Christ should be the focus of our life today and every day.

“The life of the Christian has three distinguishing aspects: deeds, words and thought. Thought comes first, then words, since our words express openly the interior conclusions of the mind ….  Each of us must examine his thoughts, words and deeds, to see whether they are directed toward Christ or are turned away from him.”  [From a treatise on Christian Perfection by Saint Gregory of Nyssa, bishop]

Whatever you do in word and deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus. [Colossians 3:17]

Mary Lempke did in thought, word and deed follow the Lord.  Here is her story.

In 1952, May Lempke a 53-year-old retired nurse received a phone call from a Milwaukee hospital.  “A baby was born blind, mentally retarded, & had cerebral palsy… he didn’t respond to sound or touch.  His parents abandoned him. The hospital didn’t know what to do with the baby… somebody remembered May Lempke … that she had raised five children of her own….  They asked May to take the infant, saying, ‘He’ll probably die young.’  She responded, ‘If I take baby the baby, he won’t die young; and I’ll be happy to take him.’  She named the baby Leslie; it wasn’t easy to care for him.  Every day she massaged the baby’s entire body.

She prayed over him; she cried over him; she placed his hands in her tears.

As Leslie grew so did May’s problems, she had to keep him tied in a chair to keep him from falling over.  He was 16 yrs. old when May finally taught him to stand-up by himself.  But all the time May … continued to love him and pray over him.

One day she saw him plucking a string on a package, and wondered if he might be sensitive to music?  She surrounded him with music, even bought a piano and put it in his room.  May took Leslie’s fingers in hers and showed him how to push keys down, but he didn’t seem to understand.  Then one winter night, May awoke to the sound of someone playing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto no. 1. 

She went to check; Leslie was sitting at the piano smiling and playing by ear.  May dropped to her knees and prayed, ‘Thank you, dear God.  You didn’t forget Leslie.  Soon Leslie played the piano [professionally] and he still plays today.  He is an autistic savant.  May Lempke extravagantly sowed the seed of her love and her prayers for years. (The Word in & out of Season, pp.273-275, Bausch)  

She was privileged to see the harvest of her prayers and her love; few of us are granted such a privilege.  Our privilege is to fall in love with God - do the sowing and let the harvest to God!

To view May's story in more detail look at this short video interview: May Lempke's Story

May God Be Blessed!