Titus 2 Woman

Girlfriend, are you lonely?

2010-10-15T13:45:00.004+11:00

I've had an awakening this past week. Well, probably the past month or so. And I do believe that God is calling and I'm hearing that call.

I am still planning to write the book mentioned on these pages but as it does with many things, life got in the way, and so did feelings of lack of self-worth, lack of motivation, and the feeling that I was just treading water. For far too long I've been alone - very alone.

I have a family I love and adore, the most wonderful husband who is also a great friend and lots of colleagues, associates, contacts and so on. My business has kept me busy for many years and so have my personal interests of writing, gardening and photography. I don't know the meaning of 'boredom' and always have projects and things to keep me busy.

I love our Lord Jesus Christ and know that He, and our Father God, have carried me through the darkest days and nights, moments in my life that I wouldn't have wished on anyone and yet, there's still something that is missing... Something I haven't had since my early 20s and I'm now in my early 50s. That thing is a girlfriend. Someone I can laugh and cry with, confide in, giggle with, share my dreams with and my prayer needs and someone I can talk to, when perhaps my husband might not be the one I need to share something with.

It's not been through lack of trying, believe me. And I've prayed for a long time for a girlfriend. Many times I have thought a woman who had come into my life might be the one and instead she's been needy - for my knowledge, my experience, my wisdom, my thoughts, my... anything I could give her. I don't regret this. I know that God has placed me in a role of leadership but the thing is leadership is a pretty darn lonely place to be sometimes.

Recently my husband and I joined a new church - new to us that is. It's 2 mins down the road from our new home of 11 months. We are making new friends and finding connections from our old church and other people we know. I've made friends with a lady nearly 20 years my junior but who I click with so easily. She wants to do things I have done but instead of feeling like I'm in a mentoring or leadership role, as in the past, it's more like a girlfriend role and we share, chatter, giggle together and just enjoy one another's company.

And then today I was at a prayer breakfast with another lady I've known for years but do not know on a very intimate level. However after today's breakfast, and the sharing we had during the morning, and the prayer afterward, I can't help feeling that our relationship is verging on something else much deeper. And then she shared with me similar feelings to what I've had and also another lady we both mutually know who had shared similar feelings of loneliness to her.

I thought about this on the train back home. What is going on? 4 of us, all daughters of Christ, and all feeling lonely. What has the enemy been doing to us and what have we allowed to happen? This separation from others, being too busy to nurture relationships or perhaps being in positions that haven't allowed friendships to develop because the 'neediness' of others may have abused what we had to offer by just taking, taking and taking but not giving back to those of us also in need.

This means that my book about Women Mentoring Women is going to take a new turn and cover this aspect too. And it will now start to move ahead. It's like I've been waiting for a missing link and I've just found it.

So tell me girlfriend, are you lonely? What can I/we do to help? What are your thoughts?

Survey Part I

2010-02-26T17:37:00.005+11:00

I'm collating material now for my new book and I invite you to participate in a survey I've created.

This is 1 of around 3 surveys I will be running in order to get an idea of who has been mentored and why, who hasn't and why, the benefits, the challenges, what's worked and what hasn't.

A later survey will include information relating to Scripture and mentoring inside the church. However this does not mean you need to participate in all 3 surveys, just what is relevant to you and your own personal situation.

I invite you to participate in Part 1 and I thank you for your time.

Click here to take survey

Continuing my research

2010-02-13T12:48:00.003+11:00

It's been a couple of years since I've posted here. God has had me on a journey of learning and experiencing, perhaps in preparation for what will come out of this blog. My family and I have also been in a time of mourning as we lost one of our lovely daughters only months after I last posted here.

It is my intention to come back here regularly and add new material. And I welcome those who would like to contribute as a guest blogger or by way of leaving comments.

To start with I'd like to hear from you if you've been in a mentoring role.

Or, if you have been mentored.

Or, what you would look for in someone to mentor you.

Women mentoring women - I want to hear it all!

Calling All Titus 2 Women

2008-02-23T14:29:00.002+11:00

I am in the early stages of writing a sequel to my book "Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mum" which was based on the Proverbs 31 Woman. I'd written a blog on this topic through 2006 and at the end of the study of that famous chapter in the bible I'd come to the conclusion that I was actually a Titus 2 Woman - someone who is guiding and mentoring our younger women, our daughters, God's daughters, in this world. The responses I've received to that blog and to my book is further proof of this realisation.

In that vein, I'd love to hear from women who spend their time guiding and mentoring other women, teaching and showing them God's ways through their lives, their ministries, and whatever else is going on in their lives. I want your story!

I wish to interview several women who have an understanding of what it means to be a Titus 2 Woman and how it has been applied in their lives - whether by design (their's, not God's) or accident (their's, not God's). In other words, they can look back and see that God has had a hand on the direction in their lives and they may, or may not, have been aware of it and travelled that path anyway.

Please leave a comment here if you'd like to know more or you can find my contact details in my profile.

The Value of Mentoring

2008-02-16T14:36:00.003+11:00

The word 'mentor' is bandied around a lot these days. It's used by coaches, whether they be life, business or otherwise, and used a lot on various websites and in articles published everywhere.

Have you really considered the meaning of this word? When you research its meaning you find this through Answers.com:

A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.
Mentor Greek Mythology. Odysseus's trusted counselor, in whose guise Athena became the guardian and teacher of Telemachus.

Dictionary.com lists:

1.	a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

2.	an influential senior sponsor or supporter.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to act as a mentor: She spent years mentoring to junior employees.

–verb (used with object)

4.	to act as a mentor to: The brash young executive did not wish to be mentored by anyone.

