Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Sunbeams Down the Path

Our lifelong friends, Mac and Mary McDermott, were killed in an automobile accident near Gatesville, Texas, shortly after they left my father’s funeral. Mary died at the scene, and Mac died yesterday never having regained consciousness. Please keep their family in your prayers as they plan memorial services.

Mary was a young teenager in my father’s first pastorate in central Minnesota. She lived with us during a brief stint in Maryland.

The family met Mac, a soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, when we moved to El Paso. He was a member of the church where Dad was pastor. He helped my father build our home on the outskirts of El Paso from the stones and gravel they found in the arroyos.

My match-making mother invited Mary for an extended stay in El Paso and pushed her up the stairs at a fellowship meeting, insisting that she meet Mac. They fell in love, had a whirlwind romance, and were married for 51 years and had four children.

I saw Mary for the first time in nearly 50 years at the 60th wedding anniversary of my parents last year. Mary is the one who bought me the sailor suit I was photographed wearing as a five-year-old.

I saw Mac and Mary in the crowd as the family exited First Baptist Church of Gatesville after the memorial service for Dad. I stepped up to them, put both my arms around their necks, and hugged them close. I said, “Thank you for loving us when we were little. It made a big difference.”

Think of the ways we touch the little ones. This very Sunday we have 18 children who will be part of the parent/child dedication service. Our foster care ministry will bear fruit for generations on this earth as well as forever in heaven. The Early Learning Center and Bible study, missions, and music programs for the children are some of our most important work. Our efforts to bring Peace on the Playgrounds focus on the needs of children.

We send sunbeams far down the path when we love the little ones.

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