When I was in my 20’s we moved to Seattle, Washington… well, actually it was Burien. We were there to start a house church. We had read, How the Church Grows in the City. We were on a mission. We lived in Seahurst Manor (400 + apartments) where we came to know several of our life long friends as a result.
After we had been there a few months and were settling in I decided to put an ad in our newsletter that went out to all of the residents. I advertised for a Ladies’ Bible Study. The first night 3 women showed up. Surprise! This started what would be one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. We met every Wednesday night, to begin with. We held it in our apartment. I had three little ones so they could go right to bed or play quietly in their rooms.
Lawrence still worked varying shifts and usually late. He was working for a plumbing company and preaching for our little house church that started with our family and soon added our neighbors and friends.
Soon other ladies’ came to join our small Bible study group. During the three years that I had the group there came to be 40+ ladies who participated. To begin with, most were unchurched and had never been involved with a Bible study group and were new to Bible study. This group came to be a huge time of growth for us all.
As a young woman, I longed for an older woman to learn from, to seek advice from, a mentor in the spirit of Titus 2. I prayed for such and continued on studying and praying with these women. To begin with, I did all of the teaching and leading prayers. Our prayer time together became a huge part of what we did together. Sometimes we would pray for an hour. We grew together in so many ways. We were a great encouragement to one another. No one wanted to miss these studies. If anyone had to miss they would call and ask for prayer. Soon some who were Christians joined the group. We stretched and others began to teach some lessons and lead prayer. Many of us were young mothers, some were Doctors, engineers, construction workers, inspectors, etc. We were a mixture and we loved sharing our lives together.
I have been thinking lately about those days and how hard it was for me to find an older Christian woman. I think I now know why it was so hard to find a mentor. As I have grown older one thing I have learned is that most older women don’t have confidence that they have anything to share. I have learned that we think in terms of our mistakes and mess ups and shortcomings. We know that we are not the ideal role model. We are insecure. We don’t know how to share. Most women are not Bible class teachers and don’t know where to begin. I was determined back then to one day be that older woman, flaws and all, who would share and mentor young women. I would pray that I would have something to share when I was finished raising my family.
I am so thankful to the women in my life who have taught me so many things. I am thankful for my first teacher, my mother, then aunts, grandmas, teachers, and Bible class teachers. I studied the Bible and other books that were a great source of instruction for me as I learned. As I grew older I learned from other women, especially my mother-in-law and a few older Christian women when I could persuade them to share with me. From all of the women in my life, I learned practical skills such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, Bible lessons, lessons on being a good Christian wife, mother, sister, caring for elderly parents, etc. The women I have learned the most from were not just Bible class teachers, in fact, many may not have ever taught a Bible class. They taught me by example. They taught me by doing things with me, ordinary everyday things. They taught me by simply living their lives before me. As a young woman, I longed for even more of these times.
Do young women still want an older woman to learn from? If you are a young woman what do you wish for? What do you want to know and learn? Do you prefer to learn from books, working alongside someone, trial, and error?
I am truly wanting insight into what young women want today so please share in the comments here or feel free to send me a private email: redaredding@gmail.com
