The Older Woman

“The older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to take care of their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.” Titus 2:4-5
Here I am in cyberspace entering the world of blogging. My sole intent here will to be a Titus 2, “older woman” primarily to my daughters, Amy (by birth), and my daughters in love-married to my sons- Jon’s wife, Kelly, David’s wife-Beth, and Sam’s wife- Lisa. They will all be referred to as my daughters in the future. I also want to write to my granddaughters who I pray will someday be the wives of godly men-Caitlin, Haley, Tori, Ashley, Ana, Abigail and Jordan. I have also had many other “daughters” along the way as I taught for several years in a Christian School and have had very close friends whom I was able to share the things that the Lord was teaching me. This is also for any other women who are aspiring to be Biblical woman and wanting to grow in that role which God has graciously assigned to them.
For the past 43 years I have been the wife and help-meet to Dave. After meeting him on a blind date in 1959 I fell in love with him almost immediately and four years later became his wife. Now, forty three years later, I am still learning how to be that Proverbs 31 kind of woman and God is patiently teaching me things I need to know in how to love my husband more and to be a Godly woman.
Over the years, and especially in the last few years as I’ve learned even more what it means to be a Titus 2 kind of wife I’ve wondered, “Where were the older women” as I was struggling in learning to be a wife and mom and manage a household? My mom lived far, far away and even though she had given me many skills while I was growing up I longed for an older woman to speak into my life and guide me along the way.
I don’t claim to be a perfect example by ANY stretch of the imagination as any of the above women can quickly tell you. I claim to have a perfect GOD and to be in contact with HIM on a daily basis and will pass on things that He has taught me and is teaching me even in this season of my life. I will look forward to hearing from anyone who is blessed by this communication.

We'll Mess with TEXAS!

That's right! Ever since March 16 when Dave and I arrived here in Texas we have officially been Texas residents. We left Florida after just 2 1/2 years there and are now living within 30 minutes of all 4 of our children. (Amy, Jon, David and Sam) Isn't God amazing??? How did this happen?
Well, it all started 10 years a go when David and Beth left Denver and Faith Christian for Teen Mania ministries. Teen Mania moved to Texas about 8 years a go. Jon and Kelly were the second family members to join the TM staff 6 years a go and then Brian and Amy moved here in November of 2005 as Brian joined the staff. We had decided on moving to Texas last summer before we knew that Brian and Amy were coming here. Dave has always wanted to live on a lake and it seemed that living just 30 minutes from David and Jon and their families might be a good thing. We thought we could still spend some winter time in Florida in our 5th wheel with Amy and Brian and family and spend some summer time in Montana with Sam and Lisa. All that changed though over the last several months. Brian and Amy moved here in November and now- Sam and Lisa have just moved here from Montana in the last week. Several years a go I was praying about our family being spread out all over the U.S. and asking God to allow us to all live in the same area- but really wondering HOW HE could ever pull that off. Isn't God good?
Yesterday we all gathered at our home to celeberate HEnry's (Sam's oldest)3rd birthday. All 14 of our grandchildren (Amy has 8, Jon-1, David-3, Sam-2)were here- fishing, swinging, running trucks and cars between 22 adult legs on the patio ,petting the new kitty that I picked up from a "Free Box' at Walmart and awarded as a "prize" in a name giving contest-and just having a wonderful time visiting with each other. (By the way- Ashley won the kitten (pre-approved by her mom!) "Duchess"is now at home with David, Beth, Ashley, Jonathan and Cole.
We are loving Texas but REALLY, REALLY missing all the ballroom dance that we were doing in Florida. Our plans are to return there in October for the "dance cruise" with our dance group. We have found a place near us where they have TEXAS dance. It is QUITE a different culture here and we are making adjustments.
Church on the Rock in Quitman is our new church home where we are making new friends. We are attending a weekly Bible Study there by John Bevere called "The Bait of Satan" and learning much about how satan tries to use offenses to ruin relationships and lead us into sin. My cousin, Larry Snyder and his wife, Sue, are attending with us. (I had not seen Larry for over 50 years and found they live just miles from us here!) It is fun to see how God has worked in their lives and learn more about their family.
I'm REALLY new to this world of Bloging and my daugher-in-law, Beth, has convinced me that I can do this! We'll see. She and Kelly are much, much better writers than I am so I'll have to look to them for help and try to figure this all out. What is that about teaching old dogs new tricks????