Live Life to the Hilt

poems sent to me since my mother went to Heaven

"I lay my burdens down and slept

   A peaceful, restful sleep,

I woke with Jesus - face to face

   No more to part or weep.

His smile relieved the strain of toil,

   His had wiped all my tears,

Here in His presence pain with grief

   An sorrow disappears.

Along the pat - my hand in His - 

   I learned to trust His way,

For 'in acceptance lieth peace'

   And faith drives fear away.

Oh, what delight- for I am loved

(Here doubt brings no alarms) - 

  And underneath me still I find

     The everlasting arms."

(In grateful memory of Elisabeth Elliot Gren---Christina Joy Hommes)

"The Lord is still my Shepherd,

   My Rock and Hiding Place,

Though He should take a sunbeam 

   To show me further grace.

   In pastures by the water,

In death's dark valley low,

He holds me to His bosom

   As on to heav'n we go.

With rod and staff He guides me,

  He prunes each fruitful tree;

  'Fear not for I am with You'

   He gently comforts me.

I know He's always with me

 Where're the pathway lie,

 In love He spreads a table

   For me beyond the sky.

With Him I'll dwell forever,

 He'll dry each falling tear,

His smile will heal each sorrow

  When His kind voice I hear."

Thank you Christina, for writing these in honor and memory of my mother.  She loved poetry too!  I'm so grateful for her teaching me an appreciation for it in poems, and hymns.

   

    

Relevant Docs "Legacy"

Live Life to the Hilt

Description of my mother's books

This below was written by a dear friend who wants to help me promote my mother's books. I have met many who love them, but never one who is so passionate about trying to get others to read and learn from them! To those who are unfamiliar with the story and with what each book is about, she writes these descriptions--- Thank you Luanne Miller!!

Take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. Phil 3:17 

The death of the Jim Elliot and 4 other missionaries was reported around the world.  The day-in-and-day-out faithfulness of 5 young widows surrounded by toddlers went largely unnoticed.  And yet their story was God’s mysterious way of providing a platform from which Elisabeth Elliot was able to speak and write from experience about suffering and loss, discipleship and the Cross.

Steady obedience, unseen struggle, hidden offerings, a quality of faith---we rightly admire their obscure (at the time) faithfulness and extraordinary commitment to Christ and His Kingdom.  And yet neither of them would want “their story” to be the focus. They were wholeheartedly devoted to Another and they exemplify what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

                                                                                                                                                                                 

The lives of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot are both and inspiration and a challenge. These books are easy to read...hard to live, impossible!  What is described is supernatural living, the Abundant Life that Jesus promised to those who deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him.

The following books, written by Elisabeth Elliot are available at the DISCOUNTED price of only $13 each (this cost includes shipping). 
  
Through Gates of Splendor DVD $10 each  (some nudity: may not be appropriate for small children)

TO ORDER THESE BOOKS CONTACT: shepelliot@gmail.com

BIOGRAPHICAL

SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY chronicles Jim Elliot’s journey from childhood to college days to the mission field of Ecuador where he eventually gave his life at age 28. Full of journal excerpts, personal letters, and insight into his all-consuming passion for Christ.

THROUGH GATES OF SPLENDOR is the story of the 5 young missionaries who were killed by the Aucas in 1956. Starting with their calling and arrival in Ecuador, as well as the widows' total reliance on their relationship with Jesus Christ after the men were killed. 

SHAPING OF A CHRISTIAN FAMILY recounts cherished memories and valuable insights Elisabeth gathered from her parents, grandparents, and siblings, extolling the importance of obedience, prayer, and forgiveness, among other lessons she learned.  

A CHANCE TO DIE:  The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael, a missionary whose life and writings significantly influenced Elisabeth.

THESE STRANGE ASHES:  Is God still in charge?  With fascinating detail, she reflects upon the "strange ashes" that can result when an act of obedience is passed through the fires of God's perfect--yet mysterious--will. 

MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY

PASSION AND PURITY: Learning to bring your love life under Christ’s control.  Candidly sharing her love story with Jim Elliot, an honest telling of the sacrifices of two young people whose commitment to Christ took priority over their love for each other. 

