Tribe of Women

^"Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, ⁴ so that they may ^[b]encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." --Titus 2:3-5

On our journeys, we all have someone further along and someone coming behind us. It's so important that we remember we're all on the same journey - homeward bound-- and not do this alone. We weren't meant to.

I have three boys and I often worry about my middle son because I was afraid he'd develop the "middle child syndrome". I joke truly about this but I do think there's something to be said for birth order and personality types. And having a strong older brother and an outgoing younger brother, I was afraid he'd get lost. But really, he has the best of both worlds. He gets the benefits of being led and learning from mistakes of Noah, my oldest son and he also gets the honor & responsibility of leading Seth, the baby. Both roles are hard. You have to be humble to be led, willing to learn, be broken and then use it for growth. As a leader, you take all the vision and conviction you can muster and pray like crazy you're doing it right, being strong without crushing those in your charge.

You know what, we're all middle kids. We're all learning and growing and we're all leading and being used. Its the toughest, most beautiful struggle. It's why we need Jesus, who is the greatest leader because simultaneously He is also the greatest servant. So there's no need for us to work against each other, we need to work together. We need each other to be the best versions of ourselves. I'm better when I'm surrounded by my sweet sisters in faith. They speak truth and love to me, encourage me that I'm not alone and that I'll make it. We're really all just walking each other home.