Teaching Women

Titus 2:4-5 “Older women are to teach the young women to love their husbands and children. They are to teach them to think before they act, to be pure, to be workers at home, to be kind, and to obey their own husbands. In this way, the Word of God is honored.”

As I was reading over this verse this morning, God whispered a new truth to my heart. Notice that it doesn’t say that you have to be a mother to teach young women. It says “older women”. Any woman. Whether you are one day older or fifty years older, any woman who is younger than you is a potential student of what you are learning from our amazing Father in Heaven.

During my lost years, my children were blessed to have a mother who stepped into the gap I had left. In worldly terms she was known as a “stepmother”, a term I have grown to dislike. If truth be told, she was only a “step” in the sense that she had to step over my inabilities in order to teach my children. They call her mom and for that I am so grateful. Yes there were times when I was jealous and bitter. No it was not a time filled with Hallmark movie moments. But God gave my children a mother who taught them when I was unable to. That was all that mattered.

I come from a long line of strong women. I learned so much from each one of them. No they weren’t perfect in any sense of the word. They all had broken pieces they struggled to keep together. Yes they all made mistakes along the way. But there was never any doubt of their love for me. I had many “other” mothers as well. Aunts, steps, grandmothers, and just ordinary women who filled my life with lessons learned through sorrow and joy.

Every woman is a daughter but not every daughter has a mother to turn to. That thought occurred to me this morning in a profound way. I am estranged from my mother and that hurts me in a powerful way. On a day like today my heart aches for the loss of my relationship with her. I also know that I am not the only one out here feeling this pain. And yet how wonderful that we can know that someday, somehow, our Father in Heaven will bring us back into the arms of our mothers. 

It is also a little (ok a lot!) scary when I realize that my Abba has called me to touch the lives of  women around me. My daughters, my friends daughters, complete strangers daughters. Sisters, cousins, neighbors, friends. Women I know and women I may never meet. Trust me when I say dear friend that if He can heal me enough to be a teacher, He can heal anyone!!!

 It is not what if I am being called to teach. It is I have been called to teach. God doesn’t say teach if you are good, teach if you know what you are talking about, teach if you have a perfect family. He says teach. Plain and simple. Just because you don’t have a husband doesn’t mean that you can’t learn what it takes to be a good wife. Just because you don’t have your own children doesn’t mean you can’t be a mother to a lost child. Just because your life is broken doesn’t mean that God can’t use you for good.

Dearest Father God, on this beautiful Sabbath day, when our thoughts turn to our mothers, please cover our hearts with Your love and mercy. Remind us that sometimes our mothers or our daughters may be broken. But that doesn’t mean that You love them any less. Bring us to a point of forgiveness that heals our hearts, even when we can’t heal the brokenness between mother and daughter. For those who have sent their mothers on ahead to rest a while with You, let us find a moment today to see them as You see them. Beautiful daughters of the King. Waiting to meet with us in Heaven in a perfect state of love. We thank You for Your words as they heal our hearts and minds. In the name of Christ Jesus, Amen