An Interview
With Lisa Eller
Summer: Hello, Lisa! How excited Melody and I were when
you said that you would like to do an interview with us!
... I guess you should begin by introducing yourself. Why don’t you
tell our readers your full name and your age & birthday. You might
also mention the members in you family, their ages, and your parent’s occupations...
Lisa: Hi!! I have never done an interview before, so
this is all new to me :-) . I’m Lisa Ann Eller and I turned 14 on May 11.
My family consists of: Dad (Robert), who is the computer & telephone
manager for a recycling plant; Mother (Candy) who stays at home teaching
Alan and I; myself and Alan (10 1/2). My brother, Alan and I are both homeschooled
- he is doing mainly 5th grade work and I am doing 10th grade work.
Summer: What state and town do you live in, Lisa? Do
you enjoy living there? I know that when our family moved from Tennessee
to Texas, I became a little homesick for those beautiful mountains, sparkling
creeks, and tall trees. Tell me a little about your environment..... Also,
has your family ever had to move, and if so, how many times? Our family
has moved at least 14 times since I was born! Ohhhhh!!!
Lisa: We live in Holland, Michigan and really enjoy it.
Of course, we always have some things we would change - like we would love
to have warmer weather than we normally get here! We have a beautiful woods
behind our house, as well as a creek. However, we do not venture out into
our backyard during mosquito season :-) :-) !!
When I was five years old, we moved to this house, but that was the
only time that I have moved. Of course I don’t really remember it....
Summer: Yes, I know how memories can get kind of fuzzy
over time. I’ve been thinking about writing a memory book before all of
my memories get any fuzzier!
Well anyway, would you like to tell us about one of your favorite Bible
verses and what it means to you? One of my favorite passages in scripture
is the 23rd Psalm: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh
me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his
name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort
me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou
anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house
of the LORD for ever.”.... It truly is comforting to know that the
Lord is my shepherd and that I shall not want; that he will comfort, lead
and restore me, even through the valley of the shadow of death; even when
we are going through trials and tribulations, we can be assured that He
is still with us!! Does this passage speak to you? Tell us about your favorite
passage...
Lisa: I also love the 23rd Psalm, Summer! I have so many
verses that mean so much to me... One in particular is Proverbs 14:13 —
“Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, and the end of joy may be
grief.” This reminds me that people might be unhappy underneath the
‘mask’ of a smile. It taught me to reach out to people...
Summer: Yes, that is a good observation, Lisa. That verse
causes me to think of the wicked who live their lives enjoying earthly
pleasures, but they are not really happy inside. Why? Because they have
not obtained that one thing which is needful - a personal relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ! We must learn to reach out to these people,
and also to other Christians who are going through hard times....
Would you like to share your salvation testimony with us? My salvation
testimony is that I was saved at ten years of age after listening to a
set of videos on the Tribulation. The titles were, “A Thief in the Night”,
“The Mark of the Beast”, etc... (My dad had to rent a VCR and borrow a
television so that we could watch them.) The videos were very scary and
upsetting to Melody and I, (She was saved too, because of this movie.)
as in one of the scenes, a lady who was not saved was laid on a guillotine
and threatened with having her head chopped off for refusing to take the
Mark of the Beast.
Well, the lady was terrified as she knew that taking the mark would
send her to hell, but then, here she was, faced with death, and having
no hope that she was even saved. Suddenly, an earthquake triggered the
guillotine, letting the blade come slicing down....on her neck! Well, after
watching those videos, our parents discussed them with us, saying, “We
may be here when the Tribulation begins. Someday we may have to lay down
our lives for Christ and die for not serving the devil and taking his mark.
Are you ready for this?”
That night, as I lay in bed, I thought seriously about the matter for
the first time in my life. I had always supposed that I was a Christian
before, but suddenly I realized that just believing that Christ was Lord
and that he died to save sinners wasn’t enough. And I definitely knew that
I was not at peace about dying. In fact, just the thought of dying scared
me to death. For the first time in my life, I realized just how great my
sins were, and that I needed to repent and have them covered by the blood
of the Lamb to be truly saved. (It’s one thing to know the facts, and quite
another thing to realize them in your soul!) So then and there, I asked
God to forgive and accept me as His child... and He did! Afterwards, I
felt such a peace and happiness come over me that I was assured that God
truly had saved me. And, guess what! I wasn’t even afraid of dying anymore,
as I was sure then that I would go to Heaven if I did! I wasn’t even afraid
of getting my head chopped off.
So, Lisa, that’s my testimony.... Would you like to share yours?
Lisa: I was 9 years old when I started to think seriously
about God and where I was going after I died - and I knew that I would
go to hell if I died then. That really scared me, so that was when I asked
God to forgive me and make me one of his children. I was baptized shortly
afterward.
Summer: God is good to make us his children, isn’t He?
We definitely don’t deserve His mercy, much less, His grace!
In your last letter to me and Melody, you said that you thought highly
of the Elsie book series... Would you mind sharing your opinion of these
books with us?
Lisa: Yes, I recommend these books highly to everyone!
They were originally published by Martha Finley in the 1860’s and 70’s,
and were best-sellers during that time. In fact, for over forty years Miss
Finley sold more books than any other juvenile author of her day, excepting
Louisa May Alcott. Many of these books have been republished by Mantle
Ministries.
Okay, so you say, now we know all about the author. What is so great
about the books!! These books are about a young Southern heiress, Elsie
Dinsmore, who is a Christian. Her father, however, is not, and she obeys
him explicitly unless he goes against the Bible. The Word of God permeates
the pages of Elsie’s daily experiences and places these books in a class
far above the majority of many books available today.
Summer: Thanks so much, Lisa. I too, have enjoyed reading
the Elsie series very much.... Most of my favorite books were written in
the 1800’s - I really like reading about events that occurred in that time
period, the different settings, speech, dress and mannerisms. It’s really
neat to read books like this... they make history come alive! :-)
Thank you also for doing this interview with us! Time is flying quickly,
so I guess I should say good-bye now...
Good-bye, and God bless!!!!
Love in Christ, Summer Joy Chapin
Lisa: Interviews are fun - and rather easy to do, as
well. I would love to see interviews from other Christian girls in the
future issues of this magazine! Thank you so much!
Love in Christ,
Lisa A. Eller
Summer: P.S. The Elsie books may be obtained from:
Mantle Ministries
228 Still Ridge
Bulverde, Texas 78163