Check out my two new pages - My Story and Author Elisabeth Kristine
Everyone has a story. This is mine:
Growing up, I have been a lot of things. I first considered myself a bus kid. When I was a baby, my parents ran a bus route. Even the bus girls were excited about having a baby on board.
Many people played a part in showing me my need for salvation at a young age. The nursery workers and Sunday School teacher at church really had a heart for us little kids. Their testimony and teaching played a part in my older brother getting saved. And of course, there was always Dad and Mom. They were really growing this time as well. When we moved to Mississippi, the church had a Christian school. My dad was in charge of the bus route, but he also worked in the Christian school. I was put into the K-4 class. Because of my parents, Sunday school teachers, and kindergarten teachers, I heard the Gospel at a young age.
For me, that time that I can look back to as the time I accepted Christ as my Savior was during a visit to see family in Fort Myers, FL. One of the nights we were at my Grammy’s house, I colored a picture. I then showed it to my mom and told her that it said I needed to get saved. She told my dad, and together they took me to my uncle’s bedroom. I still can see the airplane decorations and picture the airplane comforter. I can’t recall all that was said in that bedroom, but I do know that I understood I needed Christ to save me or I would go to hell. That night my parents led me to the Lord, and I became a child of God. I did not have to wait until a certain age. The moment I understood and realized I needed Christ as my Savior or I would go to Hell, God was ready to save me. Sadly, there are some who believe children have to wait until a certain age. I am so glad my parents did not make me put it off.
When I was eight years old, the Lord called my family to the mission field of St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies. We were living in Florida at this time. So far, I had lived in Missouri, Mississippi, and Florida. Preparing to move to the mission field was completely different than the first two moves during my childhood. Now I was leaving everything I knew and all of our family that lived in Fort Myers - both sets of Grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. As long as I had my siblings and my parents, I was good. When God calls a missionary, He calls his family as well. That's how it was with us. Up until then, I had considered myself a bus kid since my parents ran a bus route in our neighborhood. Now I was a missionary kid.
I liked being a missionary. I loved traveling around in our camper. We were able to see so many amazing places and so many wonderful churches. I loved learning to sing with my siblings as we presented our ministry at churches across the eastern half of the United States. Our year in Canada during language school may have been challenging, but it was an adventure. Not to mention, we got to spend the winter playing in the snow. That was a plus. After some months on our island, I saw it as home. No, I was not fluent in the language, but I was learning. Our island was small and did not have many young people our age, but we filled the void with books and YouTube. We were able to watch church services, youth conferences, and mission conferences. I also had braces during this time, so for me, that meant many visits back to Florida. I loved my life with my family, my books, chocolate croissants, and beautiful mountains and beaches. Not to mention the people I was coming to love though I may not have been able to communicate very well.
Our life became uprooted once again when my mom got sick. After two months of being without our mother, we had to leave when she was diagnosed with cancer. We left all our things behind. We said goodbye to our island family, not knowing we would not return. Though she ended up not having cancer, it took a while for her to be diagnosed with first Lyme disease and later myasthenia gravis. Though God had closed the door on our missionary life, He still had a plan for us. After a year back home God moved us to start a church in High Springs, FL where we are today. Now I was a preacher's kid. After ten years, this is the place I have lived at the longest. We have seen God do amazing things. My life has been an adventure, but I love it.
Growing up, I always wanted to be a wife and mother like my momma and marry a preacher, but another desire took shape when I was fifteen years old. We were on our tiny island, and I had read the books in our personal library. It seemed that many times, when I picked up a new book whether on Kindle or brought back from a visit to the States, it had something in it that made me need to put it down. At this influential age, we wanted to be extra careful about what we read in books and watched in movies. The solution to our desire for more wholesome books - why not write our own? Josh, Brenna, and I started writing at the same time. We were really into Westerns at this point in time, so that was what our stories were about. When the desire to write fizzled out for the other two, I kept at it. My dream became the desire to be an author. Though it took a long time to come to pass, that dream became a reality in 2023.
My goal is to enjoy what God has for me right now instead of waiting for "Mr. Right" to come along. Though I want to get married one day, I don't want to focus on future blessings so much that I miss out on the blessings He has for me now. As it is, the blessings He has given so far are too many to count. God wants manifold blessings for you as well.
“O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man [or woman] that trusteth in him.” (Psalm 34:8)
