More Grace Worthy of Praise

Even in Tragedy

ADONA (January, 1998)

For whose benefit is Grace?  When I think of this remembrance, it is clear to me that Ephesians 3:20 NASB is so true - “Now to Him Who [GOD] is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask [or can ask] or think [or imagine or dream], according to the power that works within us.” ([emphasis] is mine)

Go ahead and stretch your imagination to the greatest or worst thing that could possibly happen— and then realize that God can go beyond that to spread His Grace. What do you want God to do in your life? Help you with a problem? Ask him. Help you with some goals? Ask him.

Before I met Adona, I had a fairly good understanding of Grace.  But I did not realize that my understanding then was so immature compared to the Grace God showed me a good 10 years after I met her.  Grace worthy of praise occurs in many ways.  Bear with me a little if you please, as I put my memories in context for you.

I, at the time a 42 year old never-married single, had welcomed myself to a Bible study class for 30's Singles.  As far as my new church goes, the gulf between 30's singles and 40's singles was equivalent to the grand canyon in my feeble mind.

Though I found out later that many of the females in the class were over 40 as well, the class was very gracious to allow me to stay.  I had heard talk of a female member whom I had never met and the best I could gather, she was ill, and that is why I had not seen Adona, and would not see her for another year.

By the time I was blessed to meet her, I had learned a little more about God's timing.  And because of the role Adona was to play in my life later, God's words in 2Peter 3:8-9 are fixed in my mind now and forever:

"But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

Fast forward another year.  The Lord was working mightily in my life.  There were so many divorced 30's in the Bible study class that the numbers of singles at the church had swelled out of proportion to what they had ever been.  In about a year, God had fed me His Word in such quantities it was like I was trying to drink water from a firehose.  Soon, I became the Bible study teacher for the whole 30's class, and the Singles became my ministry at the church.  The number of singles 18 and over swelled from about 75 to 400 plus.  Such an increase in numbers in attendance at a church is an indicator of God using the church to fulfill His plans.

The church Deacons voted to anoint me as the church's first and only ever Single Deacon, and the church's Singles population was growing exponentially.  There may be more Single Deacons now, but at that time I came to be known as "Oh, you're the one," to the other Deacons.  Right before I took the reigns of teaching the 30's Singles Bible study class, I was sitting in the audience of the class, when in walks none other than Adona.  I saw a beautiful young lady with jet black long hair, impeccably dressed.

I stayed fairly quiet during the Bible study being conducted.  And then as the end of the study approached Adona went to the front of the class to announce that there would be a benefit bar-b-que for her in Magnolia, a nearby rural town just north east of Houston, Texas.  I could not take my eyes off of her.

Adona invited the class and told us the bar-b-que entertainment would be Marcia Ball.  Right after she finished saying Marcia Ball, I jumped up and said, "Marcia Ball!, I'm going.  I would even pay to see her."

Marcia Ball is a favorite entertainer at Austin City Limits music venue that showcased local and regional talent.  Marcia played the piano, as no other woman I had ever seen and was a huge  motivator for my buying and grand piano.  I wanted to learn her style of foot stomping boogie-woogie Louisiana piano playing.  Her style of play was a cross between Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley and guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn.

The bar-b-que was wonderful and the entertainment even better.  I saw Adona walking about and with purposeful timing a slow dance song started up.  I humbly asked Adona if she would honor me with a dance.  During the dance, she whispered to me in my ear, "Thanks for what you said at the Bible study, I'm not sure if we would have had this good a turnout if you had not done that."  I admitted to her that I had a selfish motive for attending.  One reason was Marcia Ball was one of my favorite entertainers.  I confessed that the other reason was that I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

The world seemed to stand still as Adona and I danced in slow circles.  She explained that she was getting cancer treatment and the proceeds from the bar-b-que would help her parents with the expenses.  I was so saddened to hear her tell me that her doctors said she had a very aggressive form of cancer.  The song ended and I kissed her on the cheek and asked her if I could see her again.  She said she would like that.

I didn't see Adona for another year.  The word was that she was being airlifted to Houston's M.D. Andersen Cancer Institute from Dallas, where she had been getting treatments and living with her parents.  She apparently had taken a turn for the worse and her prognosis was not good.  In fact, they had decided shortly after she saw the medical team in Houston to be an outpatient.  They said that she did not have much time left to live.  I too was crushed in sorrow.

Click on this link to read a recount of the last time I saw Adona. Your Grace Downloadables.

The Rest of the Story

It had been about twenty years since Adona’s passing; I had not thought too much about her. On a lark, I had decided to try opening another Facebook account, as I had taken my previous pages down twice for their getting hacked. My new Facebook page had been up about six months and I felt great that I hadn’t accumulated very many “Likes.”

Out of the blue, I got a query on my Facebook page asking me if I was the person who knew Adona. I nearly jumped out of my desk chair. I responded that I did indeed know a person named Adona, and I asked what I could do for the person making the query.

I got a quick reply that the person making the inquiry was Adona’s mother. She explained that she was reminiscing about Adona and that she still grieved over her passing. She had been cleaning out Adona’s closet and came across a shoe box with one of Adona’s journals in it. She said that she thumbed through the journal and had come across my name which Adona had written as she recounted how I rallied our Sunday School class to attend a benefit concert Bar-B-Que to raise money for her medical expenses.

I answered that I remembered the Bar-B-Que benefit quite well as it was the only time I had gotten to dance with Adona. It was a slow dance and she held me as tight as I held her as she whispered, “Thank you for the dance,” in my ear. Then, I asked her if I could send her a copy of my brazen but well meant memory of the last time I saw Adona. She responded that she would very much like that because she was wondering what Adona’s mindset was in her last days before going to Heaven.

About two weeks after I had sent the recount of my last meeting with her daughter, I got her mother’s response. She said that she cried and cried. She then sent what I had written to Adona’s sisters and they had cried and cried. She thanked me for the memories because they all missed her very much and that I had soothed their grieving to know how I had an opportunity to spend some time with her before she passed.

I told her that I knew Adona only a short time when I was single and that I was very sad that she had passed before I had gotten a chance to know her better. I added that I was still single and have wondered how Adona felt about me. Her mother cryptically replied, “Oh, I can assure you that she felt you were very special to her.”

Speaking of being special, Og Mandino reminds us that we are all God’s greatest miracle. He writes:

"From your father’s four hundred million seed and your mother’s one cell, two cells united in a miracle, each cell containing twenty—three chromosomes and within each chromosome hundreds of genes, which govern every characteristic about you. All the combinations from this can result in three hundred thousand billion different humans. But God made you."

You and I are God’s blessings to the world. Just as you posses all the faith you need to move mountains, you already posses every blessing necessary to achieve great glory (1Cor.1:4-7).

Remember that. And remember what a waste these blessings would be if you failed to use what God has given you.

Ever since I can remember, God has been tapping me on the shoulder now and then to say, “Hey, hey, hey, ..., did you see that sunrise this morning or that lightning storm last evening, did you see the mackerel sky above and hear the good morning hymn of that passersby? That, that was ME...”

How does all of that just said relate to God's Grace even in strife?  Click on the following to download a true story of a time when I was not at the pinnacle of productivity, if you will.  As I read this recount, I am offering some revised thoughts in the following pdf:     Who Got More Grace and Mercy?