Have You Got Plans for Me?

      

        I’ve worn many labels over the years since my birth - daughter, big sister, church member, student, Girl Scout leader, wife, mother, homemaker, employee, teacher, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, Christian clown, writer, speaker, singer, prayer warrior and all the roles that go along with each of these titles. It makes my head spin when I see it on paper but each of these labels defines a part of me and the mission God has for me while I call this world my home.

Now that I am retired from my public job, I am busier than ever.  Numerous people have told me they didn’t know how they ever had time to work because retirement found their days busier than ever. I can say that has been true for me as well, but the busy-ness of retirement is lots more fun than the busy-ness of my work life.

There are seasons in our lives that call for an assessment of where we’ve been and where God’s leading us next. Retirement is one of those times. “What would You have me doing with my time, Lord?” has been my recent prayer.

God reminded me of a scripture passage in the second chapter of Titus. Paul’s letter to Titus, a preacher in Crete, advises him on what to teach the churches in that area. Part of the letter tells Titus to remind the older women to teach the younger women the skills they need to lead a God-honoring life. The things we older women have learned in the College of Hard Knocks can serve as valuable lessons for younger women.

 For the past nine months I have been part of a wonderful Bible study on the book of Revelation through Community Bible Study International. Each week a hundred and twenty women gathered on Wednesday morning for a time of worship. Then we split off into small groups (called core groups) to review and discuss our homework and any resulting questions or insights. At the end of our morning together we reassembled for a teaching time which tied everything together and gave Biblical principles to apply to life today.

Last week I was asked to pray about becoming a Core Group Leader for next year’s study.

Can you see a plan forming here as an answer to my prayer?

Going out with joy today, knowing God still has plans for me-

Cathy

 

Guidelines for Christian Living

2 Tell believers to live the kind of life that goes along with accurate teachings. ² Tell older men to be sober. Tell them to be men of good character, to use good judgment, and to be well-grounded in faith, love, and endurance.

³ Tell older women to live their lives in a way that shows they are dedicated to God. Tell them not to be gossips or addicted to alcohol, but to be examples of virtue. ⁴ In this way they will teach young women to show love to their husbands and children, ⁵ to use good judgment, and to be morally pure. Also, tell them to teach young women to be homemakers, to be kind, and to place themselves under their husbands’ authority. Then no one can speak evil of God’s word.

⁶ Encourage young men to use good judgment. ⁷ Always set an example by doing good things. When you teach, be an example of moral purity and dignity. ⁸ Speak an accurate message that cannot be condemned. Then those who oppose us will be ashamed because they cannot say anything bad about us.

⁹ Tell slaves who are believers to place themselves under their masters’ authority in everything they do. Tell them to please their masters, not to argue with them ¹⁰ or steal from them. Instead, tell slaves to show their masters how good and completely loyal they can be. Then they will show the beauty of the teachings about God our Savior in everything they do.

¹¹ After all, God’s saving kindness has appeared for the benefit of all people. ¹² It trains us to avoid ungodly lives filled with worldly desires so that we can live self-controlled, moral, and godly lives in this present world. ¹³ At the same time we can expect what we hope for—the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Yeshua Christ. ¹⁴ He gave himself for us to set us free from every sin and to cleanse us so that we can be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good things.