Maria

Meditation
1 Samuel 2:6-8—The LORD brings death and gives life; He sends [some] to Sheol, and He raises [others] up. The LORD brings poverty and gives wealth; He humbles and He exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the garbage pile. He seats them with noblemen and gives them a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s; He has set the world on them.

Every person has a story. Command Sergeant Major Loera and I walked beneath the famous Arch in St. Louis. We were looking around at the different venues when a woman walked up and invited us inside the theater where she worked. As soon as the movie about making the Arch finished, she slipped us two free tickets and sent us to watch the Lewis and Clark film. She repeatedly thanked us for our service touching us with her generosity.

The next day, I returned to the Arch from our hotel to give Maria a small gift to thank her for her kindness. Later I asked her to tell me her story. She protested that her life was boring but thankfully shared anyway. Maria was born in Red Bud, Illinois, on November 19, 1954. At the age of sixteen, she was forced to leave home to find work and a place of her own. In 1974, she married a man who sadly turned out to be an abusive alcoholic. The day after her husband hit her son in a drunken rage and sent him flying across the room, Maria escaped with her children to stay three months with her pastor and his wife in a room they prepared for her. Her marriage lasted just under ten years.

On April 17, 1995, while at work Maria received a call from the hospital—the call every parent dreads. A nurse told her that her youngest son Tim was admitted for treatment but that he was okay. But each time she asked about her daughter the nurse would not answer. Maria knew her seventeen year-old Angela was with Tim and had a bad premonition. Just three months earlier, Angela told her mom about a reoccurring dream about a black truck, a hill, and a glowing hand that reached out to her. She was afraid to see what was beyond the hill and to take the hand for fear she would not see her mom again. Maria told her if the hand was offered and she wanted to go she should take it.

A sovereign Father prepared His children for a difficult time. Angela and her brother Tim were passengers in a black truck. The driver was young and foolishly speeding on a country road when he lost control. His pickup launched off a hill and rolled three times killing him and Angela. Somehow, both Tim and Angela’s boyfriend survived. Tim held his sister’s arm as her pulse expired.

When Maria notified her boss of her daughter’s death, he told her if she missed a day of work, she would be absent without leave (AWOL). Incredulous, she responded that she would be gone all week regardless of what he did. Fortunately, another employee heard the conversation and reported it to the supervisor who immediately called and apologized to Maria. Then he gave her a month off with pay! This incident seems to capture her life—Maria suffers adversity, responds with courage and receives grace from God to continue! Her joy meter stays lit. She is a woman who makes everyone around her better.

If you would like to take a moment and encourage this humble woman for being a light that honors God, you may write her at grannyohms5@hotmail.com. I suspect she would love to hear from you and I think you’ll make a new Illinois friend.

Inspiration
Love sweetens pains. And when a Christian loves God, he can suffer for His sake, joyfully and courageously.—Brother Lawrence & Frank Laubach in Practicing His Presence

Disturbed

Jed is disturbed by the actions and beliefs of people who call themselves Christians and he disdains the notion of putting his faith in the Lord. Yet, for as argumentative as he is, he still loves to engage in conversation about God and what the Bible says. Jed is sort of an odd bird. People don’t tend to get along with him. I found early on that his mouth goes far beyond where my ears want to go and he doesn’t take hints real well. But the Lord began to convict me for my lack of patience with Jed. Rather than engage him in conversation, I was too quick to try and avoid him. I had to learn to put aside my agenda and listen. Gradually, he began to open up about things that caused him pain. Because I took time to befriend him, he went out of his way to help me in my job. The day will come when I believe Jed will give his heart to Jesus. I suspect most of his arguing is a smokescreen to avoid having to yield his life to the Lord.

Meditation
Mark 6:19,20—So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, because Herod was in awe of John and was protecting him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very disturbed, yet would hear him gladly.

It would be interesting to find out what John the Baptist thought of King Herod. Herod threw him in prison because his wife Herodias wanted him dead. This was because John told Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife” (6:18). Yet the sinner admired the saint and took the time to engage him in conversation. Who knows what the two of them talked about behind cell walls? Even though the truth greatly bothered him, Herod evidently looked forward to his talks with the prophet.

Do we go out of our away to avoid sharing truth with those who disturb us or seem bent on sinning? As best we can tell, Herod rejected John’s message but that did not stop Jesus’ cousin from sharing. If God gave up on people because they were disturbed, Saul would never have become Paul. If we neglect sharing with spiritual antagonists we may avoid losing our head, but for sure we will not gain any hearts. Better to be jailed for telling the truth than to be free to say nothing.

Inspiration
Indisputably, evangelism is not a priority to most Christians. Less that one out of ten said that they have ever intentionally built a relationship with someone in the hope of being able to lead the person to Christ. Fewer than one of every five believers claimed to know a non-Christian well enough to share their faith with that individual in a context of trust and credibility.—George Barna in Growing True Disciples