Why Become a Titus Two Friend?

I'd like to dedicate this post to 

Barb N., Janelle L., Sande S., Marge C., and Marge S. 

MY TITUS TWO FRIENDS

at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Spokane, Washington.    

May God richly bless you for the love you always share(d) 

and for the many blessings He worked in me through you.

Years ago, when I was a young woman in my early 30's, I had the privilege of attending a weekly ladies' Bible class at our church.  New moms, middle-aged moms, moms of teens and young adults, and grammas.  It was great to be surrounded by so many godly older women.   I'd been married for 12-15 years by then--raising four foster-adopt children, plus a toddler and a new baby (Allison was still a twinkle).    I'd been a Christian my whole life, but you know how it is, some of the stuff in the Bible remains words on a page until you see how they work in real life--and suddenly Scripture becomes a living-breath part of YOU. 

Well, anyway, several of these older ladies would share little pieces of their lives during discussions in Bible Class.  Maybe a comment about child-rearing or how they handled marriage issues when they were first married and "what I'd do differently today" or something like that.    They knew their Bibles inside-out, and their love for the Lord was always uppermost in their actions.  It was such a pleasure to be around them.   Don't get me wrong, they all had their ups-n-downs (we're all sinful, after all!), but still, they had something I wanted in my life!  

After we moved from there, I realized what a HUGE blessing these women were, and for the next dozen years I  yearned to be a part of a community like that again with some Godly older women to mentor me.   Anyway, there I was reading my Bible, and I read again the words of Titus Two where St. Paul wrote to young pastor Timothy, that he (Timothy) should 

 

instruct the older women who are settled in their families and have kind and caring natures to train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to teach them to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one would malign the Word of God.   

Of course, I had read these words before, but it struck me that while I had been yearning for my own mentor--look at me! I had two daughters who were "younger" than me.  Something our pastor said about the "home mission field" in conjunction with that passage brought about a Light Bulb Moment!   Because of the way our family came about (years of infertility, adoption and THEN babies), I've always been keenly aware of my/our responsibility to train them to love the Lord (etc).   I also knew that my own mother had not purposefully trained me to love my husband or children and all that other stuff in Titus Two.   Floundering around as a newlywed and oldlywed--neh! I didn't want my own daughters to go through that.  So, I became MUCH more purposeful in teaching and training them and of my own words and actions as well.  (Bummer that I still fail so often!)

But you know how it goes?  Just when you think you've got it all figured out?  God comes along and smiles on you.  And your life goes from ordinary to wonderful in a heartbeat.   Plus, when God lays stuff on our hearts, He doesn't mess around.   And He doesn't always lay it down like a tiny, downy feather floating around on a breezy day.  Sometimes it's like a 50-lb anvil crashing through the front door.  You can't help but notice.   On mine, He laid the desire to purposefully train the younger women in my life.  Starting with my own two girls and then with any girls or young women who came across my path (sons' girlfriends/fiancees/wives, girls at church/youth group/community, newlywed brides).  

And then something else happened.   I started getting gray hair, which in my mind signified that I was no longer exactly "young" (altho' I'll always be young-at-heart like my Gramma B).  AND I became a gramma myself.  There is nothing like the advent of grand-children to make one think about (said with a deep melodramatic voice) "leaving a legacy."   I wasn't just affecting my own children, the things I was teaching my girls would affect their children and on down the line of my descendants.  Did you ever stop to think about this?   It's ENORMOUS!

God continued to work on me.   He sent along friends and family who told me "you're a great writer" or "the kids love the way you teach!" and others who asked "me" for ADVICE!  A lot.   I don't know about you, but this feeling that God is/was nudging me along gave me SUCH confidence (altho' I still stumble through my days!).  Several responses / articles I wrote on home-schooling/home-making websites were published (people actually LIKED what I wrote!!---do you know what that does to a writer's ego?)!!!   WOW!

For years, I've been collecting and jotting ideas in notebooks and journals, things I wanted to pass along to my children (particularly my daughters), like family recipes or traditions and helpful hints for home-making. And Bible study thoughts.  I thought I'd organize these ideas, somehow, and type them up into a little booklet.   Then someone invented the internet and blogs, and my little seed of an idea began to put out roots, and grow and grow and grow!   I saw a bigger garden forming than anything I'd imagined all those years ago.

So......last year I "planted a garden" with this blog based on the precepts God spelled out in Titus Two.    And here you are! If you like what you see, please feel free to join.    Leave a comment (or two) if you like what you read.  Ask questions or just shoot the breeze.    And if you like the blog, please recommend it to others.  

OR check out the brand, spanking new Titus Two Friends account on Facebook--it's only ONE DAY OLD, and you know how we all love newborns!   :-)    Go ahead and "like" that and you'll find daily prayers and Bible passages and whatever else Deb's mind comes up with (all God-pleasing wonderful stuff!).    Share ideas or respond to things I post.   

My intent is for Titus Two Friends to be a community where older and younger women can mingle and share and learn and inspire each other.  Because we love the Lord and our families and our husbands.