an open letter to seasoned pastor's wives - part 2

In case you need a little boost to get the mentoring juices flowing, here are a few ideas. There are many other ways you could inventively connect with the younger PWs around you, if you just use your imagination and put your natural gifts to work.

• try starting a mentorship initiative in your church (for multi-staff churches), area, district, conference, region (or however your denomination is organized). Match older PWs with younger ones, and get the word out to all PWs. Have a place where younger PWs can sign up if they desire a mentor. Let the pastor-husbands know about it too, so that they can support their wives' efforts to participate. And if your area already has something similar - go join in! Here's an example of what one woman did.
  

• notice the new PWs that attend regional pastors meetings. Don't assume they already have friends and mentors. Go talk to them, find out where they live and invite them for a lunch date if they are close by. Swap phone numbers. Share email addresses. Go get on Facebook and make yourself a profile so you can connect with the younger women more easily.

• be a listening ear. Don't act like you know all the answers to every problem, but instead offer to share your story. "When that happened to me a few years ago, this is how we handled it, and it worked out okay. Maybe you could do something similar..." Let younger PWs glean from your wisdom and see how your experience might fit into their lives.

• host a panel discussion where younger PWs can ask questions. Offer follow-up mentoring. Invite as many women as possible to participate and have a nice meal together to foster social connections.

• spend a few evenings compiling your own little "book of wisdom." Add your stories and experiences. Scrounge up your best recipes. List the books or resources that gave you direction and guidance in your own journey. Give the younger women around you the gift of sharing what you wish you had known at their age. Even more, give them the tools to figure out what they need to know for themselves.

• if you have no idea how to be a mentor, Becoming a Woman of Influence: Making a Lasting Impact on Others by Carol Kent is an excellent resource. Begin asking God to mold you and use you in this way.
  

It's not that complicated. It's just about being yourself. And about getting connected with someone a generation removed from you, but who might not be so different. And it's about going outside your comfort zone to remember how lonely you once were, so that the young women around you don't have to feel like you did.

Most of all, it's about following Scripture and mentoring another into godly womanhood.

What other mentoring ideas would you offer a seasoned PW?