Jesus is My Only Refuge - Biography of Ann Judson

She called herself one of the “happiest creatures on earth.” Ann, the youngest of five children, was born in 1789 in Bradford, New England to John and Rebecca Hasseltine. At the age of thirteen, she searched for happiness in the clothing she wore, the parties she attended, and the “wild and volatile” friends she indulged. Though she had no concern for her own soul, God did, and He was about to turn her world upside down to not only save her and grant her true happiness, but to reach across the seas and bring the gospel to the far away land of Burma.

The Holy Spirit began to work in Ann’s heart and a desire to grow in her knowledge of God blossomed. Although Ann still struggled to understand the Bible, the Word of God became dear to her and one day she would translate it into the language of a people she did not know. In time, she experienced the peace of knowing she belonged to Christ and that she was forgiven of her sins based on Christ’s merit alone.

“Felt a willingness to give myself away to Christ, to be disposed of as he pleases. Here I find safety and comfort. Jesus is my only refuge…” Sharon James, Ann Judson: A Missionary Life for Burma, p. 33

In the summer of 1810, the Hasseltine family hosted a lunch for missionaries, including a young man named Adoniram Judson. Upon meeting Ann, Adoniram immediately noticed her beauty, personality, and winsome ways. On February 5th, 1812, Ann and Adoniram were married and a farewell service followed. They intended to leave immediately with their friends before the war between Britain and America would restrict them from sea travel. 

After arriving in Calcutta, finding a place to set up a mission proved challenging. Many countries were closed to the spread of the gospel and political conditions were uncertain. The British East India Company opposed all foreign missionaries. One of the locations that was open to them was the Isle of France. Fellow missionaries, Samuel and Harriet Newell, left on the first ship to Isle of France as the Judsons would join them on a later ship. When the Judsons arrived, Ann received the devastating news that her friend, Harriet, had died on ship after giving birth to her daughter, who died shortly after. Through many difficult attempts at settling into a mission work on the Isle of France, they realized that their work would not be permitted among the slave population, and that the slave owners had such control over the island that they would have to look elsewhere to begin their work. As they looked toward Burma, the land of the Golden Shore, they saw an immense opportunity for translation work and evangelism. Through all this, Ann was beginning to face the realities of the life she had been called to for the cause of Christ. And yet her hope was firmly planted in the sovereignty of God and his step-by-step direction. 

In Burma, where Buddhism was the main religion, seventeen million people had no Bible and no hope. Ann and Adoniram longed to see these people come to know the redeeming love of God. Their mission was to go and make disciples; this land of pagodas would become their mission field. Over the next several years, Ann learned both the languages of Burmese and Siamese. She began discipling women, started a school for girls, and wrote and translated a catechism for children into Burmese.

In September 1815, Ann gave birth to a son, Roger Williams. Their joy was immense as they watched their baby grow healthy and strong until at nearly eight months of age, fever and violent coughing fits overtook his health and he passed away silently in the night. Their grief came in waves like the current of the Arah-wah-tee. The ebb and flow of bereavement and hope wound its way to the sea of God’s unfailing love. Returning to study and work was their source of distraction, and trusting in God’s will was their source of comfort.  

Ann’s health continued to suffer and she had to leave Burma for cooler climates in England, and then America. When she finally returned two and a half years later, not only was she reunited with her husband, but a small Christian church was growing its roots deeper into the Burman soil and her husband had completed the first translation of the New Testament. The long awaited harvest had begun, and they began to see the fruit of all their labors. 

