Her Story Quotes by Shari - {Who's Holding Your Clock?}

How many times have you said to yourself, or something like it, ..…

“If only God would hurry up and show me His plan.”

“If only my children would slow down and not grow up so fast.”

“If only I had been born 100 years ago.”

“If only God had called me into the ministry when I was younger.”

“If only I had had my children earlier in life.”

“If only I got saved when I was a teenager.”

“If only I were ten years older.”

"If only God would let me get married this year."

“If only I hadn’t wasted so much time.”

It is human nature to think that TIME is the key to everything. After all, there is that famous saying, “Timing is everything.” The problem lies in the fact that most often we would prefer to control the clock. 

One time a ministry opportunity presented itself to me that I’d been interested in doing for a very long time. It came out of the blue and, to be honest, had taken so long to eventuate that I assumed it wasn’t in the Lord’s plan for me. The opportunity came with a specific date, exactly ten days from the time I heard. My first thought was, “What in the world! There is absolutely no way I can make it happen that quickly. The timing is so off.” I was somewhat disappointed and a little frustrated and allowed myself, just for a moment, to ask God why He didn’t present the opportunity three months before when I would have had time to prepare and set things in order. 

I happened to be studying Ephesians 5 that morning for my devotions, and I read in verse 17, “Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” I felt I had a pretty good handle on what "the Lord's will" meant. I’d done so many studies on the Lord’s will…..I’d taught so many studies on the Lord’s will....but I found myself doubting if I really knew what the Lord's will was and wondering why He would dangle a dream right in front of me and yet just out of my reach. My study that morning took me to a sermon preached by Steven J. Cole entitled Walking Wisely. He made many good points, but one paragraph in particular spoke to my heart and reminded me of a great truth. Here is my paraphrased version I recorded in my journal:

"It is not about getting God to help me fulfill my dreams,

because it leaves me as the lord of my life and makes God my servant.

He is Sovereign and I am His servant. I exist to fulfill His will not vice versa."

Psalm 31:15 reminds us the “times” of our lives are in His capable hands. That morning I handed my "clock" back to Him and purposed not to waste another moment wishing the timing was different, knowing that when and if the Lord would bring that opportunity around again it would be in His perfect timing.

If you'd like to find out more about my story, you can click on this site's "Contributors" tab or visit my website. http://sharihousethailand.wix.com/servingjoyfully

I'd love to hear about your story, too. Feel free to leave a comment, or friend me on Facebook, or visit me in Thailand.  I have a great guest room.  :)

Her Story Quotes by Shari

Her Story Silhouettes by Shari {#2 Joy Ridderhof / Dealing with Trials}

Hey there, I'm Shari. One of my favorite things to do is read about or study the lives of those who have gone before us or who are walking beside us in this endeavor of being a missionary lady.* 

Their stories challenge me, encourage me, and teach me. My hope is that these "silhouettes" or glimpses of their lives will do the same for you.  

Each silhouette contains a small synopsis of a lady’s missionary service, a particular story from her everyday life that resonated with my own, and a short Bible study about a truth that I learned from it.  I hope that as you read these posts you might be challenged to find out more about these great ladies, that you might find something that speaks to your heart or helps you in your own ministry, and that ultimately you will be encouraged to remain faithful to your calling.

So grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy, and let me tell you about her story.

Silhouette: Joy Ridderhof went to Columbia Bible College at the age of 20. While there she learned two important truths that would stay with her for the rest of her life. (1) To worry was a sin. (2) Rejoicing was always God’s will no matter what.

At the age of 27 Joy went to Honduras as a missionary. While there many villagers came to know Christ through her faithful witness. As with most missionaries she had planned to spend her life there, but God had other plans. While on the field her body was battered from bouts of flu, malaria, and small pox. After six short years, during one particular time of illness, she came back to the States in hopes that she might have a quicker recovery. When the illness would not go away, she realized she would not be able to return. In her own words, “I returned from Honduras ill in body, disqualified for future missionary service and without financial support. It was a dark picture indeed…Then God’s Word spoke to my heart, ‘Rejoice, Joy, Rejoice’...And I answered, ‘Lord, I will believe…’” Confined to her bed, Joy still desired to encourage those she had left behind. Wanting desperately to communicate with her converts but knowing that many of them could not read, she thought to herself, “If only I could have left my voice behind to repeat the verses again and again.”

