We were sitting in the back row of the church, deep in conversation.

Since service had ended about an hour prior, the pews had emptied out and it was just the two of us.

I was in my early 20’s and she was in her early 80’s.

A sweet, beautiful woman with gray and black hair and deep brownish gray eyes.

She was encouraging me to find a husband.  I told her I was trying.  I was not offended at all.  In fact, I was so used to the, “So when are getting married?” question that I had a list of responses to choose from.

Marriage was definitely a desire of mine, but I didn’t know much about romantic relationships back then.

I asked her about her late husband, and I loved that she giggled when she talked about him. I could tell that she had loved him deeply.

She said there was someone for me, and I tried to believe her. She advised me on what qualities to look for in a life partner. She had been there, so I could trust her.

She encouraged me to pray to find the right person, and promised that she would pray for me, too.

And she did.  For years.  Almost every Sunday, she would ask me in her native language, Malayalam, “So, did you find him?” I understood every word, and I would blush and say no.

And then one day, I did.

One day, God answered her prayer and mine… and the prayers of my parents who also believed.

Someone agreed to marry me.

Honestly, I consider it a miracle.  It has nothing to do with low self-esteem. I just know it was all God.

The morning of my wedding, she was at my home and she laid her hands on my head and blessed me.

I was fighting tears.

God was faithful.  He had heard her prayers for me.

This woman holds a special place in my heart because of the wisdom and time she shared with me.

The impact of having older, wiser women in my life is incredible.

When I was 18 years old and in college, I was in a women’s Bible study whose ages ranged from 40’s to 70’s.  I learned so much from their stories.

Even now, I crave the wisdom and advice from people much older than me.

They’ve been there, they’ve done that, and their words are a treasure to me.

Remember the wisest man who ever lived?  King Solomon.

Well, he had a son named Rehoboam who became king after his father died.

One day, Rehoboam needed to make an important decision, so he sought advice from two separate groups: the elders and his peers.

First Kings 12:8 says “But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.”

He followed the advice of his peers.  The end result: a rebellion.

We get advice from everywhere these days.

God has placed godly women who have lived life around you.  I encourage you to listen to their stories and glean from them.  It will be such a sweet time.

I’m realizing that soon I will be that older, wiser woman who can pass things on to someone decades younger. I pray that I can empower and encourage her in the same way I was.

We all learn form each other.

She needs me and I need her.

~Elizabeth/Betsy

Photo credit: Luana Azevedo on unsplash.com