A week after her return, Adoniram and Ann traveled by boat up the Arah-wah-tee to move to the capital city of Ava, on invitation from the King. They felt it necessary to secure a mission post there. As they traveled, passing war boats and soldiers, they could not help but put their trust in God’s care. Ann wrote in her journal: “Not a hair of our head can be injured, but with the permission of Him whose precious name we would make known…” Sharon James, Ann Judson: A Missionary Life for Burma, p.172

Several months went by and the Judsons received news that Rangoon had been captured by the British. All foreigners were now suspected as spies. It wasn’t long before Adoniram and a friend were thrown into prison. His faithful wife spent the next year and a half advocating for his release, his comfort and for better prison conditions. She kept him alive by bringing food almost daily and mats to sleep on. At one point, she brought him a pillow and secretly tucked inside was the only copy of the translated New Testament. There inside the destitute prison, a light was shining into the darkness. It was a light that would never be extinguished. It was the light for which they had sacrificed and suffered so much.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

During Adoniram’s prison stay, Ann gave birth to a baby girl named Maria. She brought her everywhere including into the prison for Adoniram to meet their little girl. Soon, Adoniram was transferred to another prison. To this place of wretchedness, Ann followed. Meanwhile, the conditions in which she lived further exacerbated her own health, including an outbreak of small pox, a trip to Ava to retrieve her medicine chest, and the onset of a fatal illness. It was a miracle she survived any of these trials. 

News finally came that Burma had ceded to the English. When Adoniram was finally allowed to return to his family, he could barely recognize his dear wife, sick as she was. In February 1826, the Judsons were freed to find refuge at the English camp where they were nurtured back to health.

After the war, the Judsons moved to Tennasserim where they could enjoy religious freedom. Ann was content with their new surroundings, their large and spacious home provided much comfort, and she looked forward to a happy existence continuing their work for the foreseeable future. You might say that she thought herself one of the “happiest creatures on earth” and truly she was, because her happiness was not dependent on her outside circumstances, but on the sovereign and secure love of God. While Adoniram was away to the capital, Ann came down with a violent fever. Her body worn from years of illness, she passed away into that eternal happiness that was purchased for her at the cross.

Ann Judson accomplished much in her short life of thirty-seven years. With a courage that can only come from God, she followed His call to go and make disciples. All the while, she and her husband knew that they were working to lay a foundation that would benefit future missionaries to Burma. Two hundred years after the Judsons began their work, in 2017, the Jesus Storybook Bible has been translated and published into the Burmese language by modern missionaries to Burma whom I had the privilege of meeting in person. The light of God’s Word continues to shine in Burma with the unfailing love of Christ. You can follow current gospel work of missionaries, Jim and Breanna Randall, in Burma through their blog here: https://burmachronicle.com/

“…a little sacrifice for the cause of Christ is not worth naming; and I feel it a privilege, of which I am entirely undeserving, to have had it in my power to sacrifice my all for him who hesitated not to lay down his life for sinners.” Sharon James, Ann Judson: A Missionary Life for Burma, p.120

This biographical essay was originally written for and published by Wildflowers Girls Magazine for the Fall 2018 issue. Researching and writing about Ann was an encouragement to me as our family had moved several times through the years. In 2018, my husband graduated from seminary, and at this time we were waiting on the Lord for direction of where to plant a church while also accepting a two year church planting residency to prepare to plant the church. Something fun about all of this was that I got to briefly connect with the author of the original English edition of the Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd Jones, on Instagram many years ago while walking through a grocery store to get the weekly groceries for my family. So many fun connections! Praise to Jesus!

Lilias Trotter: The Life & Work of a Soul in Blossom

(This essay was originally published in the print magazine, Deeply Rooted Magazine, Issue 12, The Calling.)

When the Lord calls a soul to Himself, there is an unmistakable dying that occurs at the same time as there is a supernatural giving of life into union with Christ. At this point of receiving that resurrection life and power, the new child of God begins a life-long journey of hearing the continuous call in God’s Word, through the Holy Spirit, to die daily to sin and live to righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). That call of God demands a response. The question then becomes, how will you respond to this Christ-life dwelling within you? This is an account of a young woman who responded to that call with great sacrifice and with a passion for the impossible.

