“You have every right to ask me to leave.”

Elisabeth Elliot & Lars Gren

I wasn’t stringing him on. My mind was totally closed to the possibility [of a third marriage]. I thought, “This man could not possibly be serious.” He was just a very kind, polite, southern gentleman…

Listen to Lars and Elisabeth retell their love story in an interview on FamilyLife Today®:

• A Love Story: Lars and Elisabeth Elliot Gren, Part 1
• A Love Story: Lars and Elisabeth Elliot Gren, Part 2

Four more years of widowhood followed and then the third miracle—Lars Gren, a former salesman who in middle life decided that was not the way he wanted to spend the rest of it, and came to seminary to prepare for Christian service. If ever there was a one-man woman I thought it was I, but each milestone of my life has entailed the breaking up of categories. A third husband, Lord? I couldn’t believe this was what God meant, but the Lord knows how to get through to us when we honestly want to know what He wants. As I prayed and pondered the decision, the Holy Spirit brought to my attention the words: Men have different gifts, but it is the same Lord who accomplishes His purposes through them all (see 1 Cor. 12). Gradually it became perfectly clear that Lars was a part of God’s purpose for me. He was a gift God had been trying to give me, but it took awhile to get my attention and to shuffle my categories again from widow to wife, from saying “I” to saying “we.” We were married in 1977.

-Elisabeth Elliot in Love Has a Price Tag

More about Lars and Elisabeth’s story:

• My Visit to Elisabeth Elliot’s Cove from Emily Ellis
• Lars and Elisabeth’s Love Story from Emily Ellis
• Life of Elisabeth Elliot compiled by James Lau

More Love Stories