This season of my life I’m wearing a lot of different hats….
I’m a speaker
I’m an author
I’m a project manager
I’m a marketer
I’m a counselor
I’m a blogger
I’m a consultant
I’m a fundraiser
I’m a father
But out of all the things I do in a typical week, the most challenging task I face each and every day is attempting to mentor the five men living in my recovery house. If you don’t know, the non-profit I founded Hope is Alive Ministries operates a recovery house for men in Oklahoma City. I live there and run all the rest of my gigs from an office in the back. The five guys that I live with are a part of a program that provides them opportunities to take their lives to the next level (Professionally, Spiritually, Emotionally, Physically, Relationally).
The day to day mentoring, accountability and leadership of these unbelievable guys is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Not because the guys are consistently out of line or messy (well maybe), or because they deliberately break rules. It’s nothing like that at all; in fact they are the opposite most of the time. They work great programs, chase after goals, help others, serve at churches and do so all while having a blast.
But what makes this job so tough is the fine line I must walk between mentorship and friendship.  Because somewhere between these two things lies a word that many of us run from. It scares us, causes us to be uncomfortable, lose our appetite and start sweating. It can be a nasty word that evokes fear and doubt deep within us. In fact it’s the word I’m most afraid of…. What is it?
Confrontation.
You see mentoring, accountability; living in community, enforcing rules, brushing up against each other daily is not easy. It’s really hard! Why? Because you are consistently faced with the challenge of confrontation, it’s a natural thing you can get away from. You have a choice to either confront it or cower from it. There are no other options.
Think about it in your workplace. Do you face this?
What about your home, with your spouse or children?
What about those of you who are dealing with kids struggling with addiction? How hard is confrontation for you?
It’s tough right? It’s very challenging and that’s why this job is the hardest job I’ve ever had.
But it’s also why it’s the most rewarding.
Come back tomorrow to find out why….