach, wave after calming wave. Storms and hurricanes carve out huge sections, sometimes taking homes and piers with it. The ocean reclaims the earth and sand that it allowed the coast to borrow for a time. It’s amazing how the beach is shaped by regular daily forces and seasonal devastating forces.

What shapes us into who we are?

Let’s think about Mountains and Mentors because they are powerful forces.

My wife Janice and I hiked a mountain on a trail called the scariest hike in America – the Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. I am so fortunate to be married to a woman who gets a rush from risk. On Angel’s Landing, hikers reach a trail that is only four feet wide with drops of 1000 feet on either side. Most people aren’t comforted by the fact that portions of the trail provide a chain link rope to grip when its deemed necessary. In Acadia National Park we hiked a mountain called the Precipice and another called the Beehive, two more scary mountain hikes with thin ledges and steep drop-offs.

I asked Janice what it is about these scary mountain hikes that she enjoys. She tells me they require total focus. You have to block everything else out and get the job done, no turning back. And when you’re done, add some more confidence to your bucket. There’s a lot of wisdom there.

Mountains can shape us even if they scare us. The big task, the intimidating person, the huge impossible workload. We can quake in the shadow of the mountain or we can face it and let it sharpen our focus and flood our veins with determination.

A forty-year-old man named Caleb was cut from this cloth. He was a young protégé of Moses in the OT. When the mob was frightened by the skill and size of the people occupying the Promised Land, we read that with faith in a big God:

“Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” Numbers 13:30

Unfortunately, the mob won the argument and with it, 40 years of wandering in a wilderness. Now this same Caleb when he was 85 years old said, “I am still as strong as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle as I was then. Now give me this mountain that the LORD promised me that day.” Joshua 14:11-12

As Caleb faced the mountains in his life, they put his faith to work and he was shaped by the conquest.

Let me introduce you to someone who needs no introduction. He faced a mighty, mighty mountain. His struggle from the bottom to the top shaped who he is.

Mike Lindell. You probably know him as the “My Pillow” guy. What you probably don’t know about Mike is that at one time he had so much crack cocaine pulsing through his system that he didn’t sleep for two weeks. Even one of his dealers took his picture and told him he had to stop.

Lindell still has that photo to remind him when he was at the bottom of his mountain. He points to a particular night in prayer when he felt God gave him the power to conquer his mountain – a 30-year addiction to drugs.

Today, his company donates to the Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, the Wounded Warriors Project and natural disaster events like hurricanes. He formed the Lindell Foundation and the Lindell Recovery Network and has donated millions to the Salvation Army’s Adult Rehabilitation Centers (ARCs). He says, “My passion is to give back. It’s always been to help people. I had all kinds of adversity. I feel very blessed to get through – by the very grace of God – to where I’m at, and my heart is to help people.

Quite a mountain. Mountains can shape us. And so do mentors. Mountains and Mentors.

Who are your mentors? Just take a second and picture that go-to person, that go-to sage. It doesn’t have to be someone you have coffee with at 6:30 every Tuesday. Who would you call if you had a question you couldn’t answer? Who would you go to if you weren’t sure which direction to go?

Answer those questions and you identify your mentors. And before I go on, if you can identify a mentor, take time today to send them a thank you. Most mentors don’t realize the great impact they have on us.

Trent Hamm describes three types of people we take advice from: Heroes, Role Models and Mentors. Heroes are people we don’t know. We know them from books, podcasts and classes. We attempt to absorb as much knowledge from them as we can without ever meeting them personally.

Role models are helpful people we know and observe, but we don’t ask questions of them.

Mentors are role models that we choose to approach and talk to about the stuff of life. Particularly, things that are bothering us, things that occupy our thoughts or things where experience will fill out our understanding of dealing with life as it is. Mentors are role models we are comfortable with and maybe even get together with regularly.

I’ve been shaped and blessed with a number of mentors. My Dad was my first mentor. He was the silhouette in the window, waiting for me to come home at night when I was out past curfew. More than once, I kept him up late talking about problems and issues. He listened and I tried to learn. Then he would ground me for being late.

I have others: my father-in-law Paul, Greg, Jeff and Kenn. I respect their vulnerability, humility and wisdom. Their success is primarily one of character and spiritual depth. They listen, ask good questions, confront and pray. They carry a spirit of love that I know is from God. They remind me of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul was mentored by a man named Barnabas. Actually, his name was Joseph. Barnabas was his nickname. It means, Son of Encouragement.” What a great nickname. Later on in his life, Paul wrote to Timothy, a protégé of his, “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 2 Timothy 2:1-2

That’s three generations of mentoring! And it all started with Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement!

But finding mentors can be tough. With the segmenting of society into labeled generations and more diverse value systems, finding a person who will enter our lives with grace and grit can prove difficult. An independent spirit works in some, but not all parts of life. We all need a go-to person who is more than a pal. We need mentors to shape us – to help shape us into the person God intends us to be – our best self.

If you’re interested in knowing more about how to go about finding a mentor or how to face the mountain destined to shape you, I’ve created a resource called the +NextStep that will help you. Click on it below.

If you’re interested in a deeper dive into Mountains and Mentors, click on the +DeepDive button at the bottom.

This week we talked about Mountains and Mentors. Next week, we’ll look at Valleys and Villains and how they shape us too. Please use the share buttons to pass on the encouragement to someone today. And remember: Life is best when we face the mountain with faith and let it shape us. It’s even better when we can hike that mountain with a mentor by our side.

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For a personal guide, click on the +NEXT STEP below. For a deeper study guide, click on the +DEEP DIVE below. You can also have either of these guides sent to you weekly by signing up with the buttons on the right.