 |
| my girls at a bridal show~the oldest is wearing my wedding dress and the youngest is wearing the flower girl dress her older sister wore at the same age |
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:3-5
When I got married, I had NO clue what it meant to be a Godly wife. I did not come from a Christian home, and had no idea that God has a purpose for Godly mentors to young women. What I did know was that I wanted the kind of marriage my in~laws had instead of the marriage my parents had. I wanted our kids to grow up in a home more like the home my hubby grew up in rather than the home I grew up in. What I didn't really know was how to get there.
While we did attend a church after we got married, we finally started attending a Bible believing, Bible preaching church a few years after we started having children. It wasn't until then that I started hearing the term "Titus 2 woman". As I started studying the Bible and growing in my faith, I started learning what the above verse meant and why it was so important.
I would have loved to have someone in my life during those early years to teach me about being a wife and mother. Someone to teach me that being at home with my children was a blessing. Someone to teach me how to be a Godly wife {something I am still working on!}. Someone to teach me about being the kind of woman God wants for me to be.
A mentor !
I know having a mentor will not make your life perfect or get rid of all of the problems you may have. But I do believe that a mentor will make your road a little less bumpy. If you have a Godly woman directing you based on scripture and her history as a wife and mother, that advice is priceless. If I would have had someone in my life telling me what worked for her and what didn't work, I am pretty sure I would have made less mistakes in my marriage and mothering.
My challenge to you is this....If you are a young wife or mother, find someone to mentor you. It could be someone from church, someone you knew growing up, even a family member. Someone you can go to when you have questions or need advice. A Godly "older woman" {I'm not going to define older woman!} who you can trust to lead you as a wife and mother. Pray for this and I believe that God will show you this woman in your life. If you are an "older woman" {again, not going there!!}, is there someone you could be mentoring? Is there a young mother in your church God has placed on your heart? A new bride maybe? Even if you think you can't possibly have any good advice for her, God can use you.
You may be surprised with just how much!
Blessings,
You meet only a handful of wise people in your lifetime. Glad you nabbed one to guide you!
ReplyDeleteI'm so thankful for the mentors that I have had in my life, they are priceless! And like you said their wisdom is invaluable, and goes a long way to help you make things a little less bumpy.
ReplyDeleteOh, Jess, I'm just delighted you posted on my Wednesday blog. I loved this post about mentors. We are all older than someone else! I was so blessed to be mentored significantly by 2 older women. The second one was Elisabeth Elliot, which is why I now write and speak to pass on what she taught me (and sooo many others). I looked at your family picture and tried to blow it up. Just beautiful! So nice to meet you Jess! Keep writing for Jesus! I hope you post regularly on my blog, Love, Juana
ReplyDeleteJess, this is a gem of wise advice! I completely agree that having an older female friend whose family life & Christian walk are spot-on is a huge blessing to us younger folk and so important. I've learned a lot from a few fellow mamas at my church, and would love to choose one to have over for coffee from time to time to glean knowledge & insight from. Thanks for linking up this post with me this week!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post - I've had many mentors in my life and not all have realized they've been my mentor. I watched and listened as they shared their knowledge. There were also mentors, long gone, who I only knew through what they wrote. And you know, there are women who are younger than I am who I watch and listen to because their wisdom blesses me.
ReplyDeleteWe, as older women (and THANK YOU for not defining "older" LOL) need to share deliberately and soberly. Others are watching and our greatest impact comes when we're not noticing. Let's hope it's a good impact.
I love this!!! I like how you challenge both sides. I have had mentor moms and have been a mentor mom. I hope that my blog (though not a replacement for an actual mentor mom) can help fill that need for some young moms out there.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thelostapron.com/
Great advice! I had to learn by trial and error when I was first married. But, praise God, we knew that we wanted our marriage to last forever, and so my husband and I decided we would make it happen! Then, as we put God at the center of our marriage, the dream of having a relationship that would last through the tough times and the sweet times, became reality. Part of the reason I blog is to share the things God has taught me through it all and I welcome the opportunity to mentor a younger woman should God desire that to happen!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great post. When I was in Bible school, one of my classes required we find a mentor. I chose my pastor's wife - who is a wonderful godly woman. I grew spiritually more that year than I ever had up until then. I learned so much about myself and about how to respond to adversity in a godly manner.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Thanks you for sharing at the Friday Follow Along last week. You never know when you might need to call somebody for help or when they might need to call you for help as a mentor and a friend. Hope you will stop by again and share at www.leahinspired.com
ReplyDelete