Recently I had a group of young women make a list of questions they wanted me to answer the next time we sat down to dialogue.  This particular group always challenges me and gets me thinking. One of the questions on that list was what principles do I live by. Good question. One of the main principles that governs my life is the principle of sowing and reaping. John and I are very careful about what we sow into our lives and try to think what reaping will result from it. Especially where our children are concerned.

I was preparing a talk for a MOPS group recently, when I thought of this principle again. As an older woman I am to teach good things. I have had some wonderful women who have sewn some fruit in my life in the past, and I have definitely reaped the benefits. I am grateful to the godly women at the churches we have attended who have taken the time to practice Titus 2. I realize that this is not always the case. I remember one young woman tell me she had been looking for older women to speak into her life, but they were no where to be found. I think there are a few reasons why that is true, but for me it is because 1) I didn't really consider myself an older woman and 2) I haven't arrived yet so far be it from me to think I had anything to say.  Unfortunately God doesn't give me an out like that, and I need to step up to the plate and ask God for wisdom and be available to sow into another's life. It is time for me to pass some of what I have learned on and not just to my own daughters. Afterall, at 49, I am now the older woman.

I narrowed it down to10 basic "good things" that I have applied to my life that I am now reaping the benefits of. When people ask me how I got such good children, I think they expect me to smile and say "I'm just lucky I guess." But I don't. It was consistency and purposeful parenting that got us to this point.  Nothing I am going to say is new or revolutionary. You have probably heard it all before. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of some truths and be encouraged to persevere.

Over the next few blogs I'm going to share with you the things we have sown into our children's lives and the benefits my husband and I have reaped and also some of the the consequences of not adhering to what we knew to be true. Yes, we grow weary sometimes and slip into auto pilot mode. Thankfully we have older children who hold us accountable and won't let us disengage.

For right now, I just want to encourage you to think about the things you sow into your life daily and what you might reap as a result. Will the result be that "her children rise up and call her blessed, her husband praises her."?