“This dandelion has long ago surrendered its golden petals, and has reached its crowning stage of dying - the delicate seed-globe must break up now- it gives and gives till it has nothing left….There is no sense of wrenching: it stands ready, holding up its little life, not knowing when or where or how the wind that bloweth where it listeth may carry it away. It holds itself no longer for its own keeping, only as something to be given…” Lilias Trotter, Parables, 26-27

The young Lily became a woman with a way of seeing in regards to spiritual matters, the natural world, and human relationships. Much of this can be attributed to her mother and father, Isabella and Alexander Trotter. The Trotters were an influential and economically prosperous family in mid 19th century England. A dynamic couple, they each possessed a love of nature, adventure, travel and most importantly a love for Christ. In their travels, Lilias’ mother was known for her prayers and evangelism both in England and across the ocean in the New World of America. Their fascination with various subjects, peoples and cultures, prepared Lilias for her future ministry working with people who lived in very different circumstances and contexts than she was accustomed to.

Lilias grew up during an era of celebrated writers, theologians, poets, and artists including the likes of George MacDonald, Bishop Wilberforce, Christina Rossetti and famed art critic, John Ruskin. Perhaps the most spiritually influential of these voices were those of Dwight L. Moody and Hannah Whitall Smith whose writings, devotional material, and evangelistic meetings became for Lilias a source of discipleship that would develop the inward journey of her soul to a deep and abiding surrender to God, and propel her outward as she prepared for a life of serving others.

Nature was a classroom for Lilias. When she saw a dandelion, a sand lily in the desert, or a delicate bouquet of violets, she not only saw the beauty within the blossom, but saw beyond, into the miracles that took place to cause the flower to bloom, knowing that the full expression of the flower was merely the end of its life cycle as it prepared for reproduction. Through these observations in nature, she drew parallels in the spiritual life.

Early on, Lilias’ mother saw her bourgeoning talent as an artist. It was 1876 in Venice when an opportunity presented itself to show some of Lilias’ work to one of the greatest figures of the Victorian Age, art critic and social philosopher, John Ruskin. She sought an evaluation of her daughter’s work, though she had been mostly self-taught from childhood. Ruskin’s initial impressions were of astonishment, and this opportune meeting changed his ingrained beliefs that a woman was incapable of such creativity and beauty in art. This was a turning point in his personal life as he began to pursue Lilias as her teacher, and eventually, as a dear friend.

Ruskin spent much time tutoring Lilias and guiding the formation of her art, particularly her work in watercolors. At the same time as she was progressing in her talent, she was also beginning a work of compassion to prostitutes in London, rescuing and training them in employable skills. She opened the first public restaurant for women in England and also worked with the YWCA. Her parallel loves of art and mercy ministry would eventually come to a crossing, one in which she would need to cross, and one in which would break her and wound her while simultaneously giving her a new and determined passion, setting her on a course for a new land and a new mission.

Ruskin began to notice a change in Lilias’ art which he felt was being negatively impacted by her deepening involvement in her mission work. At the same time, her mother had lost a battle with a degenerative heart condition and passed away. The impact of losing her mother and the emotional and physical strength needed for her work with the poor brought a solemnity to her work as she was faced with much brokenness and constant need all around her.

It was at this time that Ruskin approached Lilias with a vision of what could be her future career in art if she were to give herself completely up to a life of study and honing her skills. He strongly urged her to leave her religious work, and completely immerse herself in her art alone so that she could develop her potential and make her mark as one of England’s finest artists.

This crossroads that Lilias came to was not a decision to abandon a talent, for all of God’s good gifts are given for us to steward and use for His Kingdom purposes. The crossroads was a realization that she would either wholeheartedly give herself over to developing a career of art, fame, and worldly acclaim, or give herself over to the missionary work that God was leading her to, which would involve the use of art, however, it would now become a tool in God’s work and not an end in itself.

“Take the very hardest thing in your life – the place of difficulty, outward or inward, and expect God to triumph gloriously in that very spot.  Just there He can bring your soul into blossom.”       Parables of the Cross, p.17

This was the heart-wrenching and complicated decision that Lilias had come to. As she wrestled with this decision, painstakingly weighing what this would mean for her, she came to the conclusion that it is the Christian’s duty to abandon one’s entire self to God’s purposes. Her willingness to part with all these things came swiftly and with joy, though not without a sense of grieving the loss of something that was so precious.

