Ministry happens right here in the living room with fingers wrapped around steaming mugs.
She sits and listens as I do my best to sort through what is on my mind and heart. Sometimes thoughts become slightly less tangled when we speak them aloud.
She nods, having walked these roads before, and tells stories of when she was in my shoes. She remembers the intensity of little ones, the emotional energy needed for inquisitive children, and the physical demands kids of all ages place on their Mama.
My daughter sips her own mug of chocolate and listens quietly from my lap. She had asked who was coming for tea and why, and when I told her our guest was going to tell me how to be a better mommy, she nodded knowingly, in her four-year-old way. “Maybe she’ll tell you to always give me what I want,” she said hopefully. “If I say please,” she added.
Maybe not, child.
She moves from my lap to the table now to colour, losing interest in our adult conversation.
The deep, heart questions help me untangle my swirling thoughts one by one. This is ministry. This is why we need one another.
Older encouraging younger.
Younger learning from older.
The way of passing wisdom through the generations.
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Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behaviour … teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, king, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. ~ Titus 2:3-5 (NASB)
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She remembers the nagging questions of whether or not your efforts are making any kind of difference, the countless prayers on bended knee, and the endless wrestling with how to parent in a way that points them toward Christ.
This is a high calling – to be a Titus 2 woman.
The cups are drained as she advises and warns and encourages.
This is ministry.
