Visit to Elisabeth Elliot's & Wednesday's Prayer Girls & LinkUp Party!

Hello everyone! We returned from three glorious days visiting Elisabeth Elliot and her husband, Lars. For those of you that don't know her, you must look her up! She is one of the spiritual giants of our day, and Elisabeth has been a spiritual mother to countless women in the spirit of Titus 2 where the older women are commanded to teach the younger women. She has endured much in her life, including the death of her first husband, Jim Elliot, and then her second husband, Addison Leitch. You can read about her, and her many wonderful writings (she has written numerous books) at www.elisabethelliot.org.

It was such an honor to not only be invited to their home, but to stay in their lovely bedroom overlooking the sea! (Elisabeth was diagnosed with dementia nearly a decade ago, and can no longer walk upstairs, where this lovely room overlooks the sea, as does the adjoining bath.) Downstairs in the living room, they had Psalm 95:5 on a large plaque above a huge picture window which showed the same vast, breathtaking seaside view:

Oh, there is so much more to say, but I need to get this blog out since tomorrow is Wednesday, and each Wednesday I host a Link-Up Party for Christian bloggers! 

I hope to be back to tell you about reading scripture to Elisabeth from the devotional she introduced me to, walking to church with them (Elisabeth in a wheelchair with her two godly, wonderful, young caregivers, Kea and Carrie) and later singing "It is Well with My Soul," watching my daughter, Mary, sing to Elisabeth and tell her how much she loved her (Elisabeth rarely speaks now, but when Mary asked her if she (Elisabeth) knew how much she loved her, she replied with a long, "Yeeeeeeeees!," eating Lar's wonderful Norwegian salmon (which I tried to copy last night for my family, along with making Kea's baked oatmeal yesterday for my family for breakfast), waking up in Elisabeth's room to the vast ocean, sitting in Elisabeth's seat overlooking the sea in her office and looking at all her books (most old authors like Samuel Rutherford and St. Augustine), meeting her sister, Ginny and going to her home, seeing Elisabeth's books on the shelf in her office with her handwritten notes in them, seeing her notes on her typewriter, scriptures and sayings around her home, and her photo album of the time with the Auca Indians. Lars, being such a gentlemen, took us all the way to the gate when we departed! 

And photos, I have so many photos, but I am overwhelmed, but want to share here on my blog and on my Instagram at JuanaMikels, as well as on FB on JuanaMikels (My blog automatically posts on my Google plus which is also JuanaMikels.) Many may have seen the instagram I sent out on the note she typed to herself on her typewriter:

I have so many dear ones! It was bittersweet as you can imagine with Elisabeth's affliction, but she is such a living model of "in acceptance lieth peace," no matter what her circumstances are. To God be the glory! 

I came back spiritually refreshed and ready to enthusiastically serve my family, which I learned from Elisabeth. 

Thank you to the bloggers who joined us by posting at our special two-week party on our last Wednesday's Link-Up Party while I was away! Now we are back to our once a week Wednesday Link-Up!

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It's time for 

Wednesday's Prayer Girls & Link-Up Party!

                             

Each Wednesday I like to offer to pray for your non-confidential prayer request or praise in the comment section below. Please enter a prayer if you would like me to pray for you (and pray for one another!) and I will be reading your prayer and lifting up your request as I read it, or if you just have a comment (click the word "COMMENT" located below my signature below, under the colorful social media sharing squares:-)

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If you're a Christian blogger, we all would love to see what you've been writing! Enter your blog link below to join the party! For readers, enjoy the blog party below! This weeks special party is open for 2 weeks!

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I'd love to connect with you on your favorite spot:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. 

You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 

It is my delight to pray for you! 

Remember, God desires us not only to be a believers, but to be wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ! May we listen to Him daily through His word, and obey Him!

Walk by faith,

Going to Visit Elisabeth Elliot, I'll Be Back End of August! (& 2-Wk Wednesday LinkUp Party!)

My daughter, Mary, and I are so excited we are about to pop! We are washing clothes like mad and packing for we are about to go on a trip to see Elisabeth Elliot and her dear husband, Lars. I'll be taking a short blog break, but I'll have lots of good pictures to share with you when I return. I know so many of you love them as much as we do, so I will try to share, share, share with you! ☺

Elisabeth & Lars in our home last year  

Lars wants Mary to sing for Elisabeth while we're there, (and for her sister, that we will meet for the first time!). She's preparing hymns of course, but I told her to throw in some songs from The Sound of Music because everyone loves those so much for fun. ☺  I always take some books to read when I travel, and I nearly always have one that Elisabeth wrote! But I am leaving them all at home, because being with her will far outweigh any reading I could do.

We wouldn't dream of not packing plenty of York peppermint patties! That's because Mary calls Lars, "Double Yorkie," and she refers to herself as, "Little Yorkie." It's a long story about a trip to York, South Carolina, but I already bought the York patties to take with us. I'm also taking getting Lars some figs (Sh! surprise ☺)  because his birthday is coming soon, and he loves them. (Mary can impersonate Lar's voice and southern accent to the point you think he's in the room! We're taking UNO & Taboo to play, but I'm secretly hoping Mary does her impersonations of Lars and Elisabeth. ☺ 

Many of you have asked me how I was so fortunate as to get to know Elisabeth Elliot and her husband (and Elisabeth's dear daughter Valerie, too, but she won't be staying with us as she lives in NC). I was just a listener to Elisabeth's radio program way back in 1992. I wrote Elisabeth and we began a writing correspondence which lasted years until she was no longer able to write. She was so good about writing people back! I sent her a tape I made her (a tape was easier for me because I had 3 children under 5 at the time, and I made the tape in the middle of the night!). She later asked me to be a guest on her program, and has stayed with us several times. This will be our first time seeing her home and staying with her! They invited us, and they didn't have to ask twice! ☺☺☺

To this day, I try to reply back to every comment I get on my blog (I don't every time) and on Fb or Instagram as long as I am able, because she is my example. Elisabeth was diagnosed with dementia about ten years ago. She is unable to speak (sometime a word will come out, like when I asked her if she wanted apple pie last time I saw her she said, "No!"), yet her beautiful blue eyes demonstrate her absolute peace and contentment in this last affliction of her life. Oh how her life speaks so loudly what she taught us all so well, from her mentor, Amy Carmichael: "In acceptance, lieth peace."

I'll leave you with this video my Mary (born blind) singing, "This We Pray," to dear Elisabeth!

See you at the end of August!  Have a prayer request? I can still pray for you while I'm on blog break. Leave your request in the comments!

The Linky Party will be open for nearly two weeks since I'll be gone! That's a long LinkUp Party! So Bloggers, feel free to come back next week and post some more!

❧  ❧  ❧  ❧ ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧ ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧  ❧

It's time for 

Wednesday's Prayer Girls & Link-Up Party!

                             

Each Wednesday I like to offer to pray for your non-confidential prayer request or praise in the comment section below. Please enter a prayer if you would like me to pray for you (and pray for one another!) and I will be reading your prayer and lifting up your request as I read it, or if you just have a comment (click the word "COMMENT" located below my signature below, under the colorful social media sharing squares:-)

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If you're a Christian blogger, we all would love to see what you've been writing! Enter your blog link below to join the party! For readers, enjoy the blog party below! This weeks special party is open for 2 weeks!

♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥  ♥

I'd love to connect with you on your favorite spot:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube or Google+. 

You may follow my blog here or on Bloglovin'. 

It is my delight to pray for you! 

Remember, God desires us not only to be a believers, but to be wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ! May we listen to Him daily through His word, and obey Him!

Walk by faith,