For the next forty years, Lilias worked in Northern Africa among the Arab peoples. She and two friends began the Algiers Mission Band, now known as Arab World Ministries. She was a contemporary of Amy Carmichael, missionary to orphans in Dohnavur, India, who became to her a dear and trusted friend through regular correspondence.

What became of this talent that Lilias so obediently gave up? The gift that had been given now became a gift to others. Her art became the tool which, not surprisingly, was the very instrument God would use to communicate His Word to the Arab people with whom she worked. Working with a printing company and the mission band, she produced a series of color leaflets and text cards featuring illustrations, Biblical texts, and questions with answers.

“Before us all dawned, I think a new horizon – of the glory of the task to which God has called us – a glory in its every hardness & in the sense that we are working for the future & its coming day.  ‘We were dreamers dreaming greatly.'”  23 October 1911

God’s pursuit of this young woman to walk in faithful obedience to His ways is the same call He gives to all His people. It is a call to lay down our entire lives and well laid plans at His feet, to let them go in full surrender, and follow Him in the divinely designed roles and vocations He has called each of us to for His glory and His Kingdom.

Lilias had a way of seeing, even to the end of her life when, as her body began to give way to death, she experienced a vision of a chariot and horses. A friend asked her if she was seeing beautiful things. Lilias responded, “Yes, many, many beautiful things.” (Pigott, Memoriam, 3).

“Turn full your soul's vision to Jesus, and look and look at Him, and a strange dimness will come over all that is apart from Him, and the Divine "attrait" by which God's saints are made, even in this 20th century, will lay hold of you. For "He is worthy" to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.” Trotter, Focussed: A Story and A Song

The following is a list of resources for further study on the life and work of Lilias Trotter:

Books & Film about Lilias Trotter:

A Passion for the Impossible: The Life of Lilias Trotter, by Miriam Huffman Rockness

https://ililiastrotter.wordpress.com

Miriam Rockness: Reflections on the Art and Writings of Lilias Trotter.

Many Beautiful Things: The Life and Vision of Lilias Trotter, film directed by Laura Waters Hinson

Lily: The Girl Who Could See, by Sally Oxley and Tim Ladwig with Miriam Huffman Rockness

Books by Lilias Trotter:

Parables of the Cross

Parables of the Christ-Life

(Lilias wrote many books, booklets, and story parables. Most are currently out of print but may be accessed at the Arab World Ministries UK Headquarters in England.)

A full list of works by Lilias Trotter can be found here:

https://ililiastrotter.wordpress.com/works-by-lilias-trotter/

Thanks for reading Every Morning New Mercies!

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A Little Night Music in November - A Feast of Your Faithfulness

A photo I took while hiking in the Wenatchee National Forest this Fall on our church women’s retreat.

Good morning on this foggy November day. It has been a full month in our corner of the world. Frost clings to the grass in the morning as we wake up groggy-eyed and prepare for the day as we take glimpses out the window of the sun ascending behind dense clouds that blanket our valley. I am sneaking this little post into November before the month slips away into memory. I hope these songs lift your gaze to the one and only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of the ancient Scriptures. If you have not read these ancient Scriptures yet, I invite you to read the entire book of the Old & New Testaments. Read with openness and curiosity. Read with the skill of understanding and exegesis. Read with a desire to wrestle with these words and wonder. Wonder why a small group of followers of this person from Nazareth turned into a worldwide movement that has lasted 2,023 years and covers the globe. Wonder about who this Person of history was, is, and will always be.

This month I’m sharing recordings by a wonderful singer songwriter. These recordings combine both her music and her testimony during a very difficult season of her life. God has given her new songs born out of suffering, light out of darkness, diamonds in the dust of despair, pain redeemed, a harvest of beauty, goodness, and truth.

When we share about our weaknesses and struggles in life and the goodness that Jesus has brought out of it, God is glorified. The fragile façade of our perceived goodness and strength mercifully crumbles out of sight. Refined in the furnace of Truth, we are given new eyes to see Christ for who He truly is.

