When you were young, say in your late teen years or early twenties, maybe even older, did you have a woman who came alongside you to “show you the ropes”? If you were fortunate your mom fulfilled this role, but let’s pretend she didn’t. Was there another woman who helped you prepare for marriage and life and family?
When we think about leaving a legacy, we most often think about leaving a legacy for our children. There is no doubt that this is the most obvious and important place that we leave a legacy. However, are there other lives where we could also leave a legacy?
Like many girls, when I was young I wanted to grow up, get married, and have babies. That was my heart’s desire. But for some reason that did not happen as quickly as I thought. I found myself 30 years old, living in a one-bedroom apartment, hating my job, and still pining for a life I wanted so desperately.
Fortunately there was one woman.
No, she was not my mom. My mom did not fulfill this role for me. She was a woman only about five years older than me. She had a husband, two kids, and a dog – the life I wanted. We couldn’t be any more different from each other
But she began to leave a legacy in me.
About once a month her husband traveled. When he did she would invite me over to have dinner with her and her two girls. Then, after they went to bed we would watch a movie and talk. It was simple. It was easy. There was nothing fancy at all about us getting together.
She simply invested time in me when I needed it most.
Now, eight years later, living in a whole other state with a husband and two girls, I remember her. I remember how she took the time to make me feel like my life was just as important as hers. I remember feeling a little more “normal” when I thought something just had to be wrong for me not to be married yet.
She left a legacy in my life. A legacy that I now pass down to the single women who I mentor.
Are there women like this is your life who you could be leaving a legacy by investing in them, by mentoring them, by loving them?
Maybe it’s the young girl, barely twenty years old, who is making the most crucial decisions she will ever make as she dates and prepares for her life. Maybe it is the single career woman who doesn’t really know where she fits in as a woman without a husband and children. Maybe it is the single mom who feels so ostracized – she doesn’t really know who are her real friends. Maybe it is the woman who’s husband passed away. She never thought she would be alone again.
My hunch is there are women in your life, your daughter, niece, cousin, co-worker, woman at church who could use your investment in their life – who you could leave a legacy – a small part of yourself.
These women need you.
What is your biggest concern or fear about mentoring a younger woman?
Don’t know how to start? I have the perfect companion. I wrote an eBook out of my experience as a single woman called Fall for Him: 25 Challenges from a Recovering Single. It’s available now in PDF and Kindle formats. The purpose is to help single women see that their life is not waiting out there in the future for them. Their life is now. But it can only be fully revealed by being surrendered to Jesus.
This book is a great gift that single woman in your life. Maybe your daughter, your divorced friend, the single-mom at your church, or the woman who lost her husband.
Go ahead. Reach out your hand. Bless this special woman with your love. Give her an eBook that will help. You can purchase a copy by visiting Amazon.com.
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