Women Mentoring Women

Psalms 145:4 “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and
shall declare thy mighty acts."

Introduction:
• Woman/Wife/Mother/Grandmother/caretaker
• Married -35 years
• 3 sons/3 daughter-in-laws/5 grandchildren
• God-given * Just ask me!
• Precious * Pictures
• Wives/Mother's * Stories
• LISA (here tonight)

3 sons ! !
• Liked to have brought my 3 sons with me tonight. -- since they are not "daughters"- couldn't
come.
but, they would've livened the party up!
• Relationship with them is very special!
o altho on a male/female ratio
o different by design
o So, God gave me my "daughters" through my sons!
Different times in all our lives.
Where I used to change diapers, make lunches, do 12-15 tubs of laundry a week, run "Mom's
Taxi Service", and see that dinner was prepared each evening.......(along with being a Business
owner/Caretaker/Church pastoring.)
o Suddenly, that busy 20+-years nurturing window slammed shut.
Boys - college/married
Mother - died
Resigned Pastor > Chaplaincy/Teaching Evangelism
o My loss could not be put in words / What a tough assignment!
There are no more little boys
Can't ask them where they want to go for their birthday dinner.
Can't lay that little Valentine's Box next to their breakfast plate.
(Still sign "Love, Mom xoxoxoxoxox)
No more practice and game schedules to keep up with anymore.
No more phone tie-ups.
No more having a house full of their friends all the time.
No more bargain shopping just to clothe them.
No more "what's for supper, Mom?'
Won't be buying 8 gallons of milk a week. (the gallon I have now will sour
before we can finish it.)
Won't be making extra portions for every meal because now there's no one
here to eat it.
No more pleading (threatening) to "clean up your room!"
No more gas tanks empty.
No more requests for money to go out on that night.
No more sleepless nights until I hear them coming in the door safe and sound.
No more graduations.
Most everything is over.............
Even all our boy's weddings have come and gone. (the test of true
letting go!)

There is another season of our lives. * 3 DAUGHTERS now! (wonderful part of our family)
• love me
• support me

* 5 GRANDCHILDREN ! (now keeping up with Taylor's dance

schedule, Matthew's ball games (Spencer getting commitment to his
time), Birthday parties, Christmas, Holiday get-togethers, Mother's
Day..........)
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* NEW MINISTRY !
There is life after motherhood!
My house may be empty but my heart is not!

I am here tonight to encourage, implore, affirm, motivate, and excite you to look at what God has
planned for you (no matter what your age) and the next generation.

* This passage of scripture is about the relationship Christian women are to have with one another:
Titus 2: 3-5 " The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false
accusers, not given, to much wine, teacher of god things; That they may teach the young women to
be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers of the
home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."

• "Older women" ("aged women")

o Not how we want to think of ourselves!
o Not much in our cultural that commends getting older or values the status that comes with it.
o Real aversion to aging (celebrate 40th birthdays with black crepe paper and etc.)
o Aversion to aging > > dye our hair, lift our face, tuck our tummy, etc.
o Don't honor the aged
o Don't want to get older (as if we could keep it a secret!)

The Grandmother's Poem

In the dim and distant past
When life's tempo wasn't fast
Gramma used to rock and knit,
Crochet and tat, and baby-sit.

Gramma now is at the gym

Exercising to keep slim,
Now she's golfing with the bunch,
Taking clients out to lunch.

Going north to ski and curl,

And all her days are in a whirl.
Nothing seems to stop or block her
Now that Gramma's off her rocker!

o Replace the sense of loneliness that comes w/ the seasons of life.

o Find a deep abiding sense of satisfaction as you pass your perspectives to starving young women just
starting out on the path you are nearly completing.
o Recapture the memories of the past by retelling them to women who are more than interested.
 all you know
 all you've gained
 all you've lost
 all the pain you've experienced
 all the joys you've known
 all the love you and trust and faith you have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Give it away now!

o Revel in being a Grandma

 I have lots to give to my grandchildren that I didn't have with my own sons:
• Time (have it and take it)
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• Quietness (babies sit on my lap and read and watch video's or talk)
• Experience (not as excited when things happen)
• Less responsible (what they eat, wear, cleanliness)
• "Thanks for letting me be a Grandma!"

I t is my observation that It is certainly true that as you get older you are able to say more than
you did when you were young and get by with it, but it is wise to do it with discretion!

