Who's Your Spiritual Mama?
And speaking of mentoring and nurturing, recently I have sensed a strong prompting to introduce the generations of upcoming young women to Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015) right here on this post. Then I remembered I wrote a blog post about her years ago and I found it! It was March 29, 2014! She has had and continues to have a profound impact on my life through her countless books, her radio show, her podcast, all can be found on the above link.
When I read my old post from March 2014, I had to laugh out loud, because it is the foundational material that helped me write my book, NURTURE, published August 2022! I didn't know God planned all along ... oh, the sovereignty of God! Never underestimate the power of words of encouragement! NURTURE is a book about women encouraging women to live for Christ.
March 29, 2014
For some reason God has chosen to give me three--yes--three spiritual mothers...so far! All I can think is: "Wow, I must really need a lot of help if God sends me three when my own mother loved me unconditionally and was my greatest cheerleader and loving encourager!"
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a spiritual mother is a mentor. The concept comes from Scripture. "Older women are to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God" (Titus 2:3-5).
Spiritual mothers can be any age, what matters is the older woman is to teach the younger. She could be old enough to be our mother and/or grandmother or a 35-year-old mentoring a 20-year-old.
My experience with my spiritual mothers is they're women who have been faithful followers of Jesus for decades and have hearts filled with rich, life-giving wisdom and humility. They're fierce prayer warriors because they know God is a mountain-moving God and it glorifies Him when they pray. They walk closely with Jesus every day. And there's no fanfare with a true spiritual mother. She doesn't boast or brag about her wisdom and knowledge. She has a gentle and quiet spirit because the Lord has quieted her soul with His love over the years. She has a beautiful, deep relationship with her Savior. She has a sense of humor because she's learned not to take herself too seriously, she dearly loves her own family and the whole wide world of believers! She is full of life, not pride.
She is usually someone you would not expect to be so filled with a huge dose of Holy Spirit power. But when she walks into a room she's radiant with God's presence. See, she's not impressed with worldly things like designer clothes, people pleasing and her own fame. She's really cool because she has Christ confidence and filled with His love and His light. This describes my spiritual mothers.
I was inspired to write about spiritual mothering/mentoring when my hubby showed me a recent story on Elisabeth Elliot in WORLD magazine. Wow. It was very moving for me because it brought back sweet memories of my early years as a Christian.
Other than my mother who joyfully loved me and my four siblings unconditionally, my first spiritual mother was Mrs. Evelyn Green. When I moved from south Florida to Atlanta, GA, I sought her out as a newborn Christian and asked her if we could get together. We had a special bond for 30 years! Whenever Elisabeth Elliot came to Atlanta for a conference as the key speaker, we'd be sure to go hear her share her wisdom and wit! Evelyn called her "Betty." Mrs. Green went to her heavenly home at the age of 102.
My experience with my spiritual mothers is they're women who have been faithful followers of Jesus for decades and have hearts filled with rich, life-giving wisdom and humility. They're fierce prayer warriors because they know God is a mountain-moving God and it glorifies Him when they pray. They walk closely with Jesus every day. And there's no fanfare with a true spiritual mother. She doesn't boast or brag about her wisdom and knowledge. She has a gentle and quiet spirit because the Lord has quieted her soul with His love over the years. She has a beautiful, deep relationship with her Savior. She has a sense of humor because she's learned not to take herself too seriously, she dearly loves her own family and the whole wide world of believers! She is full of life, not pride.
She is usually someone you would not expect to be so filled with a huge dose of Holy Spirit power. But when she walks into a room she's radiant with God's presence. See, she's not impressed with worldly things like designer clothes, people pleasing and her own fame. She's really cool because she has Christ confidence and filled with His love and His light. This describes my spiritual mothers.
I was inspired to write about spiritual mothering/mentoring when my hubby showed me a recent story on Elisabeth Elliot in WORLD magazine. Wow. It was very moving for me because it brought back sweet memories of my early years as a Christian.
