The other day one of my BFF's asked me what I wanted to do for my upcoming birthday & how old I was going to be.
I had to stop and figure how old I will be. WOW, 58, what a shock to me!! I am sure you can't believe it (because I look so fabulous), I can't either! Where did the time go?
I keep waiting to be the wiser older woman, and so far I am only feeling the older!
"Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old." Job 12:12
But I am so blessed to have some women in my life who are a little older and MUCH wiser than me. I want to share a couple times I was blessed by them:
One of these sweet ladies was volunteering in the church office for a few weeks, while our front desk gal was on vacation. I was having a rough morning and was pouring out my heart to her about my marriage. When I finished, she grabbed my hand and said,
"Oh, honey... (now I am leaning in because I don't want to miss a word of this wisdom, after all she is married and they seem so happy)
"...you're so delusional."
WHAT?! Are you kidding that's, the advice? Oh my goodness, I laughed till I had tears! Of course she went on to say - "No one has the perfect marriage and there are many ups and downs."To this day, she still gives me the same advice, which seems to keep me in check.
I have another older BFF who has walked with me through rough times, God has given her a calm way of talking with me and my husband. Her and my husband have a sweet mother/son relationship, that he does not have with his mom. He refers to her as mom and respects her opinion. She has saved us a lot of $$ in counseling!
Another time, I was grumbling about not having a certain spiritual gift, a wiser, older friend got in my face and said "Shame on you, you have plenty gifts to be thankful for! Why are you focused on this one thing? Be grateful for what you have and leave that gift for someone else!"
All these amazing women, building me up, but not so I am full of myself.
We have a lot to gain from these older wiser women, they have all been there.
1 Peter 5:5 "You, younger men, likewise be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
Although mentoring is not a biblical word, it is how Jesus lived His life by mentoring the 12 disciples.
These women have wisdom, we need to soak up. Sometimes I feel we discount them, or do not give thought to asking them for wisdom.
It is like having google but not using it!
In Titus 2:3-5 it reads - "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled."
I wish I would had someone to speak into my life when I was younger. I think it would have saved me some heart break. Also probably offended me, but I hope I would have taken it in and given it thought.
As I move into the decades of becoming an older women, I ask a lot of questions of women older than me. I also try to mentor or just simply be there for others. I do not have a mentoring plan or a great book of wisdom. I think for me, it happens more naturally. I think it is more of living life together or having conversations. The older I get the more I treasure these relationships. I feel it is a great blessing in my life. I think this week as I celebrate my 58 years loved I will let these sweet ladies know what they mean to me and how they have impacted my life.
As I look in the mirror, I see gray hair starting, lines and wrinkles. But each one of those were earned and have memories. Some good, some bad. But in the end - they were all gained with Jesus by my side.