That was the day God gave
her the idea of a magazine for women. A
truly preposterous idea! Publishers were
sure that German women wouldn’t read it and no one would finance it. But her husband encouraged her. And when she cried out to God, “You see, God,
nobody wants this magazine,” she heard Him saying, “But I want it!”
Dear Friends,
When I think of the
wonder of women discovering their spiritual birthright, I think of the story of
Elizabeth Mittelstaest, whose impact on her world of women was astounding. Her birth—a miracle in itself—and her
family’s difficult circumstances led her to think little of herself and of her womanhood.
Elizabeth was nearly
aborted because her mother, who was very ill and living under communist rule
where medicines were hard to come by, was encouraged by her doctor to abort the
child rather than have it born infected.
Yet, a strange sense of foreboding gripped her heart, and she seemed to
hear a voice say, “Don’t kill this baby!”
She did not know the God who spoke to her, yet she heeded His silent
voice. A few months later she delivered
a sickly little girl and named her Elizabeth.
When Elizabeth was
nine years old, Maria and her family heard the gospel, and they all accepted
Christ. In her teens, after hearing a
woman missionary speak, Elizabeth promised God that if He ever needed another
woman to serve Him, she would be that woman.
Miraculously, God open doors for her to attend Bible college, where she
prepared for ministry and met the man she would marry.
Startled, she looked
up and across the bridge to the pretty little German village beyond with its
Geranium flower boxes and white picket fences.
Behind those nice homes there is a lot of pain and brokenness for
women,” she heard God say to her.
“I could feel how God
loves the women,” Elizabeth recalls. “In
that moment my heart was broken about what broke His heart. So I said, “God, I would love to help, but
what can I do?”
That was the day God
gave her the idea of a magazine for women.
A truly preposterous idea!
Publishers were sure that German women wouldn’t read it and no one would
finance it. But her husband encouraged
her. And when she cried out to God, “You
see, God, nobody wants this magazine,” she heard Him saying, “But I want it!”
Shortly thereafter,
the frail little child who had been rescued from the abortionist’s knife by the
voice of the God her mother did not yet know, became the editor of Lydia magazine. Contrary to all the warnings publishers had
given her, the magazine had a circulation of ten thousand by the third
issue. Today it is published in German,
Romanian, and Hungarian and read by an estimated one million readers.
Elizabeth is a
handmaid of the Lord. She celebrated her
womanhood. Being a handmaid and a
heartmaid, however, doesn’t mean you won’t be a hurt maid! Mary experienced a sword piercing her own
heart as she watched Jesus crucified.
But that hurt was transformed on the other side of the Cross. Serving Jesus is worthwhile, and joy truly
comes in the morning. Mary, Jesus’
beloved mother, was in the upper room at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came in
power, and for the second time she was overshadowed and indwelt by Him.
Blessings
Jill Briscoe
Executive Editor
Just Between Us Magazine
Encouraging story you shared. Thank you for the many ways you inspire women.
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