Lisa Barry: Well, I have to admit that I approach this final broadcast of Gateway To Joy with strong emotion. When this program started, we had hoped for a five-to-seven-year run. But, instead, it turned into a 13-year, life-changing beacon of hope for women all across this country. And a legacy will be felt for years to come because of the two women who are right here in the studio with me today. They are Elisabeth Elliot and our special guest, Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Nancy, all this week, you've been answering many of our questions. But I know you've got a few things that you would like to ask Elisabeth, so I'm going to turn the tables over to you and let you do just that as we begin this final edition of Gateway To Joy.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Elisabeth, one of the questions I've wanted to ask you, as an older woman, is what could you share with those of us who are younger women about God's perspective on this matter of aging? How does God view that, and how can we look toward the aging process with anticipation, rather than fear or dread?

Elisabeth Elliot: Thank you Nancy, for the privilege of answering a question like that. I don't hesitate at all to tell people my age. And I've had older women say to me, "Oh, you shouldn't say that, you know, you don't, you don't look that old." And I said, "I look in the mirror, I know that I look old." At this particular juncture, I happen to be 74-years-old, pretty close to 75. And when I look in the mirror, quite honestly, I do not recognize the person that I see there. And I don't feel any different at all. I am so very, very blessed in having had practically perfect health all my life, and I don't feel any less vigorous in my old age than I was. But I do recognize it very clearly as a stage which I am so delighted to realize is the vestibule of heaven.

And I can't help saying to the Lord, you know, "Haven't I had enough years, and wouldn't this be just a wonderful time to take me home," and I realize that it's none of my business when God wants to lift me up there. But one of the things that I think about a lot is that great hymn of How Firm A Foundation. And the stanza that says:

E'en down to old age, all my people shall prove
my boundless, eternal, unchangeable love,
and then when gray hairs shall their temples adorn,
like lambs in my bosom shall they still be borne.

And I know that God is bearing me, as a lamb in his bosom.

And I'm an old woman, and I think I have a right and a responsibility to talk about old age. Because I'm fed up with women trying to act kittenish, as though they were young, when it's terribly obviously that they are old. All we have to do is look in the mirror. We ought to thank God for whatever stage we find ourselves in.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Elisabeth, we were in a meeting together earlier today, and you quoted a passage of scripture that was, I felt, so meaningful, along this line. And I wonder if you would just read it for us now from Isaiah, chapter 46?

Elisabeth Elliot: I guess I began with verse 4, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. To whom will you compare me, or count me equal? To whom will you then liken me that we may be compared? Some pour out gold from their bags and weigh out silver on their scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it; they set it up in a place, and there it stands. From that spot it cannot move. Though one cries out to it, it does not answer; it cannot save him from his troubles. Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come, I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do."

And I can rest in that. Isaiah 48:17 also, "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea."

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: I love those passages and they do give such a sense of the control and the sovreignty of God. You've talked about accepting, and not rejecting the aging process. But what about those who may feel, as older women, that they're no longer useful, that they don't have the strength they once had or the influence that they once had. What can be the role that those of us as younger women have to look forward to as we become older women?

Elisabeth Elliot: I think older women have not only a tremendous privilege, but a very great responsibility to talk to younger women. And to try to help them realize what a blessing it is that they are that age. And then testify to what a blessing it is to be this age. There are things I can't do, there are a lot of things I can't remember. And I think that's one of the most difficult things for me because I've always had a very good memory and I don't have a good memory anymore. I can remember all the stuff in the past, I've got all these hymns and poems, and all kinds of stuff in my head that I don't forget. But I can forget what Lars said to me three minutes ago, and he'll say, "You mean you don't know what I just said?" And I have to say, "Tell me again, please tell me again." Well, of course, it's infuriating to hear.

