You Need to Slide Under a Wing

Bekah (right) and Debby. Two young women who pour their lives out to mentor younger women.

I would say to my daughter, You look beautiful or You sang great at church tonight. She would make a disgusted face and say, You have to say that because you’re my mom.

I was so thankful when two of my daughter’s youth group leaders at church took Jayme under their wings. Bekah would invite Jayme over to her house to play games and make Sushi. She would say the same things to Jayme that I was saying, but somehow it meant more. Debby would come over and sit on the couch –just to chat with Jayme and encourage her.

I think sometimes we need to hear truth from our parents and from someone else.

Have you thought about asking God to help you find a woman like Bekah or Debby? Someone who will take you under her wing and build on the good things your parents are telling you. Look for these qualities in finding a woman to encourage you:

• She should be an older woman, not someone your own age. You need someone who is wise from living longer than you have.

• She should love God and speaks God’s truth from the Bible.

• She should be kind and build you up, not tear you down.

• She should be honest and sometimes be willing to say the hard things you need to hear.

• She should have character you admire and be the kind of person you hope to be some day.

• She should pray for you.

• She should encourage you to honor your parents.

Paul tells the older women, in Titus 2:3-5, to “train the younger women”. Even Paul thought it was a great idea for younger women to look to the older women to train them in life.

Do you know a godly older woman you can talk to about stuff in your life? Maybe a youth leader or a grandma? I bet she would honored if you would ask her to take you under her wing.