With that thought, the Lord called her to a new ministry. In 1938 at the age of 35, she made her first recording of the Gospel in Spanish on a record that used the thin box it was sent in as the player. Soon requests began coming in from missionaries in other countries for recordings in their native languages. Two women, Ann Sherwood and Sanna Barlow, joined her in her endeavor, and by 1941 Gospel Recordings had been well established as they told and retold the Gospel story of salvation. Eventually Joy was able to leave her sick bed and began traveling all over the world “catching” the voices of native speakers telling the Gospel story. 

Over the next 40 years she remained faithful to God’s calling ever pushing the bounds of technology to reach more and more people groups who had no written language and had never heard the Gospel. Joy’s intense desire to be used by God to see that everyone in the world had a chance to hear the Gospel and her unwillingness to believe that that feat was impossible can be seen by her statement, “The need of those lost millions breaks my heart, but we don’t have to stand and weep, but believe that God has put in our hand that which when blessed and used by Him can ‘thresh the mountains and beat them small…’ For what period of history is God referring to when He speaks of the great things He will accomplish in the earth? If it is not for now, for when is it?”

Her tenacity, to go where the Gospel had never been, served to spur other missionaries to reach out to unreached tribes. To her testament Dr. George Cowan of Wycliffe said, “It was Joy, specifically Joy who coming back from her trip to the Philippines, challenged us--the Wycliffe Bible Translators--to go to the Pacific part of the world.” Another report tells of a missionary couple in Africa who were assigned to go to an unreached tribe in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). When they arrived they were amazed to find that this “unevangelized” tribe already knew about Jesus. Fifteen years before, they had been given the recordings in their native tongue. The people had memorized all the stories they had listened to and had known about the way of salvation for years before any missionary arrived.

By the time Joy died in 1984 at the age of 81 Gospel Recordings had records in over 4,000 languages. They currently have over 60 recordists and 30 distribution centers around the world with over 150 workers. To date Gospel Recordings has enabled nearly 6,000 ethnic groups to be reached with the Gospel of Christ, and it all began with one lady’s desire to serve the Lord and save the lost. 

She is a true example of a lady of whom it can be said, “She hath done what she could”!

Story & Study: Joy felt sure God’s plan for her was to go into missions, but upon completion of her college course, He had not opened any doors for the mission field.  While serving in a ministry in Miami, she received the shocking news that her mother had passed away. As all of her other sisters were married, she felt God’s plan was clear for her to return home to care for her widowed father. Upon arriving home she discovered that an old beau of hers, Francis, had not yet married either and was still interested in her. He began paying her visits, and on one particular visit, he spoke to her about marriage. Whatever exchange happened between the two, Francis left thinking Joy was refusing him, and Joy was left not understanding that he wanted to marry her or, at the very least, not being sure he meant it.  She decided that she did love him and wanted to marry him, and that she would tell him the next time he brought it up. A short time later they both attended a Christian camp, and Joy anxiously waited for Francis to approach her. To her dismay he spent the entire weekend avoiding her and keeping company with another girl. She was devastated and confused. Around the same time her father announced that he was remarrying. Reeling from the shock, Joy found that what she thought had been God’s plan for her life, being a wife to Francis and a nursemaid to her father, was not His plan at all.

I don’t know about you, but I am a planner. I live by the creed, “Plan your work and work your plan.” Being able to plan and break things down into bite-sized pieces has served me well in my years of ministry. I remember one particular banquet where we had everything planned to the “nth” degree and some of our college girls were helping me set everything up. I can’t remember the exact details, but something wasn’t working, and at the last minute, I had to make some changes on the spot and started dictating orders for this girl to do this and that one to switch that. One of the girls said to me, “How can you do that?” I said, “Do what?” She said, “Have to change everything without a moment’s notice and not be freaking out?” My response was that I’m a problem solver. I look at a situation, consider the tools and resources I have available to me, determine what the best possible outcome is with what is available, and then plan the steps that need to happen to get me from point A to point B. Although this trait works great for most instances, I have found it has not been of service to me in my personal life.

