Elisabeth Elliot

I recently watched a documentary called Beyond the Gates of Splendor ( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337868/ ) about 5 young missionary couples and their lives, some that were taken & some that were forever altered. One of the wives who still survives today but has returned stateside has a daily devotional site ( http://www.elisabethelliot.org/devotional.html ) that's more inspiring after you know her full story. In short, while in Ecuador the 5 husbands went to a tribe that had remained unreached and after having a few successful encounters; false stories were told among the tribesmen that caused them to retaliate against he 5 men. They were all speared to death. Later, two of the women from that tribe (the Aucas) came to where the 5 widows were encamped and lived with Elisabeth for a yr, fleeing the way of life their tribe followed. Eventually, Elisabeth went to live wtih the same people who murdered her husband and the lives of her friends, even bringing her daughter into the mix and sharing the grace of God. Pretty remarkable. I recommend the documentary; you might even recall the story, I remember hearing of it a few yrs ago, even though it happened in the 50's. This exerpt was taken from one of her devotional thoughts:

"If a marriage counselor were to ask each partner, "What are your goals?" and the answers were "How can I best serve my husband or wife? What can I do to further his or her goals?" the counseling period would be over; the bill low. Any two people, any comunity of Christians who set themselves to look only to the others insterest would be a rare and radiant thing, shining, as Paul said "like stars in a dark world". (Phil. 2:15)

In that same sense, a Christian might well pray, "Lord, make me a star".

How often I forget, not my will, but thine. Not my wants, but your needs. Not to please myself, but to honor you.