Bethany Barnard released these songs in 2021. In 2022, she released a follow up album of brief explanations of these songs to give the listener more insight into her story. I hope you will be refreshed and encouraged from listening to her music, and through these tracks as she discusses her heart… “behind the songs.”

Bethany Barnard on Apple Music, Youtube, and bethanybarnard.com.

Praying Psalm 57 For Your City

Summer Sunflowers beside our church plant in Yakima, Washington

In the work of church planting is an ever-present awareness of one’s dependence upon God’s character and His desire to establish a new local outpost of His kingdom in a specific city. We are always in need of a conscious awareness of our utter dependence on God, to be sure, but there are specific seasons of life where the weakness of our human limitations and frailty is set on display, and one is absolutely aware of just how dependent we are on the sovereign plan and actions of God. We are made keenly aware!

I’ve been made aware of this fact once again while reading God’s Smuggler (by Brother Andrew with John & Elizabeth Sherrill) aloud to my teens and tweens. I read missionary books and Christian biographies to my children for many reasons: first, I love this genre! Second, I want them to learn the stories of Christians who were totally sold out to the Lord, completely committed to living for Him, abandoning everything else this world has to offer to lay their lives down for the sake of Jesus and how He calls them to live. My prayer and desire for them is to catch on to what the Holy Spirit is doing in their time and to be a light in this world for the gospel of Jesus. So I read these stories to them to show them that there have been many people, at all times and places in this world, who have lived purposefully to make Him known in their spheres of life and work. They have witnessed God’s mighty acts, provision, and intervention in their lives as they laid down everything to follow Him, wherever He would lead. Their stories always include prayer and an honest dependence on God.

The most important work of church planting is prayer: prayer for the church, prayer for the city, and prayer for evangelism efforts. So we pray. Sometimes we don’t know how to pray or what to pray specifically. There are many types of prayers: passionate heartfelt prayers, quiet and calm prayers of silence and waiting, prayers filled with knowledge of God and His work in this world that remind the person praying of God’s faithfulness and power and sovereignty. There are pre-written prayers that help us to pray things we wouldn’t think of on our own. There are ancient prayers and written prayers spoken by Christians all over the world.

As you think about prayer, consider praying Scripture. You may want to write down your prayers, specific prayers for individuals, a specific prayer for your community. Recently, I came across Psalm 57 in my regular Bible reading plan. As I read through it, I realized this is a wonderful psalm to pray for our family, for others, for our church, and for our city. Praying God’s Word back to him is like a well-choreographed dance with the Father as the very words He inspired to be written (God-breathed words) are the words we then use to pray the exact will of God and ask for His help, the help He desires to give us. Here is one example of how to pray Psalm 57 (ESV) for your city:

A Prayer Based on Psalm 57

Be merciful to the city of Yakima, O Lord.

Cause Yakima to take refuge in You 

Let Yakima take refuge in the shadow of your wings

till the storms of destruction pass by.

We cry out to you, God Most High,

You fulfill Your purpose for Yakima

You will send from heaven and save us.

God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness to Yakima.

We live in the midst of lions, among much brokenness in this city,

Among the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, 

Whose tongues are sharp swords.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over all the earth!

The evil things that are done in this city are too wicked to name.

The news headlines bring shock and despair.

My heart is steadfast, O God,

My heart is steadfast!

I will sing songs of praise to You as I drive through the city.

I will open the windows and declare Your praise in Yakima!

I will fill the streets of Yakima with your praises on my lips.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!

Let your glory be over Yakima and all the earth!

In the Name of King Jesus,

Amen.

Let us be ever watchful and aware to see how God will answer our prayers in this amazing adventure of faith!