Prayer for the Middle-Aged

Lord, thou knowest better than I know myself
that I am growing old.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking
I must say something on every subject
and on every occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.
Make me thoughtful but not moody, helpful but not bossy.
With my vast store of wisdom it seems a pity
not to use it all, but Thou knowest, Lord,
that I want a few friends at the end.
Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details;
give me wings to get to the point.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains.
They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is
becoming sweeter as the years go by.
I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others' pains,
but help me to endure them with patience.
I dare not ask for improved memory, but
for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when
my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.
Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet.
I do not want to be a saint------
some of them are so hard to live with-----
but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places
and talents in unexpected people.
Give me the grace to tell them so.
Amen.

"Young women"
o You are going to grow older ! !
o Listen and Learn
o When one young woman was asked, "Why do you want an older woman on your life?” she
immediately replied, "I need someone to assure me that my three-year-old will not be
wetting her pants for the rest of her life!"
o Often we forget that these young women don't know what to do or think or expect because it is their
first time through this part of their lives.
 weddings
 births
 new home
 housekeeping
 children's illnesses
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 school
 faith in God (ex. of Lisa wanting to have faith like me raising my sons)

The apostle Paul realized that older Christian women who have lived longer and experienced more have
much to offer younger women--------

• We should play a key role in passing on how to live God's truth in the day-to-day world of being:
 women
 wife
 mother homemaker
 career woman
 Christian whose life pleases and glorifies God

We older women are challenged by God to share our wealth of experiences and the wisdom and
perspective we've gained.

 To be growing older is not to be outdated, antiquated, or obsolete.

 It is to be able to speak about God --His faithfulness
His redemptive plan
His willingness to provide for His children
His wisdom for child-rearing
His principles He sets down for homemaking
His ideals and guidelines for marriage and living

 Because we have walked with Him in the valleys, through the meadows, and over
the mountains of life!

We need Christian women mentoring other women!

 Mentor = Trusted counselor
Guide
Tutor
Coach
Associated with a specific area of knowledge
 Mentoring = a deliberate transfer of wisdom from one person to another .........
based on one's life experiences----rather than the transfer of knowledge
by a technique or system.
 purposeful
 intentional
 planned
 calls for commitment
 focus
 pour your life, faith, and knowledge into another person.
 a ministry of multiplication

When we ask ourselves the question, "What am I doing today that will guarantee my impact for Jesus
Christ in the next generation?".........

 Being able to say that you are mentoring a younger Christian sister is an answer that
will stand the test of time.

 Mentoring. Not a biblical word, but a biblical concept.

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 Relationship of Paul to Titus
 Relationship of Naomi to Ruth
 Relationship of Elizabeth to Mary

Examples of my Mentors:
 My Mother - to dress, wear high heels, put on make-up, shave my legs, behave like lady.
 Aunt Emory - quietness of being alone with God, study the Word, "church" was people's god.
 Mom Nick - never tried to take my Mother's place, content with less
 Shirley Weaver - baby-sitter, took me everywhere, treated special,
50+ years later- calls for prayer, officiate her funeral.
 Marvel Murray - go home with her after church, played house, school, dolls, made special doll
clothes, and wore her clothes and shoes. (Preacher's Kid - needed positive attention)
 Deniese Webb - persisted, motivated, encouraged, etc. my ministry toward Women.

Examples of my Mentoring:
 Daughter-in-laws
 Granddaughter/Grandsons 
 Women across the country I’ve met through my ministry and my business
 Whole lot of "daughters"
o Marilyn Hight - "I feel like you are my Mom even though you are younger than I
am."

Conclusion:
How many times have you heard yourself say, "If only I had known what I know now?"
* Somewhere along the line, nearly every woman wishes she had another woman --
perhaps older and more experienced -- to help her negotiate the twists and turns of life.
 We live in an age where we no longer have strong generational ties that we used to have.
 Grown children live hundreds of miles away from parents.
 Older parents are in rest homes.
 We are losing our heritage.
 With nowhere else to turn --------- we learn how to do household things from Martha
Stewart and how to "find our spirit" through Oprah.

Life used to be different!

What will make the next generation strong, faithful, determined, and persevering?
 Older women who will Model and Mentor.
 Younger women who will Listen and Learn.
 Younger women, who will challenge, excite, encourage, appreciate, and help be the
Energizer Battery of our lives.

You may be 80 and have much to offer a 40-year-old. Or you may be 20 and find a 15-
year-old looking up to you. In either situation, Titus 2:3-5 is a call to all Christian
women today -- to older women and younger women -- How can you say no?
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May this task, this journey, be as exciting for you as it has been for me!