Get To Know Me: the mentors in my life

Note: The “Get to know me” tags are mainly intended for my kids to read when they’re older, a way of getting to know me better, answering questions they may not think to ask. Everyone’s welcome to read, of course, but it may not be terribly interesting to you!

My family or origin was dysfunctional, there’s no doubt about it. But looking back, I’ve been incredibly blessed with mentors coming into my life at just the right times to support, teach, and form me – I owe them an awful lot. Here are a few of them.

My first real job: Siemens / Martin Fischer

I had a summer job at Siemens in Vienna, in the office. Martin Fischer, the department head, really saw me and appreciated my work (this was in a sometimes rather uncomfortable environment, all middle aged males apart from myself who was barely out of my teens, and I distinctly recall one co-worker having a very explicit pornographic image of a woman’s private parts as his screensaver) and he offered me a project management job for 10 hours a week while I studied. This was both a really educational experience which looked great on my CV, and it provided financially!

My faith in possible change: Ken Grenfell

I had already been a Christian for several years by the time I met Ken, who pastored the church I attended in Leesburg, VA. I knew God had changed my life completely, but Ken’s story gave me a glimpse of hope for the future as well: he had grown up in an incredibly dysfunctional home, without a father figure – yet when I met him, many years later, the best descriptor of him as pastor of the church was: a father figure. His children, by then grown adults, told stories of how he would get them to wait when he didn’t know what to do as a dad, he would go into his study and pray, and come back with an answer. He learned on the job, straight from the Father… and that gave me hope that one day, maybe, I might be able to mother even without having had the role models.

Homemaking: Alexia Tweeddale

When I arrived in Winchester, Alexia’s home was open. She had six kids in a three-bedroom home, if I recall correctly, and there were always people dropping in. Something was always cooking or baking, the door was open, conversation was flowing. I felt welcomed, and so did many others. I haven’t been able to recreate anything like her home at all, partly I think because British culture doesn’t work that way (the Winchester church was largely South African) as people don’t just drop in, but her kitchen and her ways have been the gold standards I’ve looked to ever since.

I’m so grateful for these people who saw me, noticed, and gave me their time. I hope and pray to be that to others and pay it forward.

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