Tonight we had our parent/teacher conferences at CMS. I always enjoy getting to spend time talking to some of the teachers that I don't get to see very much. During a lull in the stream of concerned parents, one of my co-workers told me about a testimony that another co-worker's son had given at church. She said he had mentioned Mallory in his testimony.
This young man had been a very close friend of Mal's since they were five years old!! I have tons of pictures of them together in kindergarten. When "P" was ten, he invited Mal to his birthday party. Of course, she went. There were 13 boys and Mal there! And when all the boys stayed the night, he just couldn't understand why Mal couldn't stay!! As they got older, they didn't run in the same circles, but I know that P was always very important to Mal.
High school put them in completely different worlds. Mal was caught up in socialization and being in the middle of everything. P, unfortunately, went down a bit of a rocky path. But, even though they didn't hang out anymore, they were always there for each other, if needed. The last day before Christmas break of Mal's junior year, she was in a pretty destructive fender-bender in the high school parking lot. By the time I got there, P had already taken care of her. He saw the crash, called the towing company, found her insurance card in the glove box, and calmed Mal down. He took such good care of her and the situation.
I don't know how often they saw and talked to each other for the last couple of years of Mal's life. But, I do know that P had a rough time dealing with the loss of his life-long friend. He drew a beautiful picture and left it at the cemetary. I would see him every once in a while and was always so concerned that he wouldn't get his life straightened out.
So, tonight when I heard that he has totally turned himself around and is on fire for God, I couldn't help myself; the tears began to fall. Apparently (I haven't read it for myself) he confessed that he had a hard time dealing with the understanding that God would take Mallory home at such a young age. He saw her as someone doing God's work, while he was doing anything but that. He just didn't see the reasoning. But, as someone whose faith has matured in the past three years, I believe that Mal had done God's work in a very short period of time. P's new faith is evident of that!! If losing Mal had ANYTHING to do with saving P, it makes my heart swell. And I know how she must be smiling!!
Someone had me read the poem about a tapestry. In this poem, it compares our view from Earth as the underneath of a tapestry; full of knots, loose strings, and a mess!! God sees the tapestry from heaven; looking down on the top, where it is beautiful and perfect. What an amazing metaphor!!
I am so thankful that God lets me find an errant puzzle piece from time to time. But, believe me, this puzzle has an infinite amount of pieces!! I'll never know the complete picture until I stand in heaven next to the throne. Until, then, I am hanging tight to my faith. And I'm also praying earnestly for P!! I pray that his fire for God burns long and bright....
Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart!”
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