When I was a child, my family and I would go to Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base, in San Diego, to visit at Christmas time. I loved going there to be able to spend time with the Marines and to hear their stories.
One person in particular really helped shape my view of Jesus and of the way my family and I spent our holiday. I remember the Marine like it was yesterday. He was wearing sunglasses with a baseball cap. He also had a cane. He shared that when he was overseas, he had encountered a grenade that exploded. Part of his skull was blown off and he had become blind. He had metal plates on the right side of his skull.
He talked about how he was so angry with God for all that had happened to him. Fighting for his country, this poor hero had come back and was struggling to get the help he needed. He felt like the Department of Veterans’ Affairs was no help to him. All I kept wondering was how could the VA possibly not be helpful to a man whose injuries were so extreme. He really couldn’t catch a break after everything he had gone through.
There was a group of us listening and several of the adults started talking to him about God’s word. He didn’t really want to listen to them. At last the group was able to convince him to pray with us.
We all huddled up and prayed for the hero and his wife to overcome this adversity. I was supposed to have had my eyes closed for the prayer, but I couldn’t help but stare at this injured hero and question Jesus. The Marine just looked so defeated and I continued to ask Jesus how and why.
All throughout that day I kept wondering and pondering how Jesus could have let something like this happen to this person. And not just this person but his family as well. His family had to be suffering just as much as he was.
Towards the end of the day, to my amazement, everyone got together to donate money to help the Marine and his wife. I felt as though Jesus touched everyone’s hearts. It was undoubtedly a Christmas miracle to see so many people get together to help that hero and his exhausted wife. I will never forget that day. It is amazing to see how Jesus works in mysterious ways.
Fast forward to my adult life, this childhood memory has taught me to teach my children about sharing Jesus’ love with others. Not everyone is ready to hear Jesus’ messages verbally. But we can indirectly share what Jesus’ love truly is.
It’s hard for us to understand why bad things happen to us. I believe with all my heart that it is not Jesus doing it. Jesus is always there for us during the good and the bad. As a child, I never would have thought that this childhood memory would have affected me so much. It goes to show you how much Jesus works in our lives, no matter how old we are.
Ashley Beaubien loves being mother to two boys.