Dear Mom Cunningham, that precious woman who was such a blessing to me, when I went to Prairie Bible Institute, and she had Parkinson's disease. And she, at the last stage, I saw her, (this was some years after I was at Prairie)--I went to see her again. And it was only shortly before she died. But she had to hold her hands tight in order to keep them from trembling, but she just had this radiant, radiant face, surrounded by white hair. And she had this beautiful Scottish accent, I just loved to hear her, she would say, "Oh, Bettie dear, oh how I love you Bettie dear." You know, she was just another mother in my life, and I would like to be that kind of a mother to women who would find me available.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: That is what I have always so wanted to be true of my own life. In fact, I have to tell you that since I was a little girl, my single greatest goal in life has been to be someday, a Godly old lady. And I have, I guess in my mind, a picture of what that means. I'm discovering that the old part comes easier than the--more easily, than the Godly part. But I'm so thankful for the example of women who've lived longer than I have, those who've walked before me, who are setting this pattern. We don't have to become, I think I've heard you use the word curmudgeon before, that we don't have to become irritable or hard to live with or demanding. That we really can become more full of grace and really still continue to touch lives, as I know that you are.

Elisabeth Elliot: Well, I hang onto verses like, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."(Isaiah 41:10).

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: A verse that you read earlier talked about fulfilling God's purpose. Do you feel as you look over your life, do you feel as though you've fulfilled God's purpose for you?

Elisabeth Elliot: To a certain extent, I think I can say, "Yes," I did believe that God called me to be a missionary. I believed that He expected me to be faithful in my schoolwork from the time I was in kindergarten, and I took the classes that I believed God was asking me to use. I thought that for some reason, God would want me to read Greek, and I learned Latin in high school. And I learned Greek in college and when I began working on the Bible in primitive languages, of course, I needed both the Greek and the Latin. So those were things that God knew that I didn't know exactly why I had to do, and, of course, I never dreamed of being a radio broadcaster or writing books. I was just going to be a jungle missionary, period. But, of course, Jim's death precipitated me into writing. And if you write one book, then publishers ask you to write another one.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Do you have any goals on your heart, passions on your heart that haven't yet been fulfilled?

Elisabeth Elliot: I still want to be a better wife. When I think about the very, very short time that God gave me to Jim and Add, I look back on those as if everything was perfect. And, you know, I'm sure they couldn't have been perfect all the time. But I had to watch Add die and it was a very long, very utterly devastating process because he was a very big, strong, very widely-known man. And he'd written a lot of books and he was a very wonderful speaker, and he got very angry with God. And that was an extremely difficult time. And, of course, the Lord has given me husband number three, and I just pray that God will not allow me to become a crotchety, old wife. You can add that to your prayers for me.

Lisa Barry: Okay, we will do that, thank you. And I would ask each of you listening to pray too for Elisabeth and Nancy as they begin new chapters in their lives. God has orchestrated their steps for many years; and for this brief time, they have intersected.

For those of you who would like to take a bit of history with you, we have today's program available in a series we've entitled, "A Legacy of Faith." And even though Gateway To Joy will no longer be heard on the radio, I want you to know that Elisabeth's books, videos and tapes will continue to be available through the Web site, along with program transcripts and audio archives. That address is gatewaytojoy.org or if you don't have Internet access, you can contact us by phone at 1-800-759-4JOY, that's 1-800-759-4569. Or you can write a letter and send it to Gateway To Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501, that's Gateway to Joy, Box 82500, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68501. Gateway to Joy has been a production of Back to the Bible.

Well, with that it's time to bring this final Gateway To Joy to an end. Eternity alone will reveal the profound impact that this program has had on women all around the world. I, for one, am a different person because of the things I've heard right here; and I know many of you feel the same way. I know it's tempting to be discouraged because Gateway To Joy is ending; but remember, this program has always been about a gateway. And the thing about gateways is that they are not designed to be dwelling places; they're merely entrances to other things. Take this opportunity to thank God for the work He's done in your life through Elisabeth Elliot; and we all know what she would say to that, "To God be the glory."

This is Lisa Barry signing off for the very last time with the words of Elisabeth Elliot, "trust and obey, do the next thing," and remember that "anything if offered to God can and will become your gateway to joy," God bless you.