Bro. Yoder - A Great Mentor!

This morning I got to meet up with one of my favorite and best mentors.  David Yoder was truly a God-send when I lived in Cumberland Maryland.  I was in Middle School - 7th grade to be exact.  While I liked and did well in school, enjoyed being on a swim team, and had a friend in the ward; it wasn't a great year for me.  In an effort to go to the "better" school I enrolled out of boundaries.  The closest bus stop was in a tough neighborhood.  My dad drove me to the bus stop every morning and after a while I started waiting in the car with him instead of talking with other kids at the the stop.  It was in that bus/neighborhood that I learned most of the common swear words, was offered cigarettes, was first shown naughty pictures, and asked if I was dealing drugs (apparently only drug dealers had cellphones in that neighborhood - I used one to call my mom to come get me in the afternoons).  All of that rolled together created a perfect storm for needing a mentor to teach me valuable life lessons and encourage me to become better.

Enter Sunday School teacher Bro. Yoder.  He paid special attention to me and my family.  He also taught me many great life lessons along the way.  One of the most memorable things he told me has stuck with me and encouraged me to be my best and surround myself with the best.  He said "Jill, an Eagle will never learn to fly if it's surrounded by turkeys" and then gave me his all knowing smile and a wink.

Bro. & Sis. Yoder have always held a special place in my heart and even though I've only seen him a few times since moving to Missouri for 8th grade, we still keep in touch.  He was a pen pal for my 5th grade class the first year I taught.  Those kids looked forward to his weekly letter more than anything else I set up for them.  They liked tracking his travel and hearing about the freight he was transporting as a trucker.  He'd send real-life problems in his letters.  One week he asked the kids to figure out how many packets of ketchup he was hauling that week by doing the math of packets in a box, boxes on a pallet, and pallets in a trailer.  He made them brainstorm items in their home that haven't been on a big-rig at some point.  And true to form even mentored those kids during his letters - always ending with a post script stating that they needed to listen to their teacher and parents.  I still have students from that year ask how he's doing - they loved him!

On Tuesday Sis. Yoder sent me a message on Facebook that Bro. Yoder was delivering to a Walmart Distribution Center in Rogers this morning.  The center is only a few miles from our home so we hoped that there would be at least a few minutes to see each other and catch up.  It was short, but it happened!  I would have loved to take him to lunch or have him spend the night, but we only had about an hour before he had to continue to his next location.  Still, it was so great to see him and catch up with him.  Of course it wasn't done without more mentoring.  This time about keeping a positive attitude at all times.  I so wish his routes brought him to our little corner of the world more often, because it was a real treat to see him again!

I hope one day when our kids need a mentor they will be able to find one as perfect as Bro. Yoder!