Mini Book Review #9: Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, by Ellen Vaughn.
A new favorite in my growing collection of biographies. Becoming Elisabeth Elliot presents a much more rounded view of Elisabeth’s early years than we have ever glimpsed—we see her insecurities, the difficulties with others that she covered over rather than gossip about, and her steady, determined drive to “do the next thing” for Christ.
This is no hagiography. It is, however, a wonderful story written in as blunt and honest a manner as the subject herself. I emerged from the pages with even more respect for this faithful woman.
(An intriguing part of this book: the author was able to give a more open account of why Elisabeth didn’t stay with the Waodani tribe now that both Elliot and Rachel Saint are no longer living.)
Some Favorite Quotes from Becoming Elisabeth Elliot:
“For Elisabeth, as for all of us, the most dramatic chapters may well be less significant than the daily faithfulness that traces the brave trajectory of a human life radically submitted to Christ.” (11)
Ellen Vaughn
“… her most noble accomplishment was not weathering that excoriating loss. It was practicing—through both the high dramas and the low, dull days that constitute any human life – the daily self death required for one’s soul to flourish.” (13)
Ellen Vaughn