Wildflowers Magazine - Fanny Crosby

Growing up, our family went to church services twice on Sunday. One on Sunday morning and once in the evening. The evening service started at 6:30pm and often included either a hymn sing, a missionary presentation, short sermon, or perhaps a visiting choir performance. My grandparents came from a culture and time when music was woven into the fabric of their daily lives and worship. Almost everyone could sing and harmonize. Everyone knew all 8 stanzas to every hymn and the voices blended upward into a unified chorus of passionate proclamation. I remember hearing one story of a group of Mennonites who were fleeing Eastern Europe in the early twentieth century. The group was waiting on a train platform. Fearful and tired, they began to sing the hymns of the faith. These hymns gave great depth of comfort as men, women, and children sang songs that spurred on their faith and gave them hope. We are called to speak and sing truth to one another, at all times and in all ways, giving glory to our Father in Heaven.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
-Colossians 3:16

I would sit in church on Sundays in the second or third row, on the right hand side of the sanctuary. I clearly remember holding my hymnal and flipping through the pages, studying the words, the names of authors, and finding hymns based on certain topics. It all intrigued me very much. Songs like Be Thou My Vision, Fairest Lord Jesus and The Old Rugged Cross became oases of living water.

Countless hymns settled into my heart, and laid a foundation of sacred music that shaped and formed me. One of the names that appeared frequently was the name of Fanny Crosby. Others were Isaac Watts, William Kirkpatrick, Frances Havergal, Augustus Toplady, Robert Lowry, Charles Wesley, and John Newton.

When praying about who to write about for the summer issue of Wildflowers Magazine, I decided to read about and research Frances Jane Crosby, otherwise known as Fanny Crosby. There are many things that stand out to me from her life.

The first is that she had a loving mother who had to raise her on her own as her father died shortly after she was born. With a supportive family, her mother received help from Fanny’s grandmother in raising her. There were many people who helped to educate her, especially since she was blind and at that time, there weren’t many educational opportunities for the blind. Her mother and grandmother, and others who came into her life nurtured her in God’s Word and in a warm and loving home. From Fanny’s mother’s example, I see a commitment to training her child to follow God. Fanny’s story wouldn’t be the same without her mother, Mercy, and grandmother, Eunice, teaching her diligently to know God in His Word.

The second thing that stands out from her life is that she was eager to serve the Lord. As a child, she asked the Lord if there was some work that he had for her to do. It seemed she always had faith like a child. Surely, God used her weakness as her greatest strength, and through it Fanny depended on the Lord. Although she was well known as the Blind Poetess throughout evangelical Christianity at that time, she regularly went to prisons and shelters to tell small audiences about Jesus, the Son of God. One could walk into a gathering of the “undesirables” of life and see a little, old woman, wearing a black dress and holding a black book, speaking about God’s love, grace, and forgiveness. She quietly served, taught and loved those who were not lovable, and she showed them the depths of God’s love for each of them.

It will be amazing to see one day, the masses of people who were brought to Jesus through her humble hymns.

My husband and I are part of a collaborative music group called Gateway Hymns. While reading and researching about Fanny Crosby, I thought how wonderful it would be to record some of her hymns as part of this written biography. So with some friends, we recorded this short album, The Songs of Fanny Crosby. (There are only three on the album, but she probably wrote over 9,000 throughout her lifetime!) You can download this collection at www.gatewayhymns.bandcamp.com, The Songs of Fanny Crosby.

To read a little about Fanny’s life, you can check out the summer issue of Wildflowers Magazine!

Getting to Know the Lewis's

This past year has been what I have named, “The Year of CS Lewis”. I will explain further on, how I came to commit myself to reading the works of CS lewis throughout this past year. For now, I will share my journey of coming to this point of getting to know the Lewis’s.

I don’t remember the first time I heard of CS Lewis. I’m sure it was when I was a child. Perhaps it was when I was in my elementary school years and I’d go hang out in my dad’s church office. We had free reign in his office! Paper, pens, playing with the phone and all the buttons, hiding under his desk, using the stapler, and flipping through his rolodex to find phone numbers! Ha! And sometimes, there would be mint Tic Tacs! At some point in my younger years, I began to be curious what all the books on his shelves were about. There were whole volumes dedicated to single books in the Bible called “commentaries”, and books on all sorts of topics. That was when I realized there was so much to learn and so much to know about the Bible. It intrigued me. Perhaps it was then that I noticed a book by CS Lewis, or heard one of his quotes in a sermon. There were three moments in time that were pivotal in my introduction to CS Lewis.

