The Influence of An Older Woman

Coffee Talk Thursday: the evening edition!

Any skill you need to know, or anything you'd like to learn, an older woman can teach you. She can encourage you, and help you in so many ways. You just have to find the right one.

That finding can sometimes be a bit tricky. After all, you can't just walk up to any old woman at the grocery store, and ask her if she can teach you how to cook. I mean, you could, but it might not go over so well.

That's one of the reasons the church is so helpful. If you are involved in a good church, you already have some level of familiarization with at least some of the women within. Even if you don't know someone that well, if there is something you know she does well, and you would like to learn it, you could ask her nicely if she would be willing to come over sometime and help you. Chances are very good she'll say yes. At least there's a better chance of it than the random person picking a pepper in the store.

For example, a friend from church entered her 100% whole wheat honey bread recipe in our church cookbook. I've tried it a few times but don't have much experience making yeast breads from scratch. I honestly didn't know you may need to add more flour than the recipe calls for, and I had no clue how to "shape a loaf" (I learned you aren't supposed to just put your batter in the bread pan, patting it nicely). 

So I called her to ask what I was doing wrong, and she offered to come over and give me a bread lesson. Together we baked two loaves of bread, hamburger buns, dinner rolls, and flour tortillas. Now I know how to make a decent loaf of bread, thanks to her help!

notice the bite taken out of the lower right (5:00) ;)

There are so many other areas where we can find practical help and encouragement from older women who've already been where we are. They can share what worked for them with housework, managing money, frugal cooking, marriage, homeschooling, and parenting. In fact, I think they may be one of the best sources for advice when it comes to parenting, especially, because they've been through it all. Their kids are grown and gone. Looking back on the whole of their experience gives them wisdom that those of us still in the midst of raising children have not fully developed quite yet.

My encouragement this Coffee Talk Thursday is to find a few older women you admire and ask them over for coffee. A relationship can build from there. A cup of coffee is a good beginning.