Kelcy's Rescue

​Marvin Alan Klegman was an eleven-year old Jewish boy who lived in a small two-bedroom home in Tacoma, Washington with his mom and dad, and his younger brother Kerry. Marvin was a motivated Cub Scout and honor roll student.  At Lowell Elementary School he served as a crossing-guard. Marvin also worked as a paperboy.  He won a Schwinn bicycle in a citywide contest by selling the most Tacoma News Tribune newspaper subscriptions.

On Wednesday, April 13th, 1949, at 11:55 a.m., a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the Puget Sound area.  While the earth shook, streets buckled, windows shattered, and chimneys toppled, the school emergency siren blared full-blast.  Teachers and students quickly escaped their trembling brick structure.  For some reason, Marvin re-entered the school and went to the ground-level basement where he spotted Kelcy Allen.  Marvin yelled at him, “Hey, we’ve got to get out of here!”  Then he grabbed Kelcy’s hand and led him out onto the school ground. 

Bricks from a crumbling, overhead cornice began falling on them.  Marvin cried, “Look out!” and then instead of running, pulled the young six-year old under his own body protecting him from the falling bricks.  Two days later Marvin was laid to rest at the Home of Peace cemetery in Tacoma. Fifty-one years later, triggered by another earthquake near Seattle, Kelcy did some investigating and found the forgotten name of his rescuer.  He was shocked to discover that no one knew of Martin’s heroic sacrifice.  So Kelcy shared with community leaders what happened that fateful day and two years later, thanks to great work by Mrs. Babe Lehrer, a statue was created and unveiled in front of Lowell Elementary memorializing Marvin’s heroism.
  
Meditation
Hebrews 10:12—But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
 
Marvin gave his life for Kelcy and in so doing instilled in him a motivation to live well; to make that boy’s cost worth the price.  Kelcy’s story of a young man’s sacrifice remind me that bricks of envy, lust, rage, impatience, gossip, theft, gambling, murder, rudeness, lying, cheating, immorality . . . fall from the sky.  Some have your name or my name on them.  But Jesus, the faultless One, heard our cry for help and sacrificially threw His body over yours and mine.  He took our bricks and died.  But unlike Marvin, death could not keep Him.  His victory over His stone tomb defines our divine rescue.
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So who knows what Jesus has done for you?  Is His sacrifice unrecognized or are you sharing what He did for you with others? Shouldn’t we have Kelcy’s gratitude for Marvin as our amplified gratefulness for Jesus?  If we don’t have the motivation to share our story, then it begs the question if we truly understand and appreciate the cost and reality of our rescue!  
 
©2011 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)