Other than my mother who joyfully loved me and my four siblings unconditionally, my first spiritual mother was Mrs. Evelyn Green. When I moved from south Florida to Atlanta, GA, I sought her out as a newborn Christian and asked her if we could get together. We had a special bond for 30 years! Whenever Elisabeth Elliot came to Atlanta for a conference as the key speaker, we'd be sure to go hear her share her wisdom and wit! Evelyn called her "Betty." Mrs. Green went to her heavenly home at the age of 102.
Elisabeth Elliot Conference, Atlanta, GA
(from left: my close friend Sue Becker of the Bread Beckers,
Elisabeth Elliot, Evelyn Green, me!)
Elisabeth Elliot was widowed twice. This is Lars Gren, her third husband,
who was her spiritual covering every time she was speaking.
Elisabeth Elliot Conference , Atlanta, GA,
I didn't know Elisabeth Elliot personally,
but she was always gracious in posing with us for
photos at her book signing table.
I was hungry to learn how to live for God, so I collected a few of Elisabeth Elliot's books over the years. Just sayin'...
She didn't know she was a mentor/spiritual mother to me, but Elisabeth Elliot was gracious to autograph her videos when I asked. I imagine there are thousands of women like me who have grown in Christ through her life and ministry. After reading the World Magazine article, I'm continuing to be amazed and exhorted with her words of grace and trust.
I learned in my 20's to seek out a godly woman and then ask her to spend time with me. But it's never too late to start, Sisters! At the time of this writing, my spiritual mother, Frances, is 90! She's a firecracker, a tiny package radiant with God's light and enthusiastically fueled by His Holy Spirit. Her prayers blow through the roof because they're motivated by a passionate faith.
We are the Body of Christ. We are the light of the world. If you don't have a spiritual mother, my sisters, pray for one. Invite one into your life. Pray for someone you can mentor! You won't believe the blessings. And God showed me I'm not the only one enriched for spending time with her. Over and over it was obvious she wanted me to come alongside her, too. I had no idea. How glorious is that?
For His Glory,
Polly
I learned in my 20's to seek out a godly woman and then ask her to spend time with me. But it's never too late to start, Sisters! At the time of this writing, my spiritual mother, Frances, is 90! She's a firecracker, a tiny package radiant with God's light and enthusiastically fueled by His Holy Spirit. Her prayers blow through the roof because they're motivated by a passionate faith.
We are the Body of Christ. We are the light of the world. If you don't have a spiritual mother, my sisters, pray for one. Invite one into your life. Pray for someone you can mentor! You won't believe the blessings. And God showed me I'm not the only one enriched for spending time with her. Over and over it was obvious she wanted me to come alongside her, too. I had no idea. How glorious is that?
For His Glory,
Polly
May 7, 2023
Here's a page from Elisabeth Elliot's book, 'Keep A Quiet Heart."
"Several Ways to Make Yourself Miserable
- Count your troubles, name them one by one--at the breakfast table, if anybody will listen, or as soon as possible thereafter.
- Worry every day about something. Don't let yourself get out of practice. It won't add a cubit to your stature, but it might burn a few calories.
- Pity yourself. If you do enough of this, nobody else will have to do it for you.
- Devise clever but decent ways to serve God and mammon. After all, a man's gotta live.
- Make it your business to find out what the Joneses are buying this year and where they're going. Try to do them at least one better even if you have to take out another loan to do it.
- Stay away from absolutes. It's what's right for you that matters. Be your own person and don't allow yourself to get hung up on what others expect of you.
- Make sure you get your rights. Never mind other people's. You have your life to live, they have theirs.
- Don't fall into any compassion traps--the sort of situation where people can walk all over you. If you get too involved in other people's troubles, you may neglect your own.
- Don't let Bible reading and prayer get in the way of what's really relevant--things like TV and newspapers. Invisible things are eternal. You want to stick with the visible ones."
Elisabeth Elliot left us with a powerfully inspiring legacy. If you haven't heard of her I encourage you to check out the links in this post. If you are already very familiar with her life, you know her legacy is a treasure...and it needs to be shared with the generations coming behind us!
A cheerful 💖 is a continual feast!
Polly