Elizabeth Bittinger - May Modern Female of the Month
Life is made up of moments that brand and chisel our lives, and those moments are greatly impacted by the people in our lives. Since this month celebrates mothers, I decided it would be best to feature the woman who has impacted my life in the greatest way possible---my mother, Elizabeth (Peel) Bittinger. She is more than a wife, mother and grandmother, she is a woman of numerous talents with a heart that yearns to improve the lives of others everywhere she goes.
Through this interview with my mother I hope you are encouraged to live courageously, give generously, dream immeasurable and love unconditionally.
My interview with my mother, Elizabeth (Peel) Bittinger:
1. What or who inspired you to pursue the role or professional career that you now have?
So many people and circumstances influenced the direction of my life, but there is one special woman who was like a second mother to me growing up. Her name was Leola Rust. She was my teacher for my first six grades of school. I attended a one-room mission school on the border of Texas and Mexico in a very small dusty, western town.
Miss Leola, as everyone called her, was both sole administrator and teacher in the school for many years. She often had 50+ students in one classroom and was so organized and taught the older children how to help the younger. She told us that we were all called to “teach others” and care for one another more than just ourselves. She was so energetic, kind, compassionate, and self-sacrificing. Laziness and sloppy work were never allowed and she pushed us to reach beyond what we thought we could achieve. Her students graduated with honors from public high schools and colleges.
When I completed high school in the top 10 in a class of nearly 400 students at a large county high school, my goal was set to become a teacher and inspire students to reach their full potential in life.
I did become an elementary and Spanish teacher. Later, I pursued a Master’s Degree and clinical license in counseling and developed a private counseling practice helping hurting individuals and families.
2. What challenges did you face in pursuing your goals?
Goals are often interrupted, delayed or developed into new adventures along the way and we often are amazed by where it takes us. I interrupted my formal teaching career to raise three wonderful children and purse my master’s degree. Then, I returned to teaching junior high school English for three years, but I decided I could not grade a foot high stack of writing papers every night and still be a pastor’s wife and mother of very busy junior high & high school-age children. I resigned from teaching and then taught families how to straighten up their lives as an in-home counselor. That was a harder job than teaching junior high kids. After several years, I established my counseling practice and taught clients coping skills one client at a time at a more slow pace. After retiring from counseling, I am now a grandma and I teach preschoolers at church and have fun doing it! I also enjoy teaching my “young women’s small group” I host in my home---we laugh, cry and learn about life together. I never have really stopped teaching, it just took on different forms along the way.
3. What lessons have you learned along your journey?
Life is a journey and we only pass that way but once. You have to take every opportunity that presents itself and with God’s help decide what are the most important choices to make along the way. I have found that making time for God and relationships are far more important than careers, jobs, earning a title and the stuff we collect. At the end of life—-all that really matters is that God approves of our choices and that our family knows that we value them more than anything else in life.
Also—have fun along the way and enjoy the beautiful scenery God has created around us. Find a hobby like hiking that takes you out into God’s nature and find times of solitude to quiet your soul.
4. What are your future goals and why?
My most important goal is to pass along to my children and grandchildren the rich heritage of faith and family. To take all the stories of my childhood as a missionary’s child, all the old pictures, and all the history of our family lineage and publish a family record for our grandchildren and generations to know their rich legacy of faith.
5. If you could give one piece of advice to other women, what would it be?
Life is a sum total of the choices you make along the way. Large choices often can make changes that effect everything in our future; but there is no bad choice that can’t be reversed by the next good choice. Small choices do add up along the way and have huge consequences. Make good habits all along the way and life will go much more smoothly.
