As a new believer and young mom, I yearned for a godly woman to mentor me. Even though I didn't know the term "spiritual mothering" at the time, my need to be nurtured ran deep.
Can you relate?
Life Pouring In
The Lord responded to my heart cry, but in a different way from what I prayed for and anticipated. It was through a composition of life-giving women that I gleaned aspects of living out redeemed womanhood. Enter in . . . the Bible teacher, small group leader, Sunday school teacher, prayer warrior, walking partner, and Internet women's ministry.
You can draw on your life experiences to provide encouragement and exhortation to those who are younger
Most likely if you asked them, not one would say she mentored me. Yet her life influenced mine in profound ways. The common thread among each of these unique women is that she was further along in the journey, loved me, loved Christ more, and modeled how to treasure Him above all else.
Life Pouring Out
Now that I'm an empty-nester (with no grandchildren . . . yet!), I still have a lot of mothering to do! I'm able to open my life to more spiritual daughters. These relationships fill me with soul-satisfying joy. They sharpen me as God's servant, a lover of people, a wife, a mother, and a daughter. What can seem like a loss when the last child leaves the nest is an invigorating opportunity for renewed purpose as a spiritual mother. Believe me when I say I've gotten more things wrong than right, but that doesn't disqualify me from sharing out of my failures and regrets to help someone younger.
Titus 2 Mentors
The definition of a Titus 2 mentor as stated in True Woman 201: Interior Design is "drawing on your life experience in the context of everyday life to provide encouragement and exhortation to those who are younger." Watch now as Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Mary Kassian share nuggets of wisdom for older women teaching younger women. (By the way, these two women make exceptional mentors to learn from at a distance!)
Now more than ever, women need to link arms to speak truth to each other and model what it looks like to glorify God through our womanhood in each season and situation of life. Life is complex, and the answers to our struggles aren't always clear-cut.
Will you open your life and share it with a younger woman, or seek out an older woman to enter yours? Will you take your place among those who are leaving a legacy of passing down truth to the next generation?
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