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    Chapter II

    Making believe that we are guests of the Whites in Battle Creek, let us observe closely what is going on. Joining the family at the noon meal, we find the food simple and appetizing, but carrying out well the principles set before Ellen White in the visions. Here is a statement in which she describes the circumstances:EGWP 2.5

    I have a well-set table on all occasions. I make no change for visitors, whether believers or unbelievers. I intend never to be surprised by an unreadiness to entertain at my table from one to half a dozen extra who may chance to come in. I have enough simple, healthful food ready to satisfy hunger and nourish the system.... No butter or flesh meats of any kind come on my table. Cake is seldom found there. I generally have an ample supply of fruits, good bread, and vegetables. Our table is always well patronized, and all who partake of the food do well, and improve upon it. All sit down with no epicurean appetite, and eat with a relish the bounties supplied by our Creator. 1Endnotes Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church 2:487 (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association 1958). (Except 10, 24, 36, 40, and 41, all references that follow are books, letters, and manuscripts by Ellen G. White. EDITOR)

    It had not been easy for her to change her own dietetic habits to this simpler way of living, as she had determined to do a few years earlier when the health reform vision was given to her in 1863. She had enjoyed meat, and she badly missed it; but she had been shown the disadvantage of its use, and she would put into practice in her own life the light God had given to her. When she came to the table, she was unable to relish the simple, meatless meal and excused herself without eating. After the second or third such attempt, she put her hands on her stomach and, addressing it, declared, “You may wait until you can eat bread!” 2Counsels on Diet and Foods, 484 (Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association 1946).EGWP 3.1

    While there were times in travel that this program could not be wholly adhered to, Ellen White found that through the last two decades of her life there was no need to compromise, and in 1909 she wrote: “It is reported by some that I have not followed the principles of health reform as I have advocated them with my pen; but I can say that I have been a faithful health reformer. Those who have been members of my family know that this is true.” 3Testimonies for the Church 9:159.EGWP 3.2

    So different from many who are inclined to be fanatical on the subject of food, she was careful to recognize that not all would enjoy and thrive on the same articles of diet. Within the broad outline of healthful nutrition, she found her way and she granted others the same privilege. She explained this in 1904: “Other members of my family do not eat the same things that I do. I do not hold myself up as a criterion for them. I leave each one to follow his own ideas as to what is best for him. I bind no one else’s conscience by my own. One person cannot be a criterion for another in the matter of eating. It is impossible to make one rule for all to follow.” Expanding the matter a little more, she added two specific examples: “Butter is never placed on my table, but if the members of my family choose to use a little butter away from the table, they are at liberty to do so. Our table is set twice a day, but if there are those who desire something to eat in the evening, there is no rule that forbids them from getting it.” 4Letter 127 published in Counsels on Diet and Foods, 491.EGWP 3.3

    She might have eaten some butter when traveling, but refrained, saying, as reported by a neighbor and close acquaintance, “If I eat a little butter, some people will take it as an excuse to eat a lot of butter.” The absence of butter from her table did not mean that she either called for or followed a fat free diet. She explained: “As for myself, I have settled the butter question. I do not use it. This question should easily be settled in every place where the purest article cannot be obtained. We have good milk cows, a Jersey and a Holstein. We use cream, and all are satisfied with this.” 5Letter 45, 1903 published in Counsels on Diet and Foods, 357.EGWP 3.4

    In the course of a visit, Ellen White might pick up some knitting or sewing. She grew up in the setting of the textile industry, her father being a hatmaker. On close observation one would see that the materials with which she worked and from which her garments were made were of good quality. She knew how to select good fabrics, and there was no place in her experience for anything shoddy, whether dress goods, suit materials, building materials, or character.EGWP 3.5

    Life was not strained in the White home. There was no place for a long-faced, smileless religion. Instead, religion was a very practical element that entered into every activity, and it was a joyous religion in a joyous home.EGWP 3.6

    Ellen White would join in a hearty laugh at an amusing or awkward situation or a nice turn of words. She was anything but moody or morose. With her inspired insight, and in her own personal struggles, there was sufficient to sadden her heart, but she determined to be cheerful, and this was observed in her smiles. Once she wrote: “Do you ever see me gloomy, desponding, complaining? I have a faith which forbids this.... It is the want of genuine religion that produces gloom, despondency, and sadness.... A hearty, willing service to Jesus produces a sunny religion. Those who follow Christ most closely have not been gloomy.” 6Manuscript 1, 1867.EGWP 3.7

    In Sweden in the mid-1880s a friend translated for her an amusing little jingle printed on the back of the boxes of a popular brand of matches. Hearing it, she burst into a hearty laugh, and on several occasions she called for a repeated translation, each time by her laugh showing her reaction. Youthful Dores Robinson, who had been employed as one of her copyists, was shocked at his first meal at the White table at her Cooranbong home. Sara McEnterfer, Ellen White’s traveling companion and nurse, offered her the greens, saying, “Mother, here is your horse feed.” Glancing over the food on the table, she quickly retorted, “I don’t know that my horse feed is any worse than your cowpeas!”EGWP 3.8

    Although inclined to feelings of depression, she steadfastly resisted. “I can sympathize with you in your feelings of doubt and perplexity,” she wrote to an acquaintance in 1912, “for there are times when Satan seeks to bring to me the same trouble of mind, and I have to guard myself, that the tempter may not gain the advantage.” 7Letter 44, 1912, p. 1. Earlier she declared, “I am determined to bring all the sunshine into my life that I possibly can.” 8Letter 127, 1903, p. 4.EGWP 4.1

    If our visit to the home were in the early Battle Creek days, we would find quite well-disciplined boys. As a mother, Ellen White endeavored to avoid crises and sought constantly to lead the minds of her children in such a way as to strengthen character and develop willpower. Suitable, simple rewards encouraged obedience and good behavior. The inducements outside the home were often offset by innocent pleasures in the home. Seldom was corporal punishment administered, and then only after a quiet talk and earnest prayer.EGWP 4.2

    Of course problems arose. The boys were not model children. But issues were dealt with promptly and decisively, yet also with restraint: “I never allowed my children to think that they could plague me in their childhood. Never did I allow myself to say a harsh word.... When my spirit was stirred, or when I felt anything like being provoked, I would say, ‘Children, we shall let this rest now; we shall not say anything more about it now. Before you retire, we shall talk it over.’ Having all this time to reflect, by evening they had cooled off, and I could handle them very nicely.” 9Manuscript 82, 1901, published in Arthur L. White, Ellen G. White Messenger to the Remnant (Washington, D. C.: Ellen G. White Publications 1954), p. 104. [The book Messenger to the Remnant is hereafter noted simply as Remnant. EDITOR.]EGWP 4.3

    Having to be away from home much of the time, she kept in close touch with her children by frequent letters; but at best the situation was a difficult one. Not many mothers are called to make such special sacrifices. Some have conjectured that it would have been better had she not married or had she remained childless. But if this were the case, how effective would her counsel to parents have been? She knew a mother’s problems, joys, and sorrows—she knew them well.EGWP 4.4

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