The first time I remember hearing about The Chronicles of Narnia was when I was in 6th grade. My public school class was given three options of books to read and we had to choose one. I can’t remember exactly what choices were given, except for one. When I saw the title, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I most emphatically chose to avoid that one. A witch? No thank you. I’m not reading that one. I didn’t know what this story was about and my parents probably didn’t either. I am second-generation Canadian. My grandparents were from Russia, and when their families moved to Canada, the goal was survival, making a new life in a time when there was much uncertainty due to war, immigration, making ends meet, and starting families. Their language was German and their culture was Mennonite. (My parents grew up with a mixture of German and English spoken in their homes.) Learning the best of English literature was not a priority, and the furthest thing from their minds. Most of my relatives at that time probably didn’t even know English until the younger children began going to public schools where they could easily learn and assimilate to their new country and culture.

My elementary years carried on and into junior high school, and then onto senior high. In all those years, I never heard of Narnia again, until I went to Bible College several years later. I remember the exact night I heard of this enchanted place, the passion in the words being spoken about this great story of a great Lion, Aslan. I had a wonderful group of Christian friends, brothers and sisters that I would hang out with. One night, several of these friends were talking about their love of and passion for Narnia. Their eyes lit up and these young men couldn’t stop talking about Narnia. I was inspired. Perhaps, I thought, I should read the Chronicles of Narnia! And so, eventually, I bought a cheap paperback edition and began reading through the series, slowly progressing through the years and enjoying every bit of every story with all my heart. It was after I was married that I decided I needed to finish this children’s series before our baby was born. So I spent the last month before she arrived reading and devouring the final couple books!

The third introduction I had to CS Lewis was when we had three children and my husband and I decided to start reading the Chronicles to our children. It was hilarious to see our oldest two children open the closet door and hesitate, thinking that if they walked through the coats, would they end up in Narnia? We did start reading, but it was short lived and the children weren’t ready quite yet. So we waited. When we got to seminary, we began again, but this time from the chronological beginning, The Magician’s Nephew. The kids were ready and I spent the next year reading aloud to them the entire series. It was a joy to share with my kids these stories I had grown to love.

And so, there you have it. I read the Chronicles of Narnia through twice, and love them!

It was last summer. I was talking with one of the teachers at our kids’ new school and she was telling me about one of the books her older class would be reading that year. It was another CS Lewis book. I realized then that, besides the Chronicles of Narnia, I had not read any of his other books. Such an influential Christian author of the twentieth century, a man whom I had heard quoted all my life, through Bible college, etc, and I hadn’t read any of his other works? How did I even make it through Bible college without having read any of his works? I decided then and there that I would take a year to become more acquainted with the works of Lewis. I began with the suggestion from this friend, his final novel ever written, Till We Have Faces.

I would love to give a book review/reflection on each of the works I have read of his this year, but that may have to wait for another time. For now, I would like to share which of his books I have indeed read this year. I began with his fiction and am now discovering the person of CS Lewis as well as a biography of his dear wife, Joy. Here is a brief list of the Lewis books I have read thus far… a year later:

Till We Have Faces

Out of the Silent Planet

Perelandra

That Hideous Strength

The Four Loves

Mere Christianity

Surprised by Joy, the Shape of my Early Life

And God Came In (biography of Joy Davidman) by Lyle W. Dorsett

There are many more of his works that I hope to read in this ongoing effort to dive into the wisdom, personality, and testimony of CS Lewis. I am fascinated by the way God brought both “Jack” and Joy to Himself, as well as to each other in marriage and love, and the ways their lives influenced each other and complimented each other. This is one reason why I love to read and write biographies… to see the work of God in and through a person’s life and how its influence reaches into the lives of tens, hundreds, thousands throughout the years and generations.

