“Older women … are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” (Titus 2:3-5, NIV)
I feel it acutely. There’s my mom, of course. She is an amazing, godly woman who is filled with the kind of wisdom that can only come from the years behind her. I’m lucky to have her. But other than that? There isn’t too much interaction between generations, much of the time.
Sometimes, I wonder if the lack of older mentors is the reason my generation—the generation of young parents—seems so lost. There are parenting books, of course. Online home management courses. Sermons and podcasts.
But few pour into us on a personal level.
We discuss it amongst each other—how to love our husbands, raise our children and manage our homes.
How to be self-controlled.
Pure.
Kind.
But there is something to be said for the wisdom that comes from long-life experience. Yes, we glean from those alongside us in the trenches, but we also desperately need those who have already fought our same battles and won.
(Or even lost. Because every scar tells a story.)
Last night, I drove 30 minutes down dark country roads to a complete stranger’s house. A friend had invited me. I parked on the street and stumbled up the driveway in the inky blackness, towards windows spilling warm light.
The woman who owned the house welcomed me graciously. Although her children are grown, she opens her home on a regular basis to younger homeschooling moms. Her heart—her beautiful heart—is to pour into the next generation.
Women from all over came—some drove longer distances than I did. She put out carafes of coffee, tea and dainty, floral cups. We packed into her living room to pray and learn together.
And she explained to each new, shy face how the Lord has called her to provide support, encouragement, and to live out Titus 2:3-5.
The Church needs people like this.
Older women, we need you.
We don’t always know how to say it, but we need you to open your lives to us. To open your homes to us. To offer advice. To come alongside us and tell us that we’ll make it through the hard days. To smile with us on the joy-filled days. To teach us what it means to be good wives and mothers.
You see, there’s a lot at stake.
Our families, yes. But according to Titus 2:5, how we manage our families and homes also affects people’s perception of the Word of God.
According to Titus 2:5, the gospel is at stake.
You, who are on the other side, have so much to offer.
And we, who are in the trenches, want to learn.
