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Mary Ann came from a God fearing
family. She gave her heart to the Lord at the tender age of eleven. She loved going to Sunday School, and
by the time she turned
fourteen she had become a pianist far beyond her young years. You
see, she'd always loved piano music from the time her mama would hold her
in her lap as she played the old hymns. She was singing along by the
time she could talk. She had a natural talent and just started
playing. One day when she was about 5 years old, Nancy heard this
beautiful music coming from the other room. Now she knew that she
was the only one in the house that could play the piano but never as
beautifully as the music she was hearing now. She went running into
the living room and there sat Mary Ann at the piano, playing The Old
Rugged Cross. She stood there, tears streaming down her face.
When Mary Ann finished and looked up at her mama with that angelic smile
that always melted her mother's heart, she said to her precious little
girl, "My baby girl, don't ever forget that God gave you a wonderful
talent, you must always use it for Him. As long as you do that, He
will bless you continually and one day, who knows... you may
even play His music for the whole world to hear."
When she was fourteen she was asked to be the
church pianist, she jumped at the chance to play His music. By the
time she was seventeen, no one in the whole state of VA could play
the piano as well as she. She kept playing for her Lord, and He kept
blessing her to play better. The church grew in leaps and bounds in
the next couple of years and Pastor Jackson thought it was time to bring
in a youth minister. The church was just bursting at the seams with
teenagers, so they started searching for just the right man to lead their
youth.
It was on Mary Ann's nineteenth birthday that
Jason arrived. He was twenty two, tall and handsome. He
came into the sanctuary while she was practicing for Sunday morning
service. She thought she was alone in the church then suddenly she
heard a beautiful baritone voice coming from the back of the
church... He touched me, Oh He touched me, and Oh the joy that floods
my soul, something happened... and then he reached the front of the church
and she got a good look at his handsome face. He had a smile that
only loving the Lord could put on a man's face. Her heart melted
inside of her, and she tried to keep her composure as she introduced
herself, "I'm Mary Ann Whitt" she said. "I know
who you are, every one knows who Mary Ann is, just the most talented piano
player this side of Glory!" His white teeth gleamed as his smile
widened, "I'm Jason Jamison , I've been hired as your youth pastor
and I've been told that you and I will have to work closely together to
keep the young people in line, What do you think, could we just take a few
minutes and go to the Lord in prayer? We need to start this ministry
off right and I can't think of a better way to start any thing than to
kneel in prayer." Together they knelt at the altar and poured
out their hearts to the Lord, they asked for His guidance, for wisdom and
energy to keep up with the activities they would need to be involved
in. When they raised up, Jason said, "Now do me a favor, play a
song for me." As she sat back down at the piano she asked if he
had any thing in particular in mind and he said "Oh yes, I've heard
that today is a special day for a special young lady and I'd like to sing
Happy Birthday to her." Feeling a little silly about playing
Happy Birthday for her own birthday, she played and he sang to her.
She silently prayed, "God if it be thy will, please let Jason fall in
love with me, I think I already love him." He asked her out for
cheeseburgers and fries and they talked for hours, getting to know each
other, enjoying each other's company. By evening they felt like old
friends.
As the next two years went by, they worked
well together. The youth choir just got better and better, with Mary
Ann at the piano and Jason directing. The young people flocked to
the church, but they didn't just entertain those kids, they taught them
about Jesus and won souls to Christ. Seems like every service
someone was getting saved and they would always kneel together to thank
God for the fruits of their labor.
By now, Jason was spending a lot of time at
the Whitt house. Nancy loved him and had watched as he and her Mary
Ann were falling in love, of course they didn't know about all the hours
she had spent on her knees praying that God would bless her baby girl, who
had grown into a beautiful young woman that loved God more than any thing
and always remembered what she had told her that day so long ago, to
always know that her talent was a precious gift from God and she should
always use it for Him, she was so proud of her, her mother's heart was so
touched by Jason and the way he treated her Mary Ann.
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