QUEST FOR LOVE dusts off "antiquated" concepts such as commitment, integrity, honor, and servanthood and shows how they still apply today.  Intertwined are hopeful true stories of how men and women discovered love through God's direction. .

MARK OF A MAN   With Christ as the example of the ultimate man, this classic take on understanding a man's role in life and relationships, romantic or otherwise, helps men define their own masculinity in a positive way. 

LET ME BE A WOMAN   In the seventies, when everyone else was talking about feminism, working from Scripture Elisabeth Elliot was talking about femininity, what it means to be a Christian woman, whether single, married, or widowed.

CHRISTIAN LIVING  and  DEVOTIONAL

DISCIPLINE THE GLAD SURRENDER   In our age of instant gratification and if-it-feels-good-do-it attitudes, a disciplined life doesn't happen spontaneously.  Discipline is the believer’s answer to God’s call, placing of oneself gladly, fully, and forever at His disposal.

GOD’S GUIDANCE:  A Slow and Certain Light (with study guide) will not show you how to find God's will in six easy steps. Instead, this practical book will fortify your faith when coming to God for the answers to life.  

A LAMP UNTO MY FEET:  The Bible's Light For Your Daily Walk   A simple little book based on Elisabeth’s own personal devotions with six months of daily reflections.  Each selection inspires a hunger for God’s provision in your life, yielding a desire for His Word.

KEEP A QUIET HEART is a unique collection of some of Elisabeth's best work from her newsletter. More than 100 short passages offer a bit of relief from everyday life as they point the reader toward the everlasting love and peace of God.

SECURE IN THE EVERLASTING ARMS: Listening to God with Love, Trust and Obedience  Life offers us a series of trials and hardships. Through the proper training and equipment, and with God at our side we can weather all of life's storms with faith and soul intact.

BE STILL MY SOUL   We have a way of making Christian concepts complicated, and Elisabeth has a way of untying the knots with grace. This is a beautiful and inspiring, “soul-stilling” collection of insightful reflections on living the Christian life.

ON ASKING GOD WHY:  And Other Reflections on Trusting God in a Twisted World   Honest insights into many of today's most prevalent heartaches. God invites his children to lay our questions before him because in him we will find every answer we need.

A PATH THROUGH SUFFERING   Avoiding pat answers and quick fixes, yet not hesitating to ask hard questions.   Boldly exploring the nature of God whose sovereign care for us is so intimate and perfect that He confounds our finite understanding. 

THE PATH OF LONELINESS   Loneliness comes to us all.  These tender reflections on God's love for us and his plans to bless us help us find hope, showing us how to make peace with loneliness, however it has come about, and how to grow through it.

 

In a letter to my mother, my Dad wrote this:

" In any case I trust the Source of sacred gladness will find you ready soil to receive the abundance of His showers." 12/22/48-- the day after my mother's Birthday, while she was at Prairie Bible Institute, after she had written something about how they didn't celebrate Christmas.

Elisabeth Elliot, "Granny" to her grandchildren

This is an excerpt from a letter to one of the Shepard girls: 

"Thank you for the lovely photo which came today. You 'have the makings of a very beautiful woman,' as my mother once said to me when I was about your age.  I'm not sure I ever turned into that, but you probably will. May the Lord keep you ever for Himself, pure, surrendered, obedient, and full of joy and compassion.  Those latter traits are and have been for some time evident in you, dear girl.

Time to take a walk-- all by my lonesome, sine Gramps had to go to Marblehead to see the tax lady.

'Christ has utterly wiped out the damning evidence of broken laws and commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it over his own head on the dross. And then, having drawn the sting of all the powers ranged against us, he exposed them, shattered, empty and defeated, in his final glorious triumphant act'  (Col 2:14-15).  Today is Good Friday --- what a depth of suffering and sorrow for our Lord, what glory and joy for us helpless sinners!"

                                                                                    With my heart's love,

                                                                                    Granny (signed in pen) [April, 1998]

How thankful I am that my mother wrote each of the 8 children regularly, and lovingly.  She always said how much she loved them, and how she prayed for them, and gave interesting tidbits of her days, as well as a little quote or verse, reminding them of the One they were made for. 

 

 

Philip James Elliot's challenge to us

Though I didn’t know my dad, I’m overwhelmed at times by what he wrote, what he stood for, and what he did!  

