psst—Don’t miss the next #SheSharesTruth writing assignment at the bottom of this post!

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Text: Titus 2:1-5

“They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women.” Titus 2:3,4

She stood at her kitchen sink, raised her eyebrows and rolled her sleeves high past her elbows. With a smile, she plunged her hands deep into the slippery, raw chicken, speaking gently as she separated the skin from the meat with her fingers and crammed citrus and herbs into every crevice. With aromatics and potatoes in place, she pulled a second, fully-cooked chicken out of the oven to make room for the new one. We learned how to roast a chicken that day—and four different ways to serve it! I was a brand new mom in a brand new town when a woman old enough to be my mother invited me into her home with a few other young girls—to love us. Technically, it was a Bible study. But we didn’t just study God’s word. She taught us how to study God’s word. And not only did she serve us good food. She set aside time at the end of each study to teach basic feed-a-family kitchen skills: how to plan and plant a garden, and that lilacs in bloom are for clipping and sharing, even if it means wrapping the cut stems in wet paper towels and driving them into town for a friend. Karen was my spiritual mother. She knew what Paul told Titus about older women training the younger women (Titus 2:3-5). She had nothing to gain, but gave several hours a week to teach us with her words and actions how to keep home, love our husbands and children, and honor the Lord with our words and actions. No shame. Just kindness. I know what you must be thinking: That sounds awesome, but I don’t have a Karen in my life. I know just who I’d like to learn from, but I’d never have the guts to ask her. I want to BE a Karen, but it feels so assuming to tell someone, “Hi! I’d like to be your mentor!” Those thoughts? They’re all super legitimate. But also pretty isolating. The point of this passage—of the whole book of Titus—is that we cannot and should not try to live and grow in the Gospel alone. This was never God’s design. And you know what that means? It means asking the Lord to open your eyes to a potential spiritual mother. It means humbly-yet-boldly approaching her after church, or by email, and simply saying “I’ve watched you and I want to learn from you. Would you consider being my mentor?” It means approaching that young woman you’ve been watching with the new job or the little people or who is newly engaged and saying, “I care about you. What would you think about meeting once a week?” We are afraid to reach out—afraid to be rejected. Asking for and offering help can feel super vulnerable. You never know how someone is going to respond. But Sisters, godly women-training-women is absolutely a risk worth taking, whether it looks like roasted chickens and gardening, or coffee dates and spin class. Expect that blessings will follow! How is the Holy Spirit speaking to you even now as you read this? Whose name is He writing on your heart? PS - a book I read and loved around that same time (at the urging of Karen, in fact) was actually called Spiritual Mothering, by Susan Hunt. There's a lot of wisdom in there about loving older and younger women well, I encourage you to read it, too!

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#SheSharesTruth Writing Assignment for Thursday, June 12—

How is spiritual mothering already taking place in your community? Has a godly woman influenced you in your growth in the Gospel, or has mentoring a young believer impacted your life? How would you like to see Titus 2 shape your relationships moving forward? Share your story with the SheReadsTruth community in our #SheSharesTruth linkup next Thursday, June 12. (Yes, it's on a Thursday this time!) New to #SheSharesTruth? Here's what you need to know— As writers, we've found that one of the best ways for us to learn is to communicate what we're learning back to someone else. #SheSharesTruth is an opportunity for you in the SheReadsTruth community to do the same! Simply study the assigned scripture passage and questions, write a blog post/journal entry/scrap piece of paper of your thoughts, and share it with us on the linkup day! (And don't worry if you don't know what "link up" means—it's super easy, and we'll have instructions in the post.) We look forward to hearing your stories!

Archive: Jun 2014

a friendly note

Sermon on the Mount study packs!

#SheSharesTruth | Titus 2:1-5

love letter

wasted words

the washing of regeneration

weekly truth

trained by grace

a peculiar people

spiritual mothers

above reproach

grace, mercy and peace

the gospel and godliness: introduction to Titus

Women in the Word