06/15/2026
💜Mentor Moment Spotlight💜
"What does it look like to struggle socially? To be told your child has inattentive ADHD? Being a mother of a child who struggled with the latter, it is not easy. What are the options? Meds? Therapy? School options, classroom support? I chose none of these. Instead, I chose to embrace my daughters 'challenges' or exuberant personality boosters, and love her as she was, embracing her uniqueness as God had made her.
These thoughts all came flooding back to me as I read through my mentee’s inquiry form.
"social struggles, self-doubt, inattentive ADHD…Our first week of mentorship sessions I caught a glimpse of these 'personality descriptors,' but I also saw
something else. I saw a very bright, respectful young man who loved animals and especially loved the horse he chose, Gabe. Additionally, he also showed a very strong connection to one of our rescue cats, Munchkin. From the moment they met, Gabe (aka the barn clown) lovingly reached out and grabbed my mentee's attention and held onto it.
"Our first session activity zeroed in on 'fears.' After spending time brushing and 'talking' with Gabe I suggested we do our popular horse painting activity. Using bold, ‘non-toxic’ washable paint sticks, I asked my mentee to write on Gabe’s left side any self-descriptive words that came to mind, as well as some of his biggest fears. Meanwhile, I went to work on the opposite side, writing words I felt best described my mentee. The results? Without hesitating or fumbling for the right words this young man described each word, and phrase he wrote, and what each one meant to him. His two biggest fears? Heights and snakes. Very real fears. Underneath those two fears he wrote, 'Life is a Wonder.' Wow! We then discussed putting FAITH over fear and how God is bigger than our biggest fears. Without hesitating he wrote FAITH above and over his fears.
"His description of Life is a Wonder? "Life is full of lots of amazing things."
My descriptive words of my mentee? “Kind, smart, gentle, funny, loves animals.”
Which ‘labels’ would you rather live life by?
"During our third session week:
"I just LOVE being here!" My mentee’s loud, confident proclamation left no room for doubt. His obvious joy was
all-consuming as I watched him gently and purposefully brush Gabe, until his cream-colored mane glistened in the morning sun.
My mentee's morning was made complete by a special visit and extra cuddle time from his favorite cat, Munchkin.
That morning we discovered two unlikely friends, although very different, from each other, and very different in size, were not at all ‘fearful’ of one another, Gabe and Munchkin.
A highlight from todays session was when my mentee discovered munchkins coping mechanism, or defense tactic. While holding munchkin, Gabe proceeded to play, nuzzling him rather repetitively until it irritated Munchkin who would attempt a swat or two in Gabe’s direction. Instead of jumping out of my mentee's arms and running away, she buried her head in the crook of his protective arms. This small but profound act triggered the conversation of how God protects us from harm. "Whenever we are afraid of something, all we need to do is ask and He will wrap us in His protective arms."
~Diane Gruber-Strickland (Founder/ Executive Director) of her Spring mentee
