Day 24 of 40-Day Devotions 2020

TabletalkReader     February 26, 2020 in Religion 85 Subscribers Subscribe


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(From our church-wide devotion book at Pinedale Christian Church, "You 2.0”)

She was born Mary Kay Petet (Beard) onJan. 22, 1945, in Springfield, Missouri. Mary Kay was the fifth of nine children in the family consisting of a devoted Godly mother and an alcoholic dad. Mom focused on instructing the kids according to God’s Word. Dad focused on one more drink and inflicting abuse.

Mary graduated as valedictorian from her high school at an accelerated age of 15. Upon graduation, she left home after suffering a nervous breakdown as the result of intense hatred toward her alcoholic dad. She then enrolled in nursing school and, again, graduated in record time.

At the tender age of 18, Mary left nursing school and traveled to California a few days later. It was there she met a man by the name of Paul Mahaffey, a concert promoter and gambler.What started as a whirlwind romance resulted in marriage 9 days later. Just days after that, she discovered that her new husband was an accomplished bank robber and safecracker. Mary Kay immediately became his apprentice, somewhat like Bonnie Parker of “Bonnie and Clyde” fame.

At first, she just assisted with the mundane stuff like extorting money from Paul’s gambling cheats. But at first opportunity, she, too, was robbing banks. At one point, she staged a prison break to free her husband, Paul. And during a time when Paul was forced into a long hospital stay, Mary entered into a crime partnership with two of his associates.

By 1972, Mary appeared on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list. In addition, there was a contract on Mary’s life as the result of what the Mafia considered a betrayal in a high stakes diamond heist. Later that year, in June, Mary was arrested and charged with 11 federal and 35 state counts of grand larceny and armed robbery.

One night, while awaiting trial in an Alabama jail cell, Mary picked up a Gideon-placed Bible and opened to (of all places), Ezekiel 36:26-27: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. ...And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

Those words echoed in Mary’s mind. With no peace to be found, Mary slid down the metal bunk and onto that cold damp cement floor. Kneeling, she prayed, “Lord, help me. I’ve made such a mess of everything.” Later, she described the next moments like this: “As tears streamed unchecked down my face, a flood of joy filled my whole being. I felt as though I’d been loosed from a mighty anchor.”

A few months later, Mary was sentenced to serve 21 years of a maximum of 108 years in Tutwiler Prison in Wetumpka, Alabama, part of which was in solitary confinement. During her stay at Tutwiler, she witnessed something that would never leave her. Each year at Christmas, churches would bring small gifts – toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, etc. to the inmates. The female inmates would, in turn, regift these items to their children who would, otherwise, get nothing from them for Christmas.

When Mary was released from prison, (miraculously after just 6 years), she took a Christmas tree to two local shopping malls along with the names and ages of local inmate children. Her newly envisioned ministry delivered gifts to over 550 children that first Christmas. Today, her ministry, Angel Tree, has grown to serve over 10 million children around the world.

Mary met Jesus that night at the foot of the cross on that cold, damp Alabama concrete floor. (Romans 6:23) God “loosed her from that mighty anchor” of sin and gave her a new heart. What does a “new heart” look like? For Moses, it was leading God’s people out of slavery. For Paul, it was planting churches. For Jonah, it was preaching revival. For Mary Magdalene, it was serving others. For the woman at the well, it was sharing her faith. No matter exactly what form it took, it was always that pouring into the life of others, which marked that new heart.

Maybe you are suffering from a serious bout of brokenness. This simple two-step process will heal brokenness every time. Step 1: Search out that “one another” today and pour yourself into that person. Step 2: Repeat step one tomorrow! God loves to use the broken to minister to the broken for His glory.

Mary Kay Petet had some ties to our North Davidson community. She has spoken in our local churches multiple times. She almost never spoke about Angel Tree. What she loved to talk about was, “Jesus died to save a wretch like me!”

Some of my favorite Mary Kay quotes:
“I don’t like banks. I refuse to put my money there. I learned you can’t trust them.”
“I just never seemed to get any respect when I was on that list.”

(From our church-wide devotion book at Pinedale Christian Church, "You 2.0”)

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