I have been guilty of this thought more than I care to admit, “If such and such is in fact God’s will, then surely this, this, and this is what He will do to accomplish His plan.” More often than not, my plan includes steps that are good things and easy ways to accomplish the plan. In reality God’s steps often include hardship, frustration, and sometimes even disappointment to accomplish the plan. These changes in the steps can make it seem sometimes like God is changing the “Game Plan.” Like most people, I don’t do well with change. When change is in the air I feel insecure and apprehensive, and it is easy to begin worrying. To illustrate this point, here is a journal entry from quite a few years ago when I was home on furlough, between ministries, and was under the impression that God was directing me to possibly marry someone I had met and had had some correspondence with. A few weeks before I was to return to the field I found out he had proposed to someone else.

“Lord, I can’t believe I have to go back to the field without a job, a husband to be, or a plan.  It seems as though all is lost. Lord, I know You have either planned this or at the least allowed it. Help me to accept my circumstances and find happiness in the joy of my salvation. Joy is never gone, but happiness seems to elude me right now…..Lord, I feel my world crumbling around me, although I know that it isn’t because You are my world....” 

Sometimes I read my journal entries and have to shake my head at how “in the depths of despair” I can get. At that time it surely felt like God was changing the plan I thought He had laid out, but little did I know what He had right around the corner for me. In less than a month from that writing the Lord placed me in a ministry that for years brought me great fulfillment and joy beyond what I thought was possible as a single lady missionary.

You know, it is funny how we don’t mind the drama in story books because we know the plot will clear up in the end, but when it comes to our own stories, we hate the drama and the feeling of being out of control. I try to remind myself that a book without twists is indeed boring and not one that will be a classic. 

I have found that when a little drama or turmoil comes into my life, it is best not to worry and despair but to instead focus on four things the psalmist teaches us in Psalms 27:3-7. 

vs. 3 - “Trust in the LORD...”

 · The word “trust” in this verse means “to helplessly lay face down.” Have you ever tried to do anything while laying face down? It is quite difficult to do anything in this position with your face on the ground. At the first sign of worry we need to “lay face down” and silence our thoughts and plans on the matter.

vs. 4 - “Delight thyself also in the LORD...”

 · The word “delight” in this verse means “being pliable or sensitive” or “being dependent upon God/deriving one’s pleasure from Him.” In times of turmoil we need to find our security in Him before we find it elsewhere. This means getting alone with Him, reading His word, praying, etc. This takes time and the ability to still our thoughts. I’m afraid, more often than not, we seek instant gratification to calm us. How many of you have ever said, “’I just need to talk to friend’ or ‘I just need a hug from my husband’ or ‘I just need a coke’ and then I’ll be able to make sense of the situation and deal with it.”? God has given us many good things in our life like husbands, children, friends, food, shelter, etc., but it is not good when we run to them before we run to God to calm and still us and gain strength for the trial.

vs. 5 - “Commit thy way unto the LORD...”

 · The word “commit” in this verse means “to roll something away.” I often think of the word "commit" as a forward action like “I commit to make something happen.” But this idea of rolling something away leans more towards the action of letting go. When we begin to worry about something, we must commit it to the Lord and let it roll off of us and onto Him.

vs. 7 - “Rest in the LORD…”

 · The word “rest” in this verse means “to be silent” - the fourth and final step is to rest in the Lord. Even in music we know that a rest means to be silent. We need to hush our spirit and wait in holy patience for the Lord to reveal His will in the matter. I love the statement, “A silent tongue not only shows a wise head but a holy heart.”

