My girl was sick yesterday. In the midst of struggling with cough and fever, she lined up her troops to comfort her. Each of her stuff animals has unique name: Duffy, Chirpy, _____, and Froggy. She hasn't found a perfect one for the panda yet, any suggestions?

When I saw her friends last night, an instant phrase flashed through my mind: what a lovely childlike imagination and naïveness. It brought back the memory of an analogy I used in my very first sermon many years ago. I still remember I was preaching on the topic of molding. In the opening lines, I used this story:

One day, a little boy was jumping and skipping on the road. He stopped at a corner where a sculptor was working. The boy was very curious as he saw the pebbles, big and small, falling down. He paused, looked and walked away after a short while. Few days later, the little boy returned to the exact same location and he was stunned. He couldn't believe what he saw. The giant stone was turned into a lion. With his eyes wide opened, he asked, "Sir, how do you know that there is a lion lying inside the stone?"

Interesting question, isn't it? You may have met such sculptor sometime in your life; or you may have been one. Mentors, in many ways, are like the sculptors equipped with childlike imaginations. They are able to see the potential that lies within us; able to imagine who we can become before we even notice any traces of that remote resemblance of who we can grow into.

As we get older, it is harder to find mentors. If you feel the same, may be you have stepped into the season of becoming one. Pastor Andy Stanley has done a great talk on this subject in 2014 Catalyst Conference: "Becoming a Beyond You Leader: Empty Your Cup." Here is the portion of that talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4f6k2vrVVE

May we put on our childlike imagination to look for opportunities to fill the cups of those who come after us. "If your leadership isn’t all about you, it will live beyond you."