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The Retirement Years
institutions, church leaders revealed their faith in the inspired directions
of the prophetic gift.
At the same time there poured forth from her facile pen a steady
stream of inspirational articles and letters of counsel that found their
way to church editors, leaders, and laymen, not only in Australia but
in North America, Europe, and South America.
During the last fifteen years of her life (1900-1915) Mrs. White was
back in the United States, living in her newly-acquired “Elmshaven”
home near St. Helena, California. While there she ardently hoped to
enjoy a little of the ease and respite of retirement. But alas, the unique
place that she occupied in the church as the Lord’s special messenger
made her the frequent and unrelenting object of demands from God’s
people for counsel and direction.
The servant of the Lord found it difficult to refuse these invitations,
which included preaching appointments at camp meetings, conference
sessions, and local churches. She journeyed eastward across the North
[9]
American continent to speak at the 1909 General Conference session
in Takoma Park when she was 82 years old.
And during the “Elmshaven” years nearly a dozen of her best books
were published—Education; The Ministry of Healing; volumes 6, 7,
8, and 9 of the Testimonies; The Acts of the Apostles; Counsels to
Teachers, Parents, and Students; Gospel Workers; Life Sketches; and
finally (posthumously), Prophets and Kings.
Ellen White did not believe in “retirement by rust.” To her, retire-
ment was “by wear and tear.” But she was not a hard taskmaster; rather,
a mentor graced with an understanding heart and the merciful attitudes
that she had gained by intimate acquaintance with a kind Heavenly
Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. For example, she counseled a worka-
holic preacher in his sunset years to be temperate in his labors, for he
was killing himself by overwork. She encouraged him to grasp the
thought that he had earned the privilege to relax, to ripen for heaven,
and to enjoy some of the restful and peaceful moments of a happy
retirement.
As Trustees it is our prayer that this collection of letters, articles,
and messages from the pen of God’s devoted servant will be a practical
and cherished source of wisdom and guidance to people of retirement
years, as well as to those of preretirement times who wish to grasp