I had a birthday recently, and my husband blessed me with a birthday trip to the ocean. It's a favorite place of ours..and it is mere feet away from.. the Gulf Of Mexico. Anyway.. as the sun was setting that night... and we were eating birthday cake on the balcony...my husband snapped this picture with his iPhone camera. It was a perfect day...in every way. I KNOW that God ordained for us to have a nice time away... a vacation... a rest. It refreshed us inside and out.
After a few nights of these perfect sunsets.. however... I found myself missing my "real" life. True, I was not required to do one thing but watch the sun set.. but...I don't think I could live just sitting around waiting for the sun to set every day... and I know that God does not desire that I do. Just the opposite.
And for those of us who can see the "sun setting" in our lives.. who have less years ahead of us than behind us... I would like to remind you that It is Society that has decided that at a certain age you just sit and wait for the sun to set - not God. So many older soldiers in the Army of Lord are A.W.O.L. - having been convinced by the world around them that they have no purpose. So they are sitting on the sidelines of life and of churches.. not involved.. just waiting for that sun to set on the horizon of their lives. This is something we've allowed the world to tell us.. not God's Word.
God has an important assignment for me to encourage younger wives and mothers to follow God's plan for families. Every lesson I've learned, every tear I've cried, every storm I've weathered... have a PURPOSE... have a reason. I can only imagine how many families would be happier, how many marriages would be healthier... if every Mrs. Older in every church in the world took it upon herself to love the younger wives.... If you knew how many younger women are LONGING to have someone to talk to, someone to listen to, someone to learn from.. you would see that you cannot ignore God's assignment for you.
So.. today.... I'd like to remind my fellow Mrs. Older's.. and their husbands...that...while the "sun" of your life is setting... give the sunset a glance every now and then if you must... but get off that beach and keep loving and serving God and His people.
Love you,
Mrs. Older
I share this link almost everytime I read it on my FB.. today I shared an added note that I thought I would share here aswell. I read every post here.. I get something out of each one, but this one really hit me. I admit, I am not "Mrs Older" though in a month I will have my 30th birthday which does make me feel old! So I will call myself "Mrs. Middle" I am in the middle of life. My Husband and I are both Youth Leaders at our church. Lastnight (Wed night) we had a great service. There was an alter call and I was asked as a leader to be ready to pray with any student that needed it. I had 4 students come to me, 3 of them felt their lives were worthless, that they were an accident. Do the math, thats 75%! God impressed on me that its time we start going afte these youth, they act like they like us, they don't want us, but deep down they do, deep down they need us. We need to seek them as Jesus sought after us, He didn't look for us in the places he wanted to be, or doing the things he liked, He looked for us where WE were, He SOUGHT US! So, though I am not "Mrs. Older", I claim "Mrs. Middle" as my call in hopes that one day when I am "Mrs. Older" I will have helped to raise a generation of "Mrs. Middle's" so that the cycle can continue as we all follow the call of Christ in our lives..
ReplyDeleteSorry this was so long, its not my blog, but I just wanted you to know that, your words do not fall on deaf ears and it means something. Thank you.
Dear Anonymous... thank you for your wonderful, affirming comments.. and for your willingness to serve God and His people. THANK YOU.. THANK you for posting.
ReplyDeleteDear Mrs. Older AND Mrs. Middle,
ReplyDeleteI love you both! What a blessing to watch the two of you (who are completely anonymous to me) do this amazing dance of God's love with each other. Brings tears to my eyes to watch God's plan in motion as the olders mentor the middles who both ultimately mentor the youngers. Thank you BOTH for your wonderful and timely insights! I will never get over how our faithful God is never early, never late...He's always right on time with just what we need just when we need it.
Mrs. Middle-Older
I agree with every word you wrote. I too am a Mrs. Older but my experience with the Mrs. Youngers is that they don't think they need any advice from anyone and most certainly not from a mature woman who attends their church. There are group of us at church who would gladly reach out, help, babysit but the younger women turn their noses down at us and consider our advice old fashioned. It may not but that the Mrs. Olders don't want to speak but that the Mrs. Youngers dont want to listen.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... readers?
Delete...don't want to listen until they are desperate! Every 18-40 year old Mrs. Younger/Middle that I know who is blossoming in the mentorship of a Mrs. Older has tried it "their" way, realized it doesn't work and is desperately looking for answers. Until they are ready...all we can do is love them, encourage them, and wait.
DeleteIt's easy for me, I just have to take a moment and remember how God waited for ME until I was 30 and FINALLY ready to give Him my heart. I didn't turn to Him until it was obvious to me that MY way wasn't working and I was desperate. During that time, He never stopped "courting" me. He never lost sight of me or stopped listening to me whine or gave up waiting for me. In time our/your mentorship will be a lifeline to a younger in need.
Until then, keep up the great work and keep offering...sometimes it seems like the offers are too good to be true!
My experience is similar to Janice. Try to find a twenty or thirty year old married woman in church who will listen to an older woman. You simply cannot find a teachable woman who is less than 50 years old. They will spend hours discussing the latest Beth Moore book She is wonderful and anointed by God but is not there with them. If you are not a famous woman author who is on the best seller list, then these young women won't listen to one word.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.... readers?
DeleteA friend named Becky posted this on my Facebook page, and I asked her permission to post it here. It's very good advice.
ReplyDeleteI remember a quote; "advice not sought is seldom taken".
I think there needs to be a relationship cultivated first between the older and younger.
our church leadership is determined to keep our congregation "intergenerational".
one of our church staff members recently started doing something subtle, but very effective. he began to plan activities at the church that combine the older generation and the youth. one month they played chair volleyball together and had a blast. another month the youth served the "keenagers" at a luncheon, then sat and visited with them. another month, they went bowling together. there has been a real positive response from all involved!
now when they see one another at church, they greet each other by name. how wonderful is that?!