Thankful for Mary

Merry Christmas to you all!!

It's Christmas Eve. It's a bit chilly. Lights are up. Tins of cookies are all over our counter top and the window where we hang Christmas cards received is packed with warm wishes. Tonight people will gather at the church to sing songs, light candles and remember that God came to earth. Tomorrow we'll celebrate the birth of our Lord.....

There are so many things to be thankful for. But today I'm thankful for Mary. I know, you're thinking MARY, the virgin, the young girl chosen by God to bear the savior of the world. I'm thankful for her, but I'm really thankful for another Mary.

I have a friend. She is a faithful lady in our church. Her name is Mary. Mary loves Jesus with all of her heart. I can tell. It's easy to tell when someone really loves Jesus because they have His attitude. They have His demeanor. They talk like Him, gently. They smile a lot because they are at peace. They help a lot because that's what Jesus would do. Mary is like this. Mary is a lot like Jesus.

People who really love Jesus love people, like Jesus loves them. Jesus said that the reason He came to earth was to seek out people and save them. We all need saving. Jesus came to save us all. People who love Jesus are people who are very concerned about others coming to know Jesus. I know Mary loves Jesus because she wants other to know Him.

Mary works out at a local gym. While she works out she meets people and gets to know them. One person Mary got to know was a woman named Lisa. Mary is a black woman in her 50's. Lisa is an asian woman in her 30's. It doesn't matter what color or age you are, when you love Jesus, you love and accept everybody. Mary and Lisa became friends.

I don't know exactly how it all played out but what I do know is that on November 18th, just about 6 weeks ago, Mary brought Lisa to church. I only know that because Lisa filled out one of our first time guest "Welcome" cards and wrote on it that she was the guest of her friend, Mary.

As I always do, I wrote Lisa a note thanking her for visiting with us and inviting her back again and to please introduce herself to me next time she came. The next Sunday, November 25th, Mary brought Lisa again and this time Mary brought her friend to meet me. It was really nice. Mary looked pleased and Lisa looked a bit bashful but her smile was engaging. She said she was glad to be here and that she really enjoyed the church. She was thankful that Mary had invited her to come. I told her that it was nice to meet her and that I hope we could get to know each other better. Mary smiled. They left together.

That was the last time I saw Lisa....

A few days later a violent man took Lisa's life. I don't know what led up to the horrible event or why it happened. It didn't take investigators long to capture the man responsible and locate Lisa's body.

I had only met Lisa one time and for only about 3-4 minutes but I'm thankful for Mary. Mary had invested herself into Lisa and had taken the time to do for her the most important thing any person can do for any other person, introduce them to Jesus. Mary said that at one of those 2 services, either November 18th or 25th, Lisa gave her life to Jesus and accepted Him as her Lord and Savior.

For Lisa's family, this Christmas will be very hard. The grief is as deep as any grief can be. For Lisa, this Christmas is beyond belief. She is being held in the arms of the Savior, her new friend, Mary's friend. His name is Jesus.

I can't help but think of all the scenarios that could have occured. What if Mary hadn't taken the time to befriend Lisa? What if Mary had been too nervous to ask Lisa to come to church with her? What if, what if, what if.......How many people do I pass by because I'm too busy about my own life?

I don't know the answers to all of those questions. Here's what I do know; a woman who loves Jesus made a friend. She introduced that new friend to her very best friend, her Lord Jesus. Today, Lisa knows Jesus in a way Mary hopes for.

This Christmas, I'm thankful for Mary.