“Dad, did you hear what I chose for my processional music?” 

“No, I didn’t,” I said, as we stood waiting our cue to walk in for the wedding rehearsal. 

She named the songs before the processional and then said, “And for the processional, ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness.’ So, we need to walk slowly. I want to remember all three verses.” 

To say I was blown away, would be an understatement. “Okay,” I told her, smiling and tearing up, “We will walk slowly.”  

It was another evidence of God’s grace, God’s goodness, God’s mercy in her life and mine.

Amazing Grace

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father; 
there is no shadow of turning with thee; 
thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not; 
as thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
Refrain: 
Great is thy faithfulness! 
Great is thy faithfulness! 
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
all I have needed thy hand hath provided–
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

By Thomas H. Chisholm
Published by Public Domain

The word grace means God’s undeserved favor. His unmerited provision in life. It is associated with the famous hymn and rich spiritual “Amazing Grace” penned by the former slave trader from England, John Newton.  

But in my life with Karen, when we were expecting our second daughter, we experienced such a year filled with the unmerited favor of God, “Grace” was the only fitting name for the girl we anticipated arriving July, 1987. 

The winter before Grace’s arrival, we received a surprise gift from a friend and missionary in the Maldives which paid my Spring tuition in graduate school. Another woman approached us at church telling us, “The Lord told me to give you $200.” This was a frequent occurrence that year. It was a time of renewal and healing for our marriage. A door opened to an opportunity for me to take on a student pastorate. That congregation embraced and cared for us like long lost children. It was a year of God’s grace. 

So, when Grace arrived at the Lexington Good Samaritan Hospital, it was the only name for her. She came in a rush, before the doctor could make it to the hospital; our capable nurses, both with midwifery training, delivered her. Instead of writing “It’s a Girl” on the chalkboard in pink chalk, one nurse wrote, “It’s a Grace!” 

Grace arrived screaming, as if to say, “Why did you leave me in there so long!” 

As a young an infant, when upset about something, she did not let it go. Once she screamed for a three hour car ride. I drove while Karen tried every trick in our book to help this one-month-old calm down. Yes, we pulled over and stopped time and again. Nothing worked. She was just mad and that was it! Finally, we decided, we just needed to get there. After three hours we arrived at our destination, Karen carried the still screaming Grace inside, tried nursing her, bundling her up, then, finally, exhausted as well, she handed her to me. I held her against me. Eventually, this soothed her angry tears. She fell asleep. 

As a child, Grace has always known what she wanted and needed. When she was sick, we learned to trust what she thought her body needed, even when it might not have been our choice. The remedy she chose worked every time. When she had outgrown her piano teacher, she asked us to find someone who could push her further. Her piano teacher agreed. When looking for Mr. Right, as an adult, she had high standards. She called herself a “serial first dater,” for when she did go out with a guy for coffee, lunch or dinner, it was once only. She knew what she was looking for and didn’t waste time if the guy didn’t measure up. When Justin stepped into her life, she knew he was the one for her. He knew the same of her and even said it on his brother’s national podcast on January 6, 2021. [If you want to listen, he talks of the relationship beginning at one hour, 4 minutes (1:04).]  

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness 
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. 

Refrain: 
Great is thy faithfulness! 
Great is thy faithfulness! 
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
all I have needed thy hand hath provided–
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

By Thomas H. Chisholm
Published by Public Domain

Through all the seasons of life, Grace has seen how her name was a reality. Undeserved favor, she’d tell you, seemed to follow her around. A policeman pulled her over once for speeding, but upon meeting her and speaking with her, didn’t give her a ticket. In 2013, Grace and I traveled together to Ireland and England and time and again experienced these amazing circumstances which left me shaking my head. A delightful Irish woman next to Grace on the plane told us of this “must visit” place which turned out incredible. We arrived just under the wire for the deadline on our car rental return. Caught in traffic we didn’t think we’d make a dinner date we had set with friends, but somehow everything worked out. Grace said, “Dad, that is just my life. But it also means we will never learn not to cut things close!” We laughed our way down the street with that statement.

There were tough seasons in our relationship. She liked to say things to stir the pot in the family and I allowed myself to get stirred up when I needn’t have done so. In her journey of faith she moved closer and closer to Jesus and then in her 20s moved further away. At one point in her life about six years ago, Jesus whispered an assignment: “Pray for her salvation.” At that season she had stopped referring to a personal God but to the “Cosmos” or “Universe” or just the general term “Love.” I prayed for a couple of years before I began to encounter in her glimpses of turning back to Jesus. She texted me once saying, “Dad I was reading the Bible this morning, and came across this…. The Bible has cool things to share.” Then, she wrote an additional text, “This might surprise you!” It had! 

She and Justin formed a small group with another couple and began to read and discuss scripture, pray and worship together monthly. Their small community was rich. One night at dinner she said, “Could you tell me the questions you use in Simply the Story in digging into scripture?” I shared them and sat there amazed as she noted them down. 

I knew she operated with gratefulness in her mind and heart and had impacted me with this. I knew she had impacted countless clients and friends with the love emanating from her life. But her choice of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” as a processional said it all. It was not just the song but the sentiment that she was seeing God’s faithfulness evident in the upcoming marriage to Justin and in her long wait. 

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, 
thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, 
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! 

Refrain: 
Great is thy faithfulness! 
Great is thy faithfulness! 
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
all I have needed thy hand hath provided–
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

By Thomas H. Chisholm
Published by Public Domain

Grace has grown beautifully over these 35 years. One of her clients at the wedding said, “In all the years I have come to Grace, I have never heard her say one negative word about anyone. She has been a huge blessing in my life.” 

That’s the message others say as well. She emanates God’s grace through her life, and others see this. 

As we slowly walked along the pool to the gazebo on the day of the wedding, I told her how much I appreciated and loved her; how proud I was to know her; what a gift she has continued to be in my life; and how thankful I am for the woman she has become. 

Indeed, Great is God’s Faithfulness!