Since I like acronyms I thought a catchy statement might help me to remember these four steps the next time I found myself upset or beginning to worry. My first thought was that I could tell myself, “The Deed Can Roll.” My next thought was, “The Day Can Ride.” Having not yet come to grips completely with the fact that I was not going to be getting married to this man, I’m afraid my next thought was, “The Dog Can Roast!” Hahaha. I decided maybe I should just remember these four steps by their words - Trust, Delight, Commit, and Rest. 

Next time you find yourself getting upset or worrying about something or feeling like God is changing the “Game Plan,” just say to yourself, “Trust, Delight, Commit, and Rest.” 

About Shari:

I’m single. I’m 45. I’m tall. I like the color red, flying kites, and Peanut Butter M & M’s.  I love playing squash, scrapbooking, and playing games. I enjoy being a little “cheeky,” and I love a good Kakuro puzzle. This is starting to sound like a dating ad, and I am not looking.  No really, I’m not looking. 

I’m just a girl who dreams of doing something great for the Lord with her life.  I’ve had a few extraordinary days in my years of being a missionary, but mostly life is filled with ordinary days and mundane tasks and the desire to remain faithful where the Lord has placed me until He calls me home...heaven that is, not America...or maybe New Zealand if I happen to be in Thailand...or Thailand if I happen to be in America....real-life missionary struggles - where exactly is home?

I’ve been a missionary for the past 22 years.  I served in Nigeria, West Africa for 2+ years, New Zealand for 10+ years, and now in Thailand for almost 8 years.  And, yes, if you do add up those numbers they don’t add up to 22, but I always include my year and a half of deputation in my total number.  (Why on earth people don’t claim their deputation time as part of their missionary ministry is beyond me.  I surely wasn’t driving all over the country for my own health and pleasure.  I was doing mission work, promoting the work of missions, raising awareness, challenging others, etc., and so I count it!) 

Anyway, I love the Lord, and I love that He allows me to use my life for His service.  I count it a privilege and a challenge daily.  

If you’d like to know more about me or my ministry, please visit my website. 
http://sharihousethailand.wix.com/servingjoyfully

I'd love to hear about your story, too. Feel free to leave a comment, or friend me on Facebook, or visit me in Thailand.  I have a great guest room.  :)

_________________________________________________________________

*Disclaimer:

I have chosen to highlight the life of these ladies because of what they have accomplished for the Lord not because I agree with their doctrinal beliefs.  As with all study of man, our focus should be on the character traits they bestowed in their lives that allowed the Lord to use them, how the Lord used them, the methods of ministry they incorporated that allowed them to be effective, etc.  We do not study man to get our doctrine.  Our doctrinal beliefs should only come from the Bible.  

_________________________________________________________________

Resources:

Video link to hear Joy speaking about her own testimony -  http://globalrecordings.net/en/history

Joy Ridderhof: Voice Catcher Around the World, Rebecca Davis, 2015

Count it All Joy (pamphlet), Joy Riderhof, 1978

Catching Their Talk in a Box: The Life-Story of Joy Ridderhof, Becky M. Hockett, 1987

Global Recordings Network (formerly Gospel Recordings) website:  www.globalrecordings.net

Her Story Silhouettes by Shari {#1 Evelyn Brand / Living in Eden}

Hey there, I'm Shari. One of my favorite things to do is read about or study the lives of those who have gone before us or who are walking beside us in this endeavor of being a missionary lady.* 

Their stories challenge me, encourage me, and teach me. My hope is that these "silhouettes" or glimpses of their lives will do the same for you.  

Each silhouette contains a small synopsis of a lady’s missionary service, a particular story from her everyday life that resonated with my own, and a short Bible study about a truth that I learned from it.  I hope that as you read these posts you might be challenged to find out more about these great ladies, that you might find something that speaks to your heart or helps you in your own ministry, and that ultimately you will be encouraged to remain faithful to your calling.

So grab a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy, and let me tell you about her story.