I think of these verses when I think of him, because he truly and completely wanted to do God’s will above all else.

I John 2:15-17--.  “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world-- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life - is not from the Father but is from the world.  And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

He followed God wholeheartedly, like Caleb, and he did not let his second love, which was my mother, sway him, even though he struggled with the temptation to do that. He believed in the motto that used to be the Coast Guard’s: “You have to go out, but you don’t have to come back!”

He wanted with all his heart to glorify Him in his life and his death.  My favorite quote of his is --“I have covenanted with the Father, that He would either glorify Himself to the utmost in me, or slay me.”

He had a love of adventure and daring and lived out his own motto: “Wherever you are, be ALL THERE, in every situation you find yourself, life life to the hilt!” He did not fear what men could do to him, and he especially was disgusted with American Christians and their apathy.  He said “most Americans don’t need a call, they need a kick in the pants!”

So...God called him and 4 other dedicated missionaries to bring the Gospel to the unreached.  They sang with their wives, the beautiful hymn, right before getting in the plane to fly to Palm Beach.

“We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!

We go not forth alone against the foe;

Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,

‘we rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go,’ (repeat)

Yea, ‘in Thy Name,’ O Captain of salvation!

In Thy dear Name, all other names above;

Jesus our Righteousness, our sure foundation, Our Prince of Glory and our King of love….(repeat)

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,

And needing more each day Thy grace to know;

Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing;

We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”(repeat)

God’s ways are not our ways- His ways are higher, and tho’ mysterious, He knows what is Best for us.

He wrote in his journal about his father’s preaching: “Dad’s talks shame me to silence.

I know nothing of the Word, little of God’s ways, when I think of how far he has gone into the secret riches of the Father’s purposes in Christ. O Lord, let me learn tenderness and silence in my spirit, fruits of Thy knowledge.  Burden, burn, break me, Lord.”  And I think of my own weakness in focusing on meditation of His Word and my lukewarmness, at times, and I am also shamed to silence!

He wrote this poem shortly after that journal entry.

“O God, that goadest me with hunger-pricks for Thee within,

By stealing from my heart its dearest stays,

And staying me with tendrils of Thy love--

A token of friendship from a dear one in Thee,

A word of Holy Writ, a song,

A thousand things of spider-thong

Which lift my heart from seen things, sturdy, strong,

And rest me, relaxed, hung from an unseen stay above--

Wise-goading God, teach me to rest in love.”

That kind of mind which can write a poem, deep and beautiful in meaning, astounds me!

He found his complete joy and satisfaction in Christ alone- and that singleness of purpose and devoted heart also amaze me.

He prayed, “Father, let me not be dissipated on non-essentials...sublimate these huge hungers to the obedience of Christ. Above all these things, I would have holinesss- tho- I covet the power of holiness just now.  Let me not err in feeling.  Teach me the path of faith. “

May we, who follow in the train of disciples, be that kind of disciple, so longing to know Him, that everything else pales in comparison, that nothing sways us from pursuing hard after God, that we give room (time and space) in our lives to seek His face alone, as Jesus did in the wilderness.  My father said,

“Be on guard, my soul, of complicating your environment, so that you have neither time nor room for growth.”  

May we discipline ourselves diligently to sit at Christ’s feet, and learn of Him.

Elisabeth Elliot's Memorial Service at Wheaton

Live Life to the Hilt

Elisabeth Elliot's Memorial Service Will be at Wheaton College on July 26, 2015.  We hope anyone who is able will join us.  

There will be an informal hymn sing at 3:00 in Edman Chapel at Wheaton College on July 26, followed by the "official" memorial service starting at 3:15. The public is invited. Afterwards there will be a light refreshment at a reception in the Kresge Room and possibly outside where we will have chocolate chip cookies, Elisabeth Elliot's favorite.

If you would like to donate something to the Elisabeth Elliot memorial funds, please give to www.coastalchurch.org (by mail), the address is:
CCC, PO Box 11107, Southport, NC  28461

The Memorial Service will be streamed live at 3 pm on the 26th at a link to be announced. 