Let's go back and revisit Titus 2:4,5 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

We can see here that Paul is instructing the older women in the church to act as Mentors, to train (influence) the younger women, to be a wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

For years I've wanted to find someone who could be my mentor but my life has been such that senior women are in my life for a short period of time, I learn from them and move on. I've also sought a Prayer Partner (after reading Stormie OMartian's The Power of a Praying Wife) but a regular partner has eluded me too. However, I've found myself, almost by accident, in a permanent mentoring role to many women worldwide, simply through my business and what I do on a daily basis. The book I wrote and published last year has extended that role and it is my hope that this blog will also birth a new book, as a sequel and extension to the first.

If you haven't read Stormie's book, you can find it linked below.

And you'll find a copy of my book Worth More Than Rubies linked to the image.

Baby Boomer Women Mentoring Others

2008-02-08T18:07:00.001+11:00

My previous post was about mentoring other women and who better to do that than a bunch of Baby Boomer women?

Let me introduce you to some friends of mine - you'll find those with blogs in the menu to the left. But you can meet more of them at two sites: BabyBoomerDivas and the full list at EnjoyYourMenopause/Divas.

This is a group of awesome talented and very experienced women in many fields and I am privileged to be a member. Three Aussies to date, the rest are in the US and one of my goals is to get over there to meet them as soon as the opportunity arises. I've put it on God's bill - but that's another story! ;-)

May I encourage you to visit my friends? Perhaps you've in need of advice regarding health, fitness, some soothing words, some great reading, some motherly advice. The list goes on and you'll find it amongst my friends. Enjoy exploring!

P.S. If you hold your mouse over each name in the blogroll you'll see the titles of their blogs which will give you a clue in most cases, what they write about. Enjoy and let me know what you've found that has spoken to your needs!

Mentoring Other Women

2008-01-15T13:53:00.000+11:00

Over the course of almost 14 years in business I have mentored hundreds of women worldwide in the setting up of their businesses and balancing business with family.

It hasn't been lost on me that everything I've learnt, struggled with and conquered have been part of the process that God has wanted me to use to help others. It also wasn't lost on me that having a family of 5 daughters put me in an excellent role model position for other mothers worldwide. I have to smile when I get a mother of 1 or 2 ring or email me saying she wants to run a business but doesn't think she can because she's got a child or children. I always respond 'that's ok, I've got 5 and it's not stopped me!'

My recently published book "Worth More Than Rubies: The Value of a Work At Home Mum" gives a sneak peak into my life as a wife, mother and business woman, while looking at that age old model 'The Proverbs 31 Woman'.

It is important for each woman to recognise that as she grows older there is much she has learnt that she can share with others around her - daughters, neices, grandchildren, children of friends, acquaintances, anyone who is younger than her, or perhaps even someone of the same age or older who hasn't had the same experiences.

In the New Testament we are often taught by both Jesus and Paul about mentoring and discipling others, and guiding them in their lives. This is also something that is charged to the Titus 2 woman. We are told to be reverent in the way we live and to urge the younger women to follow our paths. Interesting word 'reverent' and I think it's one that means more to you as you grow older - hopefully gracefully.

..but to teach what is good

2007-11-03T19:57:00.000+11:00

Something went awry some years ago. There's a whole generation who seem to think the world owes them something and I believe their parents could have contributed to this thinking. It might also have something to do with women (the previous generation) having returned to work and leaving their offspring to fend for themselves once they were in their teens.

It is disturbing to see this because it also means the following generation do not have a good example to follow and the problem tends to exacerbate. The problem multiplies and often we focus on the wrong things to fix the problem.

Young women of today need a guide and those of us who are older and who understand both the Proverbs 31 woman and the Titus 2 woman are well placed to help guide them. It is our duty to lead by example and to teach what is good.

So, what is good? We will look at this in future posts.

Sisters and Daughters

2007-10-31T09:36:00.000+11:00

I recently attended the Every Woman Conference at Oxford Falls (Sydney), Australia. Their focus was very much on mothers, daughters and sisters, and how we minister to one another. The women they had teaching us and leading us in prayer, praise and worship were wonderful examples of how we can reach out to one another and share and encourage based on our own personal experiences.

Lisa Bevere was a wonderful encourager who truly does implant courage into others through her teaching, examples and stories. She speaks forcefully and gets her point across very clearly. The crowd loved her and I can see why she is so popular.

Lisa told us how 'mommas need to know the daughters' and that we need to train our daughters. She told us that daughters are born to ask questions (why?) and that grandmothers have learned the answers and can, therefore, give perspective. Women are created to nurture.

This is a wonderful explanation I feel of what a Titus 2 woman is and can be. I am a daughter and a mother. I'm yet to become a grandmother, but I do strongly feel that the lessons I've been learning over the past few years will equip me to give perspective as it's needed.

Learning about the Titus 2 Woman

2007-10-28T17:03:00.000+11:00

I'm surrounded by women who are my role models, mainly women from my current church but also some from a previous church. My own mother, who is not a Christian, also demonstrated some of the virtues of the Titus 2 Woman, and I continue to pray that she will one day come to recognise our Lord as her's also.

As I have aged I have learnt first what it means to be a Proverbs 31 Woman and at the end of my own personal study recognised that I am in fact a Titus 2 Woman, the perfect sequel.

I thank God for the 5 daughters that Graham and I share and that God has given me the opportunity to teach our younger women, our daughters, the way of life as our Lord Jesus would have them follow. Whilst they might not always understand or appreciate what I share, I know that they will learn by example over time.