Perfect peace. It's a calmness and understanding that can only be experienced by completely surrendering your situation to God. I experienced it the day they performed the life-saving operation that freed my daughter Marissa from a brain tumor that was supposedly inoperable. Now, almost ten years later, I witnessed not only God give it to a mother who just lost her daughter and needed comfort, but also God using her loss to give peace to to a young girl hurting emotionally.
Marissa is much like me in many ways. She has lots of acquaintances, but only a handful of people she considers real friends. Trust issues tend to get in way due to experiences I won't go into here. But the few people she lets in, she loves and she loves genuinely and deeply. Mallory Garmon was one of those people. She was the type of true friend Marissa treasured, respected and cherished, completely genuine in her love for her friends. This past Sunday, God took this angel home to live in a place far better than Earth.
Mallory's visitation brought hundreds, maybe even more than 1,000 people. It would be hard to estimate, but the love of this young lady by our community was clearly evident. I told Marissa I'm not sure if I would have the strength of her mother to stand there and greet so many people when my heart was completely broken and my life devastated, but she did it with a smile and a peace that only could come through God. The thing is, we were supposed to be there for her and her family, but the comforting words she gave Marissa about how much Mallory loved her and how God was already working through her death were so powerful that Marissa cried openly right there in the sanctuary. Those words of comforting assurance could only come from the work of a mighty God working through a devastating situation.
To see God's love, all you had to do was look in this beautiful young lady's smiling face. I think there are just some people like Mallory who are so pure of heart that God spares them this life and takes them to live with him in his kingdom while bringing others to him. May God continue to surround this family with his perfect peace while he embraces them in his comforting arms. Mallory had an deep personal impact on so many people in the community, including my own tenderhearted daughter.
