Voices

I'm sitting in one of the call rooms (no, this doesn't happen often it's just a very slow day)at the hospital thinking over the weekend. I am blessed to have some incredible mentors speaking into my life and in the past week I have interacted with all of them. These aren't the only people I listen to, but their words to me have increased weight because of the respect and admiration I have for them.

Sarah Kolasa Bouma formally mentored me in my last year of high school and through college. She walked with me through the hardest period in my short life and alongside God, counselors, family and friends helped me come out much stronger and more balanced. She called me to be a great leader and helped develop some early leadership gifts in my life. I have always looked up to her and consider her friendship to be an incredible blessing in my life. She might be the only friend who shares my appreciation for Dumb and Dumber and Night at the Roxbury.

Michelle Wegner is someone I have looked up to since middle school when I first met her. She has always been one to challenge and encourage me and in the past year we've taken that up a notch. I am so thankful that she takes time out of her busy schedule to email and get together to talk. I love hearing about her life, her incredible marriage and family, books she is reading, and her vision for what we can do to take the Kingdom of God all over the world.

Arch and Connie Nevins are the leaders of our House Church. They lead our group with love and wisdom. They are a blast to hang out with and it is phenomenal to dive deeper alongside them. I am so blessed to get to share life with them. Arch is writing a book that I can't wait to read. I'll let you know when it is available.

Dr. P is a surgeon who has been very intentional about mentoring me. He actually paged me one afternoon after I was done working on his service to ask if he could mentor me. It wasn't a hard decision. He's one of the leaders of the trauma/critical care program and he sees something in me that he wants to develop and help guide. He's a great man who treats me to good food and is helping plan my career.

Alison is a surgeon I connected with this year who is teaching me the ins and outs of surviving and thriving in a surgical residency. She has helped me work on my technical skills, patient management, presenting at M&Ms, and has also been a great model for blending marriage/motherhood and a surgical career (I'm not married or pregnant, just aware that someday I might be). A week into working together she said, "look I'm mentoring you whether you like it or not...". It was pretty funny.

There are many other individuals who have spoken into my life in ways I will never forget. I feel so honored to have friends and mentors to share life with. I wish I was mentoring someone formally but for now I spend a few focused weeks at a time with medical students. It is a great opportunity to get to know them, challenge them, encourage them, and model what a caring surgeon can look like. Who is your mentor? Who are you mentoring?