Guest Post: The Ministry of Single Girls
The Ministry of Single GirlsGuest Post by Katie Martin
It's truly amazing how much a young lady can be an encouragement and a blessing to those around her during her single years. Singleness, though it may be temporary, is a valuable time to reach out to your community and to serve and care for your family. Here are just a ideas I thought of for ways to be a blessing to the different people the Lord puts in your path:
Your Parents
Especially for young women, serving your parents is a way to be a blessing in your home, to be obedient to the Lord, and to be an example to the younger children around you. I'm not talking about simply obeying your parents, but go out of your way to make sure their needs are met without being asked.
I love to wash, iron, and lay out my dad's clothes for work and to cook his favorite meals. My dad loves chocolate chip cookies - fresh out of the oven. It brings me joy to see him getting excited when he smells them baking! My mom loves it when I bring her some iced tea or clean something that usually gets overlooked. These are just simple things that can be a big blessing to your parents!
Your Church
In my church there are a number of opportunities for a young woman to serve. Every first Sunday of the month we have a big lunch after the morning service. All the women and girls cook the food, bring it to church, and set it up. There are lots of families with many little children and the unmarried girls often help the little ones go through the line and fix their plates. Afterwards, we help clean up and re-package food to be taken home.
Another way we can serve in the church is by helping young mothers with their little children. It's such a blessing to allow a young mother to talk without being interrupted and it's a blessing for me to be able to play with her little ones!
A lot of young unmarried girls in our church can play the piano and we love to be able to relieve the pianist every once in a while. That's another fine way for a young girl to serve in the church!
Your Siblings/Other Children
The best way to be an encouragement to your siblings/other children is to spend time playing with them. They love that! I love playing with children and it always encourages me as I strive to be a godly woman because I see how much of an example I'm setting for them. There are a lot of ways I can be a blessing to my mother and siblings at the same time by helping my siblings with their schoolwork or their piano.
Sometimes it's necessary just to be silly when I'm playing with them. I try to enjoy every minute without controlling or being condescending. My siblings don't know it yet, but this Valentine's Day I'm planning a special treasure hunt for them - they'll have so much fun completing all the steps in order to get their Valentine's Day cards! These kinds of surprises are the most fun for them.
Another way I can bless my siblings is by teaching them. My mother is the primary teacher in our household but I can help my siblings with their math, science, or spelling. I also help them with their piano work. It's a wonderful way to practice for being a homeschooling mother someday!
One of their favorite things to do is play "one room schoolhouse". They love it when I dress up and play the teacher. I write lessons on the board for them to copy. Little do they know that when they are pretending to learn, they really are learning!
The Elderly
There are a lot of absolutely lovely elderly people within my church family. I love to sit and listen to them talk about their lives and their spiritual journeys. You can gain so much wisdom from them! My family greatly enjoys volunteering at the local assisted living facility and blessing the residents by talking to them, playing BINGO, bringing them cards, and playing hymns on the piano.
There are so many things an unmarried girl can do to bless others around her and bring the glory to God. The Lord is gracious! I'm blessed beyond measure in this season of my life and I wouldn't change it for the world.
-Katie Martin is a seventeen year old stay at home daughter. She enjoys cooking, sewing, graphic design, teaching piano lessons, and playing with her five younger siblings. In an effort to encourage other young ladies during this season of life, she blogs regularly at Stay-At-Home Daughters under the moniker of "Flibby."
Graphic from AllPosters.com
Labels: For the unmarried
posted by Crystal Paine at 7:51 AM
3 Comments:
Katie, you are such a beautiful young lady! May God bless you as you bless others... Thanks for sharing...
Phebe
Thank you for this, Crystal and Katie.
Valentine's Day has never been a big deal to me, but it is good to have encouragement for this time of my life as an unmarried woman. Though I am content in the place God has me in my family, I always need the challenge of blessing others instead of just going along with the daily routine.
I wanted to comment about the wonderful magazine geared towards single daughters that are homemakers.This was so inspiring, and I agree with every word.
Women need to see that there is a choice for them.I myself always felt that I had to go further, push harder. I was told that without college I would not have a life to be proud of. I was given the choice of picking a college, or a technical trade school.
I was very lucky to have met my dh and in the beginning I was working in a salon from 7am till 10 pm most days. (working on commission only)
At that point in my life I was 19 yrs. old, moved out and caring for my dh, his 4yr. old son,and a home. There just was not enough hours to get everything done. From the point of leaving my job (after talking it over w/dh)I left and never looked back. I was so grateful for my dh and was quite stunned at how old fashioned he was. He was ok with roles that I believe are old fashion to many people.
I was not taught how to do many things and just had an interest in watching and learning off of others. I really love to talk to people that think being a homemaker, and a helpmeet to their husbands comfortable, and inspiring.
Homemakers are often not given the credit that they deserve.
Renee~ mama to four
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