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From ladiesagainstfeminism.com Biblical Womanhood and Christian Living
For us as young women, I believe it is especially critical that we fill ourselves with the wisdom of godly women. In a culture where so often a girl's main social contacts are her peers and in which her primary source of advice and sympathy come from a girl who is similarly lacking in discretion and experience, it is time to remember the God-instituted methods of training.
"It's our nature to follow the path of least resistance…our tendency is the same when it comes to our spiritual life. Our ultimate goal is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Isn't it logical that we should take advantage of every resource available—including the guidance and accountability provided by a brother or sister who is more mature in the Lord?" (Christopher Adsit,
Personal Disciple-making, Orlando: Campus Crusade for Christ)
If you do not have an older woman of God on whom you can depend for guidance and prayer, I challenge you to seek with your parents who God might provide to fill this role in your life. Each circumstance will vary. Sometimes the older sister approached me and requested a discipling relationship and other times there was never a spoken agreement. God simply placed the right woman in my life at the right time, and she was there to pray and cry with me through the painful season. Yet whether it was a carefully planned relationship of training or an unexpected bond created through hardship, every mentor, every older sister in Christ who fulfills the injunctions of Titus 2 to young maidens is a blessing from the Lord. He knows best what each of us needs and is infinitely capable of providing such for His children. One of the godly women whom the Lord placed in my life in recent years is Mrs. Jennie Chancey. After interviewing her for my first book back in 2003, we kept in touch, and she became a tremendous assistance in connecting me with my current literary agent. She also wrote the forward to my book and fielded all of my writing-related questions. However, when I faced a fierce trial unconnected to writing, I knew that her gentle spirit and loving heart would provide comfort. Sure enough, she was right there praying and encouraging me through the flames. Mrs. Chancey demonstrates one of the keys to an effective older/younger sister relationship: love demonstrated through action. She did not merely say she would be praying for me—though prayer is extremely important—but when she could help me in a tangible way, she did! A struggle many of us young maidens must address at some time or another relates to our desire for marriage. God's timing in bringing us a husband is rarely the timing we would choose. In my life this issue of courtship and trusting our Father became a significant portion of the advice I solicited from several mentors. Their faithful prayers and wise responses blessed me immeasurably. While I first went to my parents for prayer and their counsel, they too knew that others can also help in building up the Body, and they gave their blessing for me to also confide in a few trusted mentors. At one point in a conversation with Mrs. Chancey on this topic she wrote to me a paragraph that God used to bring me amazing peace in spite of my aching heart. Finding myself with two years of waiting to journey through before marriage, she told me, "We have to live faithfully the time He has given us and not waste it. God is giving you a 'pause' in your life. It will not last long, I assure you! But what a gift! Grab it! Take hold of it and use it for His glory. I would just about give anything for a two-year pause right now! But God doesn't provide that option for a married woman with five small children. It is my time to run. It is your time to be still, know that He is God, trust and obey. Fill your time with serving, learning, teaching, and doing." Those simple but powerful words at the end of one of her letters encouraged me in a mighty way. It was nothing I had not heard before, but God used those words at that time in my life to help me in a way no one else had. Sometimes just the comfort of being reminded that other women have experienced the same questions, the same pain, the same challenges is enough. Her challenge to fill my days with serving and learning has borne fruit and I am enjoying my not-so-quiet season of "pause" immensely! This is just one example of the blessings and beauty that come when the older women teach the younger. As the years pass, I find myself still blessed by the older sisters in my life, but mentoring is not a one-way street. Now I, too, must be an encourager and guide for my younger sisters in Christ. God faithfully brings just the right young girls to me, and by His grace I pour what others gave to me, into them. One of my theme verses in this task is from Paul's first letter to his disciple Timothy: "Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share" (1 Timothy 6:18 NASB). As we are instructed in good works, may we also be generous and ready to share what we have learned with others in the Body, to the glory and praise of God.  Marie and Her Mother in a Garden Peder S. Kroyer (1891) © Copyright 2002-2008 by LAF/BeautifulWomanhood.org
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