Story Behind the Song
I started to write this song more than 8 years before I met my wife. I had the tune and the verses, but I couldn't come up with a chorus.
Meanwhile, God was working with Jodi (now my wife)to come up with the chorus. Not until we met 8 years later did it all come together.
Here's the story as told in the book "True Stories of Answered Prayer" by Mike Nappa.
Grace Miller, RN the name badge said. She was a nurse, a woman in her mid-fifties with short curly hair who worked at the medical clinic where Jodi went for health care. Though the two had never really met, Grace always greeted Jodi with a warm smile and a wave whenever Jodi came into the office.
But that spring Friday in 1988 Jodi did'nt notice whether or not Grace was on duty. She had other things on her mind...mainly her 2:00 p.m. abortion appointment that same afternoon. Jodi had arrived at the clinic at 10:00 a.m. for the preliminary bloodwork and preparations. Now she sat in the waiting room, feeling helpless and afraid.
She hadn't intended for things to work out this way. Only twenty-seven years old, shed already been through a painful divorce and had, until recently, been very much in love with a man named Michael. They'd met at the posh resort where Jodi worked managing the spa and fitness facility. Young, fit, and attractive, she'd quickly caught Michael's eye at the spa. He also was handsome, as well as wealthy and fun to be around. It wasn't long before they were dating. Soon after Jodi moved in with Michael so they could be together more.
"Spiritually, I was at a low point," Jodi admits now. Turning her back on what she knew God wanted, she chose to pursue happiness in the form of her lover, Michael. Together they talked of marriage, children, and living happily ever after.
It was while Michael was away on a business trip that Jodi found out she was pregnant. She was so excited about telling him the good news! He was to return on February 14, 1988, so Jodi planned a special Valentines surprise to reveal to him that he would be a father.
When he walked in the door on Valentines day, he seemed distracted, or tired, or both. Jodi was nearly bursting with excitement. She handed him a gift, a babys rattle shed wrapped to clue him in to the pregnancy.
Jodi remembers, "He opened the rattle, looked at me and said nothing. I said, Were having a baby! He got up from the table, looked at me and said, 'Well, things have changed now.'"
And then he dropped the bombshell. While on his business trip, hed decided to leave Jodi for another woman, his attorney, Maria. As if the matter were settled, he said to Jodi, "You'll need to do something about this. Soon."
The next days and weeks were a blur, until the moment Jodi found herself, nervous, numb, and alone, sitting in a doctors office waiting for the time when shed abort the child growing in her womb. "Oh, God, what am I supposed to do now?" shed sobbed time and again during the recent days. But God wasn't listening. Or so it seemed.
Before the actual abortion, the doctor wanted to do a preparatory ultrasound. She turned on the equipment and soon was looking at a fuzzy black image of the inside of Jodi's womb. Suddenly, desperately, Jodi wanted to see what the doctor was seeing. She asked to look at the ultrasound monitor screen. At first the doctor refused, but when Jodi insisted the doctor repositioned the screen to allow her a brief glimpse.
Jodi gazed at the near-incomprehensible picture and saw something blinking in the X-ray-like blackness. "Whats that?" she asked.
"The heartbeat," the doctor replied matter-of-factly.
Jodi was stunned. Tears immediately sprang from her eyes. "I'd been so nave about everything!" she says. "This wasn't just a fetus; it was a live baby!" With that knowledge came a new resolve. Jodi instantly got up from the table, cancelled her appointment, got dressed, and went outside where she sat on the sidewalk, crying.
"Oh, God, what am I supposed to do now?" she silently sobbed again.
Then Jodi saw the nametag that indicated someone was standing next to her. The name badge said Grace Miller, RN.
The kind nurse put a hand on the young woman's shoulder and spoke. "Jodi, you've made the right choice," she said. "God is going to bless you and your baby, and use you more than you could imagine. Hell always provide for you both."
The nurses words were like a breath of fresh air and Jodi clung to them like oxygen, desperate for the hope they offered. Grateful for the encouragement, Jodi thanked the nurse, tried to dry her eyes, and went to her car to drive home.
Michael, of course, was enraged. He tried everything to get Jodi to change her mind, even offering her an envelope containing a huge sum of cash if Jodi would abort the child. Remembering Graces words, she refused.
September 29, 1988, Jodi gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Joelle. Returning to her Christian roots, Jodi became involved in church again, and when Joelle was only two years old the little girl joined her mother in singing and performing for their delighted congregation.
Several years after that, Jodi met and fell in love with a Christian musician, Eric Jaqua. They married, and now all three: Jodi, Eric, and Joelle, are involved in speaking and performing for churches and charities nationwide. Inspired by Grace Miller, RN, they also invest their time in ministering to women who, like Jodi, find themselves in a crisis pregnancy situation.
Its interesting to note that the story doesn't end there, though. In 1995, Jodi and Joelle went back to that medical clinic, hoping to look up Grace Miller and thank her in person for helping Jodi to choose life.
But Grace Miller wasn't there. A look at the payroll records from 1988 revealed that a Grace Miller had never worked at the clinic. Unbelieving, Jodi asked to speak with her former doctor at the facility. Thankfully, the doctor remembered Jodi and came out to greet her.
Jodi explained the situation. To her surprise, the doctor shook her head and said. "There's never been anyone by the name of Grace whos ever worked here." It was then Jodi finally realized that God was listening when she cried to him for help so many years before. In response, He'd sent an angel of comfort, one appropriately named Grace, to bring hope and courage to Jodi for a few brief, critical moments. And by doing that, He had saved both a child and a mother at the same time.
"Grace left such an impression on me," Jodi says today. "She touched me by her kindness and words, words from God for me. They're never forgotten."
Lyrics
Lord, You are my strength
Lord, You are my hope
And when I'm afraid, You're the hand I hold
Time and time again
Lord, I came to You
When my best had failed, You knew what to do
Chorus
You gave me Grace
When I needed you to
Face to face
When nothing else would do
You gave me hope
In my lonely place
When I needed it most
You gave me Grace
Lord, I don't deserve
All You've given me
Lord, You know my sin
'Cause it's my heart You see
Yet in my despair
Lord, You came to me
With this gift of Grace
And You set me free
(chorus)
Oh, there's nothing I can do to earn Your love, You're precious love
So, there's nothing I can do to fall away
It's by Your grace, Oh Lord, that I exist for one more day
It's by Your grace, Oh Lord, that I am saved
It's by Your Grace that I am saved
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