Elisabeth Elliot and an Introduction to Wildflowers Girls Mag

I cannot remember the first time I sensed the Lord calling me to full time ministry, but I do remember the moment He put in me a passion for missions. A fourteen year old teenager, I had traveled to Mexico with my family and church. We set up our camp, Canadians and Americans, in a farmers field perched high atop the hills of Tijuana. But nationality and citizenship counts for little when you are a citizen of Heaven.

We found unity and camaraderie among the group of about 60 Christians who had gathered in this field to set up our tents and trailers and camp out for the week while we drove in and out of our mission site to build a home for a family. Showers were in areas blocked with black plastic tarp nailed to a framed makeshift room with wild blue sky above. We gathered our one bucket of cold shower water from the large communal pool each day, dunked our heads in the water to wash our hair and rinse off by pouring the rest over our heads.

Each morning as we drove into town, we would be chased by cheering children to our work site. In an area surrounded by a cycle of poverty that was restricted by a complicated governmental system to work within, we set to work assisting a family in adding two rooms to their already deteriorating two room shack. Then one morning as I saw several young adult missionaries in their twenties jumping into their jeep and driving down the dirt path, it was that moment that I knew God was giving me a new passion in life.

What followed was years of working with various churches in various roles, short term missions trips, Bible college, long term ministry, and a desire to encourage and build up missionaries on the field. My heart was being reoriented in a specific direction by the Lord. It is no wonder then that my favorite genre of literature is missionary and historical biographies of which I have been reading since I first picked up the book Bruchko at a Bible school in Texas. This was also where I first met, in the pages of her book on purity, beloved modern missionary, Elisabeth Elliot.

Earlier this year, I had the privilege and joy of writing a biography of Elisabeth Elliot, missionary to the Auca tribe in Equador for a new girls magazine called Wildflowers. I felt honored to be able to pray, research, and write an account and short biographical sketch of her life, to pass on her story to a new generation of young girls, and to be a part of the thread that ties Elisabeth’s story to these young girls’ stories.

“Elisabeth Elliot remains one of the most powerful contemporary examples for Christian women, and thousands of women, young and old, have been discipled by her through her books and radio broadcasts. Through the trials she endured, her resolute trust in God and her love for Christ Jesus inspires vast numbers of women to live their lives in faithful surrender and obedience to God no matter the cost. Wildflowers, pg 12”

Being the first issue of the magazine, the theme was Spring, new life, and getting outside to see the miracles that abound. My soul was in desperate need of spring this year. After a very long winter in the midwest, spring only lasted for about a week before turning into the heat and humidity of summer, though very beautiful indeed. I didn’t really get a normal spring this year. In fact, the winter was more like a rough and rocky dirt path. But the Lord encouraged my heart this morning to remind me that this is where wildflowers grow.

Sally Lloyd-Jones writes in her most recent newsletter,

““Don’t you love it when flowers start preaching? It’s the long winter, the difficulty, the struggle, the hard ground that draws beauty from the soil. And one day—everywhere you look there is life and you’re overtaken by wild flowers. What hope!” - Sally Lloyd-Jones”

The Lord reminded me of wildflowers again this week while on a lovely walk beside the Bay as I found my own favorite wildflowers along a stony path that have been preaching to me for years. As in Elisabeth Elliot’s life, the Lord takes our times of pain and struggle and brings forth beauty, not only in our lives but in the lives of countless others and like Sally writes, suddenly there are wild flowers springing up everywhere. May these essays be like seeds in young girls lives to bring about gospel hope, truth and beauty… everywhere!

And now I must close this off and tell you where you can find this lovely magazine for young girls, because the summer issue is about ready to be released, and today I get started on my research for the next biographical sketch for the Fall issue.

To purchase your copy of the Spring issue of Wildflowers, click here. Wildflowers was created by my friend Maegan Keaton and is a creative collection of stories, book reviews, photography and DIY projects for girls ages 8-12! Just the perfect first magazine to give to my now ten year old daughter!