Laura: Hello and welcome to unsung stories. Some a series. Thank you so much for joining us, particularly if you are new here. If you are new, this summer series is looking a little bit different to how we regularly run the. So usually I will interview a regular ordinary woman about how they are being grown in motherhood and what God has been teaching her about himself through usually through the hard stuff that pops up, but just living out life as a.

The summer series I put out there on Instagram at unsung stories podcast late last year, and a bunch of women applied to have the chance to give a talk about what they're passionate about and it's been really interesting seeing so many of the responses and what we have chosen to run with relates to different mindsets that we can have, or someone's understanding of the old Testament and God's character and discipleship. And I have written a talk on mum guilt, which has been a lot of fun to do. So this is week one of five. Today's episode, we're kicking it off with Shea who has written a talk on one-on-one discipleship. I've had a little chat with her first. So before we hear what she has to say, how about we jump into a quick interview is Shea. And then that will lead into her thoughts on discipleship.

​

Laura: Hi, Shea, and welcome to unsung stories. Just so that our listeners can get to know you a little bit more. Could you tell us a bit about you and your family and just what everyday life looks like for you?

​

Shae: Yeah, so I'm, I live on the central coast and I have a husband and two little girls. They're two and four. I'm a high school teacher. I've had a bit of time off the last few years with kids and doing little people, but but yeah, that's what I do when I'm not being a mum. Yeah, that's really cool.

​

Laura: And how long have you been a Christian? 

 

Shae: I've been a Christian. Maybe about 14 years or so. 

 

Laura: Yeah. How did you become a Christian? 

 

Shae: When I was a kid, I, any kind of church that I went to was always a Catholic church. Catholic background. So I always had this child-like belief in Jesus and God and I knew some things about Jesus, but it probably wasn't until I was late high school starting university that I really started to put a bit more thought into what I believed.

I was going out a lot with my friends, 18, 19. And I ended up getting really sick, so I got Scarlet fever and I was, yeah, I was out of action for about a month or two and I just wasn't doing the usual things that I would do. And I think just having that pause Just got me thinking that there had to be more to life than just living for the next weekend or the next holiday.

Just got me thinking deeper about life and my purpose and going through that transition of, finishing school, starting uni, what's my life about kind of stuff. And then I had a couple of Christian friends at uni that invited me along to church and.

Yeah, just I saw something different in them and I wanted to know what it was. And so I would go along with them to church and dabbled in things for a little while. And then it was one step forward, two steps back for many years. But yeah, I can see how good used those people in that time to grow me and.  Yeah. And here we are now. Yeah, 

 

Laura: that's really cool. So you've got two little girls and in that stage of life and I've come to you and I said, Hey, Shea, can you talk on my podcast? And you can talk about whatever topic you want into the stage of life that we're in. Mum chasing Jesus. And so you've obviously thought about this and you've come back and said, I want to talk about one-to-one mentoring. What made you land there? Why mentoring and why are you passionate about it?

 

Shae:  Yeah, I guess growing up in a non-Christian home I really craved, a bit of a Christian mother figure. And I've personally been changed by one-to-one mentoring and have seen the growth in myself and in other people when they take part in it.

When I started teaching, I was a pretty new Christian and I got a job in a Christian school and The principal recognized that I was a new Christian. And so he teamed me up with one of the biblical studies teachers at the school and put it on my timetable that her and I would meet together once a week, once a fortnight.

And it was part of my job, which is wonderful just to say. He cared about my maturity and my growth. And so that's, where it started. And so I just formed this bond with this lovely woman who walked me through the basics and helped me to, solidify all the different puzzle pieces which was really helpful.

And then I, that was in Sydney and I moved to the coast a few years after. And she put me in contact with someone who she was friends with as well, and to continue that one-to-one relationship and did that for a couple of years here as well. I've just really seen how these women have loved me and cared for me and how I've grown in that.

And I just want to be able to, Pass the Baton on to the next generation of seeing how valuable this type of ministry is. 

 

Laura: Yeah, it's really cool. Yeah. I am when I first became a Christian as well, so late teens, early twenties, I met up with w I don't want to say older woman particularly now, because I'm like, she's probably. 6 7, 8 years older than me in that next stage of life. And it was beautiful. We thought up for just, not even that long, really, but similar thinking of, I want to be passing that Baton on . So I asked this girl, oh, do you want to catch up?

And we were doing it over the phone cause it was long distance. And I think I probably spent hours that first week researching I've got to know everything about this chapter and we barely even spoke about it. It was just getting to know you. And we read through the passage and Hey, let's do that to you.

There was just so much fear and insecurity that I felt in that passing the Baton on process. Do you have any hot tips for us or is this kind of what you're going to be covering in your talk? 

 

Shae: Yeah, I guess I will be chatting a little bit about those kinds of things I think I've definitely felt that fear as well, I've been on the receiving end of having all the women invest in me. And so when it came time for me to be that woman for somebody else, I. Felt totally inadequate. And who am I to do something like this? All of that self doubt. I'm not godly enough. Yeah. But yeah. Oh, and I will talk about this throughout the talk, but I just encourage people to push through those feelings because the benefits that come with taking a risk Can be really wonderful and worth it for your health growth in yourself, but also in that younger person as well.  So it's with, 

 

Laura: And Shay, when you talk about these women who have come alongside you, has that always been. Like doing a Bible study together. So when you say mentoring, is that just reading the Bible and understanding that more? Or is there more to that? Could she just be my friend and that's what that mentoring relationship is like?

 

Shae: Yeah. I think there's a difference between having a friendship. And having a mentor yes, friends can spur each other on and encourage one another to grow, and that's a wonderful thing. And that can be, and I will chat about the fact that there's informal and formal types of mentoring, but I think there's great benefit in having a formal.

Mentoring relationship in certain seasons of your life, where the intention is to sit. Yep. Yep, absolutely. And just be really intentional in that. I think sometimes when we catch up with our friends, there's a lot more other things that can distract us from actually getting into the word. But when we go with an agenda of, this is what we're doing, this is how long we're doing it for.

Both people know what the expectation is. It just makes for a meatier study or a deeper relationship. And I guess it's both of 

 

Laura: you being shaped by God's word then, right? Because otherwise it's just, we're being shaped by conversation and yes, we know things about God, but this is two women who are like, all right, where we're up to, we're gonna deep dive into this together and really.

​

Shae: Yeah, absolutely. The focus is the Bible. And what does that say? 

 

Laura: I'm really keen to hear what you have to say. So I might just hand the mic over to you and take it away

 

Shae: Thanks, Laura. Thank you. 

Heavenly father. I just thank you so much for Jesus and the Grace Love and mercy that you show us through him. Thank you. That you've called us to be in relationship with you. Thank you. That you equip us to encourage one another to know and love you more and more. I pray that we would care deeply about the maturity and growth of our Christian city.

I pray that you will help us to constantly point each other to the cross of Christ and the hope that we have in him help us to be set apart to be a light in this world and to hold firm to the truth of your word. I pray for our kids too, that they would have people in their lives who will invest in them and nurture their faith in you.

We love you, and we trust you in Jesus name. Amen. 

 

Laura: Thank you.