Silhouette:  Evie was born into a well-to-do merchant’s home as one of ten siblings.  Her family attended a Baptist Church and was actively involved in its ministries and outreaches. As a young woman she enjoyed the finer things in life like frilly dresses and plumed hats.  At the age of 30 she felt called to be a missionary.  Around that same time a young missionary from India, Jesse Brand, visited their church.  At the meeting he seemed to look directly at her as he described the filth and squalor on the mission field.  She heard an unspoken question in his words, “Could she, a fashionable girl, handle such things?”  Resolve rose within her. “Yes, with God’s help she could!”

She left for India in 1909 and was assigned to the Madras Plains.  At her farewell party, someone commented, “She looks more like an actress than a missionary.”  After many years of service in India’s hot sun, her skin became dark and leathery.  It was said that for the last 20 years of her life she refused to own a mirror. She gave up what the world would call “beautiful” for true, breathtaking beauty - a life well spent for the Lord.

After arriving at the Madras Plains, she found Jesse Brand had been transferred there too.  She fell in love with him and with his vision to reach the people on the five ranges of the Mountains of Death.  In 1912 they were married and began their work on the Kolli Range.  Besides the conversion of one dying man at the beginning of their ministry, it took many years for them to see any fruit from their labors.  Although the two went from village to village tending the sick, rearing orphans, establishing schools, digging wells, and preaching the Gospel, it took seven more years before they would see another convert.

In 1928, Jesse died of Blackwater Fever, but Evie carried on.  Twenty years later, the mission board wouldn’t let her return to the field because she was too old (68).  She begged them to send her back for just one more year. She had a plan. When the year was up she retired from the board and set out on her own.  Her son helped design a home for her that could be broken down into small loads that were light enough for helpers to tote up and down the hills of the mountains. Armed with what she could carry on her back she set off to finish the work God had called her and her husband to do.  For the next 24 years she worked tirelessly and reached the remaining four ranges and added two more.

“Granny” as she was know by everyone on the mountains, died in the plains on the 18th of December, 1974, at the age of 95.  The next day her body was taken back to the hills and laid beside Jesse’s as a multitude, whose lives were forever changed because of hers, wept.  She is a true example of a lady of whom it can be said, “She hath done what she could”!

Story & Study:  When Evie first met Jesse Brand, she did not consider him a candidate for marriage, but sometime after arriving in India she realized she had fallen in love with him.  Making her feelings known, she was devastated when she found out that he was already engaged.  Hot and shaking, she fled to her bathroom and poured cold water over herself. She couldn’t help but think of what a fool she had made of herself!  With a sense of despair and disappointment she felt her heart immediately grow dry.  It was then that she noticed some of India’s beautiful flowers that defied the hot, dry ground and bloomed brightly.  She whispered a prayer, “Let me be like that, Lord, flowering best when life seems most dry and dead.”

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 51:3 which says, “For the LORD shall comfort Zion:  he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.”

It was a pivotal day in my life when I realized that God never promised to make my life like a garden, or as the common phrase says, “a bed of roses.”  He did, however, promise that in my “wilderness” it could be like Eden - a place where needs are met, where the future seems bright, and where He would take my hand and daily walk with me. 

I remember one time during a particularly rough patch I was having with some missionaries I was working with, that I found myself saying out loud for the umpteenth time, “Why am I putting myself through this? I should just go home.” I definitely felt like my spirit was drying up and would crack if things didn’t change. I could see no end to the situation nor any solution. The Lord reminded me that my job was not to fix the problem. My job was to be faithful through it. I wish I could tell you that after my realization of this fact and subsequent refocusing, that the problem went away. It in fact did not go away, but actually intensified for several months before it was resolved. What did happen was that when I took my focus off fixing the problem and focused on just being faithful, I found I could not only endure the "wilderness" but thrive in it.  

When a person gets saved, their life goes from “wilderness” to “Eden,” and yet they may choose to stay in the wilderness state of mind instead of enjoying the Eden-like life that is now available to them.  God desires that each of us live our lives in a state of “Eden” no matter what trial we are going through.  As with Eve, nothing can send us to the wilderness faster than listening to the devil, trusting in our own wisdom, and acting on a feeling rather than a truth. 

