We Want To Say Thank Thee!
By Carolyn Shields, drinking her lukewarm coffee
When he was in Bethany reclining at table in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfumed oil, costly genuine spikenard. She broke the alabaster jar and poured it over his head. There were some who were indignant. 'Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? It could have been sold for more than three hundred days wages and the money given to the poor.' They were infuriated with her. Jesus said, 'Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for me. The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anticipated my body for burial. Amen, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed to the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.' Mark 14:3-9
I have been overwhelmed by your support in our efforts to spread the beautiful (and sometimes gently feminine) gospel to Uganda this May. Words of encouragement, prayers from chapels across the oceans, and dollars from southern banks have made me flush. I firmly believe that this interwebbing-evangelization we have going on is building a community of international women striving to simply abide in His Love.
But sometimes even the web can't reach the ends of the world.
The other month when I came across this bible passage, you know, probably sprawling in a chapel, something clicked. That's why I desire to take this leap of faith. Because this nameless woman had done what she could two thousand years ago; she offered what she had, and the world has forgotten her name. But at our Holy's urging, we at theYCW want to proclaim the gospel to the whole world, precisely for this nameless woman, who in a way, can represent us all, and that whenever we share this Message, it will be done in memory of her.
How often do we pray, "Break through me, Lord...even if it means breaking me." How many alabaster jars have we shattered at the foot of the Cross, shrieking at the Bloody Corpse to take it...that we can't. But He can. And He promised. How often have we felt our own selves break...only to feel that we are all alabaster, and no oil... and then question if we are even worth breaking.
Yes, we are to presume this woman was the greatest recorded sinner in salvation history: Mary Magdalene, but Mark neglects to tell us this. Her anonymity though has won me over. And just as she broke and shed her value before the Anointed, it's time for us to fall at his feet and offer what we have...even when it feels like our hands are empty. Even when we find nothing within...because that's when Christ sighs and a smile tugs at His lips and he presses through his lips a soft 'Finally...'
Because now you are empty of yourself. And you're now a vessel in which He can fill.
Womenfolk, will you allow Him to break you one more time?
So we want to say THANK THEE for your support. For an offering of twenty-five dollars, we'll send you a little thank thee gift...it's not much, but it's from the heart. Donate and view our thank-thee HERE.