Titus 2 - learning from others

This weekend just gone, I travelled down south to spend time with some friends of ours. They're actually friends of Mr E but over the past two years they have become 'our' friends.

They have been married for over 4 years and have two amazingly gorgeous twins, who I had a real blast getting to know, with another on the way.

Titus 2 is a great chapter, which teaches us that we should learn from the 'older' women to be 'good homemakers, who put their husbands first'. I went there to get to know them better and also to learn from them because they always seem to have pearls of wisdom whenever I speak to them.

³Tell the older women to behave as those who love the Lord should. They must not gossip about others or be slaves of wine. They must teach what is proper, ⁴so the younger women will be loving wives and mothers. ⁵Each of the younger women must be sensible and kind, as well as a good homemaker, who puts her own husband first. Then no one can say insulting things about God's message.

A while back I wrote the 'telling it how it is' post, where I spoke about how I appreciated couples who keep it real. They definitely did that and I was able to learn a lot in the short space of time I was with them. Its also good to watch other couples and see how they interact with each other.

Some of their great advice included the following:

- It starts with your relationship with God. Ensure that it is spot on, otherwise your relationship with your spouse will suffer. The devil looks for ways to tamper with this relationship, so be on guard.

- Care for their soul. In marriage while you love your spouse, you should genuinely care for their soul. This will come into play when you have arguments etc. Be mindful of what you say and learn to let things go.

- A wise woman builds her home. Nuff said!

- Pray {all the time and for each other, all the time}

- Don't let the flesh take over {selfishness, pride, lust etc}

- Know your priorities - family is first

- Know your limits. We're not superheroes {this one is for the ladies!}

- Husbands should love their wives with understanding.

- kids change EVERYTHING. They will change YOU.

One of other reasons why I had such a great weekend {which helped me forget about the horrible cold I had} was that it was so nice to be around family again. It helps you put things into perspective when you're sat having a conversation about life with two 3 year olds!

If you have the opportunity to spend time with families and other married couples, jump on it. You will be surprised with what you learn and you will definitely leave encouraged and blessed!