So, what can we do to have that “Eden” feeling while enduring a “wilderness” time in our lives?  Isaiah 51:3 not only gives us the promise but also gives us the formula:

1.  Joy - True joy comes not from your circumstances but from the realization and

     acknowledgement that God loves us, that we are saved, and that He is with us at all

     times.  Ps. 5:11, 16:11, 35:9

2.  Gladness - As trite as it may sound, when we focus on the good things and don’t give 

     place to dwelling on the negative, we will soon find that we are not overwhelmed by the 

     “wilderness.” Ps. 16:9, 30:11, 51:8

3.  Thanksgiving - Taking time to thank the Lord for everything He is doing in our lives, 

     good and bad, helps us have a better perspective on the situation.  If I am being thankful

     for something, I cannot in the next breath be complaining about it.  Ps. 30:12, 106:1;

     I Thess. 5:18

4.  Voice of Melody - The best way to gain strength for a “wilderness” time in your life is to 

     read your Bible and spend time with the Lord in prayer. As women we have many things 

     in life - children, husband, work, housework, etc. that consume our time, and we are 

     blessed when we can have one hour...30 minutes...10 minutes a day set aside for quiet 

     time, let alone the entire day.  Singing then, I would say, is the second best way to gain 

     strength throughout the day and is an activity that can be done while cleaning, cooking, 

     working, playing with the kids, etc.  Ephesians 5:19 says, “Speaking to yourselves in 

     psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the 

     Lord;”  As a single person I often talk to myself.  I love that this verse gives me license to 

     do so and not be labeled “crazy.”

May we each endeavor to cultivate joy, gladness, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody in our lives and experience the joy of living in “Eden” on a daily basis.

About Shari:

I’m single. I’m 45. I’m tall. I like the color red, flying kites, and Peanut Butter M & M’s.  I love playing squash, scrapbooking, and playing games. I enjoy being a little “cheeky,” and I love a good Kakuro puzzle. This is starting to sound like a dating ad, and I am not looking.  No really, I’m not looking. 

I’m just a girl who dreams of doing something great for the Lord with her life.  I’ve had a few extraordinary days in my years of being a missionary, but mostly life is filled with ordinary days and mundane tasks and the desire to remain faithful where the Lord has placed me until He calls me home...heaven that is, not America...or maybe New Zealand if I happen to be in Thailand...or Thailand if I happen to be in America....real-life missionary struggles - where exactly is home?

I’ve been a missionary for the past 22 years.  I served in Nigeria, West Africa for 2+ years, New Zealand for 10+ years, and now in Thailand for almost 8 years.  And, yes, if you do add up those numbers they don’t add up to 22, but I always include my year and a half of deputation in my total number.  (Why on earth people don’t claim their deputation time as part of their missionary ministry is beyond me.  I surely wasn’t driving all over the country for my own health and pleasure.  I was doing mission work, promoting the work of missions, raising awareness, challenging others, etc., and so I count it!) 

Anyway, I love the Lord, and I love that He allows me to use my life for His service.  I count it a privilege and a challenge daily.  

If you’d like to know more about me or my ministry, please visit my website. 

http://sharihousethailand.wix.com/servingjoyfully

I'd love to hear about your story, too. Feel free to leave a comment, or friend me on Facebook, or visit me in Thailand.  I have a great guest room.  :)

_________________________________________________________________

*Disclaimer:

I have chosen to highlight the life of these ladies because of what they have accomplished for the Lord not because I agree with their doctrinal beliefs.  As with all study of man, our focus should be on the character traits they bestowed in their lives that allowed the Lord to use them, how the Lord used them, the methods of ministry they incorporated that allowed them to be effective, etc.  We do not study man to get our doctrine.  Our doctrinal beliefs should only come from the Bible.  

_________________________________________________________________

Resources:

“Brand, Evelyn.” Anderson, Gerald H. Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, Macmillan, 1998.

Wilson, Dorothy Clarke. Granny Brand; her story. New York:  Christian Herald Books, 1976.

Wilson, Dorothy Clarke. Ten Fingers for God: The Life and Work of Dr. Paul Brand. New York: Paul Brand Publishing,