Hidden Treasure

How many page-a-day calendars can a person have?  For over a decade, I've daily enjoyed a Timothy Botts Names of God perpetual calendar.  Now it's relegated to the guest room while we enjoy a Timothy Botts Verse-a-Day calendar.  I haven't held onto other page-a-day calendars.

As I prepared the house for guests last week, I noticed the Elisabeth Elliot perpetual calendar in the guest room - cum - office.  The page hadn't been turned in months.  Why did we still have it?  Wouldn't it be best if I put it in the garage sale pile, instead of having it collect dust here?

On a whim (or a Spirit-led move), I placed it on the windowsill above my kitchen sink.  And everyday I flipped it.  And, more importantly, as I stood at the sink, I would read the quote and the verse, and I had time to think about it, while doing the rather mindless work of dish-washing.

Our friend Elisabeth does not mince words, and I have been feeling the lack of such a no-nonsense voice in my life.  Surrounded by American culture ~ and with a goal of putting down roots ~ combined with saying "farewell" to the nomadic lifestyle as well as the lifestyle of eating, breathing, and sleeping strategic ministry on the edge of Kingdom advancement, I have found it very easy to adopt the "my rights" mentality all around me.

I need our friend Elisabeth's reminders, and I want to be like her when I grow up!

Consider this gem:

"If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for." - Elisabeth Elliot, "A Heart for God" perpetual calendar, June 7

And to think I almost put her in the garage sale box!  When I showed the calendar to Jim, he asked, "It was mine?!"  He has no recollection of how it got here, other than the fact that he is a huge EE fan.