Longing for Titus 2 Women

Time keeps ticking away.  No matter how much we want it to speed up. It stays the same.  No matter how much we want it to slow down.  It stays the same. 

The same steady tick.

It may SEEM faster.  Or it may drag by painfully slow.

Life is definitely lived in seasons.  We are constantly ending some seasons and starting new ones.  Though I constantly have little bitty ones in our house on a regular basis and get to enjoy those (and remember how frustrating and exhausting it is!), I am well beyond those days.  Every day is a reminder of how quickly time does move, even though it's ticking by at its steady same rate.  I remember wanting to slug those moms that told me to cherish every moment because it was fleeting.  I wanted to slug them because I was weary, bone tired, overwhelmed, and definitely NOT enjoying every minute.( I mean really:  who wants to truly embrace the terrible twos over and over on repeat.  Or the sleepless nights of a baby that refuses to sleep.  Or the baby that cries constantly for hours on end.  Or the baby that either wants to nurse around the clock or you want to nurse desperately but no matter what you try can't "grasp" that concept.  There's wonderful things in EVERY season and I LOVE children more than many...but....it's HARD some days!!!!)   Instead, I smiled politely.  Now, I am that mom reminding others to embrace it.  Because I've learned what those other moms meant and I also understand those younger moms wanting to slug me.  The day may be long, but the years are definitely short.

It has become a running joke in our home recently to "find" the things that are showing that we are aging.  We aren't old, but we definitely are well beyond our 20s.  We are very visible noticing that we are beginning to fit in more with the older generations.  To be honest, we love it.  Instead of lamenting not being "young" anymore, we are embracing the comfort that comes with growing older together.  Of having learned many things and still know there are many more things to learn. 

With that said, I'm finding myself longing...

Longing for Titus 2 women in my life.  Oh how I wish nearly every day that I could go back and revisit all of those conversations and teaching moments from the older ladies in my life when I was younger.  So many things I wish I could ask or learn from them.  The more "old fashioned" the advice, perhaps the more truthful it would have been.  So much could have been learned about Christ, caring for my husband and caring for my children from them.  I can picture so many of them right now and would love to just spend a few hours at the very least sitting down with them now! Just to sit down on the church pew and take notes from them!

Older women teaching younger women.  Younger women teaching those same things to the even younger, newly married women. 

I so think it's greatly missing in our lives in our day and age.

I'm finding myself in new seasons and needing older women to lead the way and guide me through these new stages.  I find it important to encourage moms of young children and new marriages. A student and a teacher.

The Titus 2 woman embodies so many characteristics that are harder to find every day.  How I long to be that type of woman and how I long to have them in my life teaching me.  (An excellent article on those characteristic can be found here at Bible Study Tools.  I'm currently studying through these attributes and am finding this an excellent tool of reference).

I need accountability.  I need spiritually strong women that speak truth in my life (even the painful truth that I'd prefer to clasp my hands over my ears and drown out!).  I'm finding it vital.  We so often have become afraid of letting people see our vulnerability and "need".  When in actuality, it's VITAL that we have these type of relationships.  It's how we grow.  It's how we thrive.  It's how we reach a new generation for Christ.  It's how we can strengthen our homes.  It's student and teacher mode.