In June of 2012 Mary Beckwith was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, which had metastasized to her liver, lymph nodes, bones, and even to her brain. She was given only 2 months to live with treatment. It was at this time that her friend, Freddie Heck, gave her a tiny lamb stuffed animal and told her to name him Jesus.
When the nights got long, and the pain and anxiety was too much, she would have a very tangible way to know that Jesus was in her midst and she could cling to him. Freddie didn’t know that this little lamb would become such an amazing testimony of the real Jesus, or how much it would help Mary get through the hardest fight of her life.
Everywhere that Mary went, the lamb went with her. To tests, x-rays, cat scans, chemo; that lamb was always right beside her. In fact, people began to know her by that little “Jesus lamb”, and if she ever forgot him they would ask her where Jesus was.
During one of the many stays in the hospital, a woman in the room next to Mary’s began to cry out. She cried for hours and hours. Mary instructed her own family to pray for the woman. In fact, she made them all pray. Then Mary told them to go and buy a lamb for the woman and to tell her that we loved her and so did Jesus. So, they went out and got the woman a lamb. Sure enough, after a time, the woman’s cries stopped. The next day the woman’s daughter came into Mary’s hospital room and let her know that it had been the first time she had slept in days.
It was a small miracle.
On November 30, 2012, Mary got to go home to be with the real Jesus Lamb. In the midst of her pain and suffering she reached out and used a small stuffed animal to fulfill God’s calling for her life. Mary didn’t let her disease stop her from sharing the love of Jesus with many people.
And it was only the beginning.
