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Christmas 2002
The sum of all grace...
"...for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be
to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a
Savior,
who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11
Her dark eyes tell stories, give clues, penetrate. They speak of a
strong heritage and culture rich in tradition and history. When she
speaks, her voice carries the music of her first language and the
language of her people who traveled north before her birth from the
state of Michoacan, Mexico, to find a new life in California. She is
first generation American and like her parents, siblings, and extended
American family, she has struggled to find a place of acceptance and
assimilation into Southern California's fast-paced, gain-driven
community.
Growing up socially alienated and angry, she chose to walk with her
brothers before her coming to our ministry as a ward of the court
through Orange County's juvenile justice system. She came to a
Protestant chapel service at Orange County Juvenile Hall and trapped by
addiction to the poisonous hook of heroin. She listened to and heard the
power of God's eternal truth; discovering her need for the kind of
radically life only possible by choosing to believe in - wholly trust
her life, confidence, and security - in the person and the work of Jesus
Christ, Son of God.
She asked for and was given a Christian mentor through PYCM's
Matchpoint(r) mentoring project. With each life success and mistake for
the past three years her mentor has remained a strong discipler,
constant encourager and close friend. Of her mentor, she says, "I
love her. Since the first day I met her, she has never put me down.
She's always there for me no matter what. It's like I found the other
half of my heart."
Not so unlike you and me, an infinitely gracious God desires to guide
this young woman through each decision of her days to a good result. Not
unlike you and me, she struggles to exchange old appetites, attitudes,
and habit patterns for the reality of the formation of God's empowering,
righteous character within her heart and spirit. We all experience
failure. In the past two years she has returned twice to juvenile hall.
Even so, God's grace-filled compassion continues to cover her. And when
she falls, she falls forward into the embrace of this same grace.
She speaks today with hope. Within this hope she sees a future set free
from the destructive tragedy of drugs and the deep personal and
inter-personal sorrows they create. At the name of Jesus, Son of God and
Friend, her dark eyes catch the light. She is a child of grace, Christ's
holy breath the promise of her life.
Grace, mercy, and peace in Christ to you and your family this Christmas,
Chaplain Steve, Jan, and Jessica Lowe |
