The dawn of a new beginning series, 4 {stories of old}

My husband began a new career in sales— meat salesman in particular.  I was back home.

We were doing much better financially, but we still had a lot of debt to clean up from the previous months.

One account that had been severely damaged was our rent in the apartment where we lived.  We were charged an astronomical amount {in our eyes} for late fees.  An amount which preceded our rent.  We couldn't renew our lease unless we paid the fees.  We did pay the rent and an agreed amount of fees, but we didn't renew the lease.  We moved, instead, a couple of blocks away to a cheaper apartment.

At this point, I'd been home for a couple of weeks.  Reading Elisabeth's book, and listening to her tapes.

Sometimes Elisabeth would have her daughter Valerie on her program and Valerie would talk about what it was like being a stay-at-home mother with eight children whom she home schooled.

"Eight children?"  "Home school?"  "What kind of cult does she belong to I wondered?"

I'd never in my life heard of someone, young, having eight children and homeschooling?  I knew right away that home schooling wasn't for me. "I would never do something so back woods." I told myself.

For some reason though, I was always glued to the radio when Val was on talking about spanking, quiet time for herself and her children and just child rearing and being a wife in general.  I found that she too had a pull on me.  I mostly enjoyed when she shared her quiet time and prayer life with us.

I began to pray more.  All day long, seeking God ... wanting Him to reveal Himself more, asking Him what I considered the hard questions for me.

"Lord reveal Your will for my life.  Use my life and my body for what you chose.  Have your way with me.  Whatever you want me to do, Lord, I will do"

That's all Elisabeth ever talked about "The will of God ... the will of God."  That was most important to know.  We cannot live a fulfilled and rewarding life if we are not doing what God has placed us here to do.  That's what I was learning.

It wasn't long before I was pregnant with baby number three.  Kyle we named him.

One morning while listening to Elisabeth in bed I heard her read a letter from a reader as she often did.  "That's my letter!  That's my letter!"  I shouted to my husband.

At the end of her reading she said, "Thank you dear sweet Angela."

So I wrote her again.  And she wrote back asking me to call her at her home.  She had written down the best date and time to get her.  I called her.  We talked and talked

Shortly after speaking with her over the phone, she began letting me know when she would be in my area and I would go visit.

After a while we began to meet regualarly over the phone for prayer.  She began to pray with me ... very specific and personal prayers.  She'd learned a lot about me by then.  To my astonishment she even allowed me to pray for her.  She would tell me lots of stories and give me Bible passages to read and memorize.  Most often she would send me books or give me a book list that she'd taken the time to write out for me.

I would read, and read.  Some books I bought, some she gave and some I borrowed from the library.

But I was different from Elisabeth, and most of the others.  I had no clue of God's will for my life.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do with my life."  I would whine often to her.  Then I would start on my kick of keeping house.

"It's too hard to keep the house clean while I'm pregnant!  My children aren't listening ..." on and on I went.

"This is what I want you to do ..."  She lovingly scolded.

"First things first," Elisabeth said, "You listen to me and you listen to me real good my dear.  In a normal tone of voice you say what you mean to those precious little ones and you mean what you say.  If you say you're going to do something then you better do it."

There is one key, she taught me, to finding out the will of God for your life. That key is to be obeident to what He has called you to today. 

More gateway stories next Tuesday.

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