ALL Women…Something to Teach, Something to Learn

The first time I was asked to lead a conference, I was clueless how to write a conference outline. But the person asking me to lead assured me she would help me, and she did. Little did I know God was preparing me to eventually lead and teach in a national ministry vocation. She nor I had any idea at the time, but she taught me something she knew that prepared me for that position to which God would lead me.

Now in retirement I am asked at times to help another woman walk out her ministry calling and because of my own experiences, I have the joy of raising up another woman for kingdom work. Both learning and helping someone else learn are part of our life long journey with women.

My last two blog posts (read here  and here) were directed particularly to older or younger women. Today, this post applies to ALL women. First let me ask you to answer two questions:      1. What is something you have taught another woman in the last 6 months?  2. What is something you’ve learned from another woman in the last 6 months? I pray you were able to answer both questions, perhaps with several answers for each. (If not, PRAY to have these experiences and watch God open doors!)

What I want you to see is that no matter our age, there are women ahead of us in some area of life from whom we can learn. At the same time, all of us have someone behind us in some area of life, whom we can teach.

So, in light of that, here are some closing thoughts in this 3 part series of post. These are some practical ways to live this out to connect with all ages of women.  I share these as a part of a workshop I teach on the topic of “connecting the generations”:

What do we need to do as younger women?

• Listen to their stories
• Ask what is on their heart
• Ask them to serve alongside you
• Thank them
• Connect them with young women
• Make generational prayer connections
• Encourage “foster” grandparents
• Choose to bridge the gap
• Don’t pretend to know it all
• Be teachable
• Slow the pace some
• Celebrate differences
• Honor those who have gone before you (1 Timothy 5:1-2)

What do we need to do as older women?

• Pray for younger women to know and grow in Christ
• Be willing to change
• Grow social circles to include young women
• Listen more, talk less
• Encourage and exhort them
• Give grace
• Give them a seat at the table
• Embrace social media
• Start a Bible study
• Be humble

Ten Things Younger Women Need to Hear from Us from Chuck Lawless at ThomRainer.com

1. We were young once too
2. We grieve the state of churches like you do
3. Many of us admit we weren’t discipled well
4. We need each other
5. Education is good, life experience increases wisdom
6. Our opposition to change isn’t always opposition to you
7. We want you to be effective and successful leaders
8. Godly obedience does not get easier
9. Decide today to end well
10. We love you and pray for you

I pray you see the need to connect with all generations of women. Our lives are SO much richer when we do. We fulfill the pattern we see in Psalms (Psalm 22:30-31, 71:18. 102:18, 147:4-7) and in Titus 2:3-5 as we bring up the next generation of women and learn from those who have gone before us. At the same time, we even learn from those we are pouring into! We have no idea what these connections will mean down the road in each of our journeys, but they are essential and God ordained! Don’t miss them.

How will you respond to these 3 posts? Ask God to clarify your role in connecting generations of women wherever you live and serve.

Banner photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash