Elisabeth Elliot - Just Do The Next Thing

Elizabeth Elliot met her precious Jesus this week. She has been one of my favourite authors for over 30 years. She lived on this earth for 88 years. She lived well. She spoke well. She wrote well. She loved well. In times of sadness and despair she encouraged her readers to 'just do the next thing'. This simple, and profound wisdom has been such a gift many times. This article below is from Desiring God blog. Do the Next Thing Adrien Segal / June 18, 2015 This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness. ―Elisabeth Elliot Elisabeth Elliot was my spiritual mother, and this week she died. I was raised by a wonderful earthly mother and father who were practical, down-to-earth, gracious, and hard-working. Sadly, my parents, by their own admission, were not born again. The things my parents taught me, though often right and important, were simply about developing character and strength, civility and manners, hard work and independence so that I would contribute positively to society. These lessons are good and right, and probably needed today more than ever, but after I was born again in 1982, I began to see that there was much more to learn about life and my place in it. When I was awakened to new life in Jesus, I began to appreciate that my life was not simply about being the best person I could be or about building a happy life for myself. Quite simply, my life was not my own. It belonged to God, the one who created me and sent his Son to die for my sins so that I might have new life in him. I was to live for him — for his glory. My church back then taught about God’s love, but it did not teach the Bible well. I got my best Bible teaching in those days from radio preaching and from Elisabeth Elliot. As a young wife and mother, I would try to listen every day. Her program, as I recall, was only 15 minutes a day, but so much was packed into those few minutes. A Woman Who Knew God Here was a woman who knew the Lord. Here was a woman willing to serve the Lord no matter where he called her. Here was a woman who suffered the loss of her young husband as a martyr on the mission field, and then stayed for several years to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the same people who killed her beloved Jim. A few years later, she lost a second husband to cancer. Elisabeth Elliot suffered beyond what I could even have imagined as a wife and mother. And her response to it all? Trust in God, obey him, and do the next thing. “Do the next thing” became a mantra at our house. My husband and I still use it more than twenty years later to encourage each other. Elisabeth would always have a Scriptural basis for her counsel which was straight-forward, no-nonsense, and unsentimental. It was easy for young, exhausted, me-generation mothers of toddlers to fall into self pity, but each day Elisabeth Elliot would graciously, but firmly, pick me back up. She’d remind me that my lot was a calling from God, and that it was nothing that millions of women hadn’t done before me with fewer resources and conveniences. Obedience and Happiness She stressed consistency in discipline, and affirmed regularly that even small children are capable of obeying if parents, especially mothers, are firm but loving. I learned that the happiest children are the ones whose mothers and fathers have the courage and strength to lovingly discipline well. And I learned the importance of obedience, not simply for my children, but for myself. Before I became a mother, as I got to college in the seventies, the social climate had turned upside down and it seemed everyone rebelled against obeying anything but your own “inner voice.” To my and millions of others’ eternal benefit, Elisabeth Elliot boldly confronted that lie. A life of obedience to a God who created, saved, and loved me would never harm me. My obedience to him would never make me miss happiness and satisfaction. To the contrary, obedience was the surest, fastest path to my greatest joy. A Call to Older Women The Bible stresses the importance of older women speaking into the lives of younger women: Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (Titus 2:3–5) I am grateful Elisabeth Elliot devoted her life to doing this for women in my generation. In just minutes a day, she helped me love my husband better. She helped me raise happy and obedient children who love the Lord. She helped me see that my greatest calling is to live each day, each moment, doing the next thing to the glory of the Lord. That’s a pretty wonderful legacy. May I and others like me be obedient to God’s call to do the same for the generations of women that follow us. Related Articles Peaches in Paradise: Why I Loved Elisabeth Elliot Alzheimer’s, the Brain, and the Soul Your Executioner May Laugh You to Scorn for Quoting Psalm 91

Contentment

Contentment

I read a newspaper article recently that was identifying the trend for ‘mummy bloggers’ to focus on the negative aspects of motherhood. These type of articles receive rave reviews for their honesty and transparency. Those who write articles sharing how much they love parenting are loudly disapproved off.

 

It seems it is trendy to complain.

 

There is no doubt that parenting is hard work.

 

Sleepless nights.

 

Unwell children.

 

Sibling rivalry.

 

Constant whining.

 

Never-ending piles of washing.

 

Yet the joys of parenting are immense.

 

Cuddles and kisses.

 

Beautiful smiles.

 

The sweet ‘I love you’.

 

The delight of the first step, the first word spoken.

 

The pride in the first attempts at writing, counting and reading.

 

So should we complain about the hard bits of parenting or magnify those treasured memory moments?

 

Maybe a balance is best.

 

Parenting, like any occupation has good days and bad days. 

 

We can acknowledge the hard moments, the hard days and the hard seasons. Yet we can choose to focus on the positive aspects, the snippets of fun and light in the middle of the busyness. We can choose to see the good and we can choose to remember the best of each day.

Each night I write in my journal. Most nights, it is only a few lines. Occasionally I write a whole page. I record one thing I am thankful for. I write why I am thankful for that. This is such a simple act that takes only a minute or two in my day.

Yet it is so powerful. My eyes are open to the little moments in the day. My heart is open to enjoying that special moment. I treasure that small act of kindness. I value the interaction with a friend or colleague or child. I am more thankful for the many, many little things in each day. My heart is grateful.

I am content.

 

So, yes, be honest about the ‘hard’ elements of parenting. It is not fun for every minute of the day. That’s okay.

Enjoy the journey.

Enjoy the season you are in.

Enjoy today.

Enjoy this moment.

Be content.

 

 

 

Looking Back: Teen Mum #4

 

Things that I am glad I did when the kids were younger

 

1. ROUTINE – helped with having a sense of control as well as training

2. FAMILY NIGHT – planned, intentional time together

• Themes etc
• Priority in week
• Kids look forward to it/can be involved in planning
• Also opportunity to use for training – eg self control/forgiveness
• Prayer nights/different nights of focus
• Helps with family identity

3. READING NIGHT


4. TEACHING MANNERS – hard hard work but you hope it eventually pays off!

• Mr/Mrs,
• Asking ‘may I’
• Interrupt rule
   
  The funnel – ‘begin as you mean to go’ – much easier to let out the funnel than start with it wide open and realise you have problems and need to rein things in.
   
   

1 thing I wish I did do or wish I didn’t do

 

Wish I didn’t do/could have done better – ongoing! – let my mood govern a situation – modelling my OWN self-control. Comes down to being humble, acknowledging sin, realising need God’s help in every single situation and that He is the one that gives me self-control.

 

Also having a community of like-minded friends who are on the same page really, really helps, especially when the choices you make for your family are unpopular with them!!