Mentor Spotlight - Jen DeGroff
Apr 09, 2024Tell us more about you!
I have been married to my husband, Jim, for 20 years in May and we have two children, Joella (15) and Jamison (9). We also have two dogs, Indigo (8) and Chara (4 months). We live in Colorado Springs and have a busy life with kids, activities and church. Professionally, I am a licensed psychologist and I work part-time at the local mental health center and part-time as a consultant. My favorite things in life are my family, sunshine, working out, and coffee. A perfect day for me is one in which our whole family is on the back patio, lounging in the sun and playing games or just talking.
You have been a huge part of MORE Mentoring, and we’d love to hear your story as a mentor and why you feel mentoring is so important.
I became involved with mentoring when I stepped into the role of Women’s Ministry Director at my church in 2019. Although I had led Bible Studies prior to that position and had been involved in mentoring in my job as a psychologist, I had not mentored a woman in her faith. My role as Women’s Ministry Director led to formal mentoring relationships, as well as informal ones and helping to connect mentors and mentees.
Mentoring is important because it shows another woman what it is like to live life with Jesus; the good, the bad and the ugly! I really value transparency and vulnerability in the relationship so the mentee can hear about my struggles and how God helped me in those times. My own life was changed and my relationship with God put into a completely different trajectory due to a mentor and I want to serve that role for others as God leads.
Share a time that you saw God move as you met with and prayed for a mentee.
I had been mentoring a woman for a couple of months and one time we were just chatting before we got started with the mentoring guide. The woman described a difficult situation regarding another person treating her very unkindly and she was struggling with how to be kind back to the person and how to honor God in the relationship. We then opened our books to start the mentoring session and the focus of the day was on God being a Defender! We were both in awe and laughed at God’s incredible timing. He is working in our lives, even down to the detail of planning what we would be praying about on a specific day.
What is a verse that has been powerful for you as a Mentor?
My life verse is John 3:30 “He must become greater, I must become less.” I try to use that verse as I live my life and as I am a mentor. It is so important that mentors remember that our job is to point to Jesus and our relationship with Him. It can be tempting to try to use our own life experience or wisdom, but mentoring is about pointing back to Jesus!
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