Saturday, January 16, 2010

A Life Well Lived - A Tribute To Molly Hightower

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others."
~~Philippians 2:3,4


Thursday afternoon as I was listening to a podcast of my favorite radio program, I heard about a young Christian woman from Port Orchard, Washington who was missing following the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Molly Hightower, a twenty-two year old with a true heart for service to others was in Haiti because she felt called to work with the orphaned children. Her family and everyone who heard she was missing was praying for her to be found safe.

Yesterday as I listened to the program, they again spoke about Molly, but as the radio host began the show, he said he was speaking with a heavy heart. I knew what he was about to say. This sweet, amazing young woman had been found. Sadly, she did not survive.

My heart goes out to her parents, family, friends, and everyone who knew and loved her. I pray they will feel the peace of the Lord surrounding them.

Something about Molly’s story touched the deepest part of my heart. I’ve thought about her for hours. I've read about her, read her blog, and have been truly amazed by how much she’s done to help others in her too-short life. Besides her work in Haiti, she worked with campus ministries, Habitat for Humanity, and other organizations that reached out to help others. Here was a young woman who was affected by the plight of some of the world’s poorest children and went out of her way to offer them everything she could.

On the Dori Monson radio show yesterday, Dave Valle, broadcaster and former catcher for the Seattle Mariners, discussed Molly and the children she loved. He reminded listeners that Haiti is so unbelievably poor and these children, these precious little children are so hungry they eat cookies made from dirt.

The dirt! Can you even imagine? I can’t. What must it be like to be so hungry you would eat the dirt off the ground? My heart is deeply grieved at the very thought. And that was before their lives were devastated by the earthquake. My spirit weeps to think of what they went through before the earthquake and how much more they’re going through now.

God bless Molly. I know she’s wearing the crown she earned, and is resting joyfully in His arms.

She was driven to help, driven to serve.

Would that we could all serve others with the same spirit as Molly. Obviously, we can’t all go to a foreign country and help those who are poor, hurting and hungry. But if each one of us could do what we can with the kind of servant’s heart Molly Mackenzie Hightower possessed, just imagine what kind of world we would live in.

To see pictures of Molly and read more about her, visit her blog at http://mollyinhaiti.blogspot.com/

You can also read the news article about her at http://www.mynorthwest.com/

Before you read her blog, be warned. You’ll need lots of tissues.

Please lift Molly’s family in prayer.

If you’d like to help the victims of the earthquake, Christian author Jen AlLee has a comprehensive list of organizations on her blog, along with their contact information. You can access it at: http://jenniferallee.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-safely-contribute-to-haiti-aid.html

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing Molly's story. As sad as it is to lose someone like this, it is a blessing to know she lived her life to the fullest and is now with her Father in heaven. We need to keep all the people of Haiti in prayers. They are walking a long, exhausting road.

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  2. Jen, you are so right about Molly living her life to the fullest. And it's such a blessing to see they way she lived and cared and to know she is in heaven. I think that's why her story touched me so deeply. And yes, those precious people need all of our constant prayers. Many, many prayers for a long time to come.

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  3. Suzie, will hop over there now.
    Thank you ever so much for the post.

    Patti
    www.pattilacy.com/blog

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