The Funeral Service from Gordon College is still available at 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L7dbNlD9Ak
or just search Elisabeth Elliot Memorial Service.

funeral and memorial service for Elisabeth Elliot

The funeral for my mother will be on Tuesday the 23rd of June at 10:30 in the  A. J. Gordon chapel at Gordon College, 255 Grapevine Rd, in Wenham, Massachusetts.  There will also be visitation on Monday night  at 6-8:30  at the Greely Funeral Home, 212 Washington Street, Gloucester.  More visitation on Monday at 9 AM at Gordon, before the funeral. 

We are holding a memorial service on July 26th in Wheaton, Ill. Stay posted for details- it will be in the afternoon, but time and place are still not decided. The public is invited to both. 

Elisabeth Elliot, my dear mother

“Wherever you are, be all there! Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.” by Jim Elliot, whose whole name was Phillip James Elliot

My father lived out this quote of his, and my mother loved him for his absolute commitment to the Kingdom, and courage to do whatever it would take to glorify Him. My mother has now gone on to see Jesus Christ, face to face, and I am so grateful that she has been freed from the chains of this earthly life. In her last 10 years, with dementia, she was peaceful and I saw that serenity most when we sang hymns to her. It used to be that when she and I would sing together, she would point out special lines that meant a great deal to her, and it would give me more appreciation for each one. I would say some of her favorites were:
 Beneath the Cross of Jesus
 Guide me O, Thou great Jehovah
 For all the Saints
 Jesus the Very Thought of Thee
 Jesus keep me Near the Cross
 Jesus Thou Joy of loving Heart
 Tallis's cannon- Glory to Thee, my God, this night
 Praise my soul the King of Heaven which was sung at her second two weddings
 Trust and Obey
 Praise the Savior ye who Know Him
 I cannot Tell, why He whom angels worship
 My Faith has Found a resting place
 The Lord's my Shepherd
 At Even, ere the Sun was Set
 And Can it be

 She knew hundreds and I'm so glad she sang them to me throughout my childhood, especially right before going to sleep. She taught me to pray to our Father, always starting her prayers with "Dear Father." I learned trust and contentment at her side. I learned that God's will was the most important thing to pursue in life. I learned to laugh and enjoy funny, fascinating, and fortifying stories. Several of them were about Gladys Aylward, the "small woman of China." She had heard her speak once and could imitate her perfectly. One of the stories was about her leading a group of children through forest and a mountainous terrain, which had bandits, and singing to them, "I will not be afraid, I will not be afraid, I will look upward, and travel onward, and NOT be afraid!" One of the main themes of her training of me was based on Jesus's teaching of Luke 16:10- "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much." I remember that verse almost daily in my routines.

 As the weeks go by, and I think of her teaching and love, I will share more. I'm looking forward to honoring her at the memorial service in July. It will be announced on her website- Elisabethelliot.org and on Face Book.

Praising Him

May the Holy Spirit use these words to help you to praise Him, our Triune God. 

This text is based on the anonymous fourth-century Latin hymn “Te Deum Laudamus," which in one modern English prose translation reads:

We praise you, O God,
we acclaim you as Lord;
all creation worships you,
the Father everlasting.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.

The glorious company of apostles praise you.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise you.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise you.

Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims you:

Father, of majesty unbounded,
your true and only Son, worthy of all praise,
the Holy Spirit, advocate and guide.

You, Christ, are the king of glory,
the eternal Son of the Father.
When you took our flesh to set us free
you humbly chose the virgin's womb.
You overcame the sting of death,
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
You are seated at God's right hand in glory.
We believe that you will come to be our judge. 

Come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of your own blood,
and bring us with your saints
to glory everlasting.

-English Language Liturgical Commission, from Praying Together, 1988

Sometimes our minds need words written centuries before us to focus on what we're really praising and thanking Him for.  May this be a help to your worship today, Good Friday, the day we remember more deeply what Christ went through, all for our sake. "He paid a debt He didn't owe, (because He was sinless), for us who owed a debt we couldn't pay, (because we are sinners)."

A classic text of the church, "Te Deum Laudamus" has been a staple item in many liturgies and is sometimes extended with versicles and responses. It is loved by all traditions of Christendom: Eastern, Roman Catholic, and Protestant. Much of the text consists of liturgical phrases and acclamations, including some from the "Gloria in excelsis Deo" (see 247). Over the centuries many composers have set this text in large choral works; it has been translated and versified into many languages and expressed in numerous hymns.