Goodness and Mercy

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  They were eating dessert, chitchatting on things like Johnnie Mae’s children and the mammoth things President Obama had already accomplished since he’d taken office.

  Johnnie Mae sat back against her chair after taking another bite of her cherry pie. “I’m sure you’ve likely heard that we completed our selections for the dance ministry.”

  Gabrielle tried to maintain the pleasant look she’d had throughout lunch, but hearing those words made it difficult. “Yes.” She glanced down for a split second, then forced a smile as she recovered and held her head back up.

  “I know how much being selected meant to you. And to be honest, after your audition, we were all pretty certain you had what we were looking for from a dance and ministering perspective,” Johnnie Mae said. She took a swallow of her iced green tea.

  Gabrielle nodded and found herself rocking a little. She quickly stilled herself. “Yeah. But you also told us that it would be about more than just our dancing abilities. We all knew going in that everyone who auditioned probably wouldn’t be chosen.”

  Johnnie Mae smiled. “Yeah.”

  “And then, I had to tell you things about my past life that weren’t flattering for me to tell or for you to hear.” Gabrielle leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling, then back down as she shrugged it off.

  “But you were honest. And as I told you that day when we talked, I really appreciated that. You told me things you really didn’t have to. Things I very likely may have never found out. Still, you told me anyway, understanding the possible consequences it might have on something that we both know meant so much to you.”

  “Well, the bottom line is: it’s all about the ministry and what we can do to help. It really isn’t about us. And if what’s best for the ministry is my not being part of the dance team even though I love dancing and would have loved using my gift in the Lord’s work, then I accept that.” Gabrielle lifted the last forkful of her cherry pie and slowly placed it in her mouth. “This is really good pie,” she said. “Did you make it yourself ?”

  “Heavens, no. It’s store-bought. I used to bake things, but there are so many great bakeries available these days, it doesn’t make sense if you don’t have the time or just don’t want to.” Johnnie Mae picked up her fork and placed the empty fork in her mouth.

  “Well, it was really good.”

  Johnnie Mae sat the fork back down. It clinked when it hit the empty dessert plate. “Gabrielle, about the dance ministry.”

  Gabrielle waved it off. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I told you that I’m fine. I’m fine. But I do appreciate that you cared enough to have me over for lunch, although you really didn’t have to do that. And if you need someone to help out with behindthe-scene things for the dance ministry, I’ll be more than happy to do whatever you need of me. If you need someone to help get the outfits, help set things up—whatever the ministry needs, I’m willing and able to do whatever you ask.”

  Johnnie Mae smiled as she shook her head. “I’m happy to hear that you feel that way. You make this so much easier for me. Most people might have been a bit upset at this point. Especially when it’s something they had their heart set on.” Johnnie Mae got up and went over to the server. She picked up a yellow folder and laid it in front of Gabrielle as she sat back down. “Look that over and tell me your thoughts about it.”

  Gabrielle looked at Johnnie Mae, then opened the folder. After reading the top page, she looked back up at Johnnie Mae. “You have to be kidding me,” she said.

  “No, I’m not kidding you.”

  “Are you sure about this?” Gabrielle asked, glancing at the paper, then back up at Johnnie Mae. She closed the folder.

  “Yes,” Johnnie Mae said. “I’m more than sure. I’m aware that this is not what you were expecting or you’d originally had in mind when you desired to join the ministry.”

  “You got that right.” Gabrielle fell back against her chair.

  “So, what do you say? Or would you like to think it over, pray about it overnight, and let me know something tomorrow.”

  Gabrielle shook her head. She flashed Johnnie Mae a smile. “I told you whatever you needed I would be happy to do it. I meant that. If this is what you really want?”

  Johnnie Mae touched her hand that now rested on the closed folder. “It is.”

  “Then, okay,” Gabrielle said with a smile.

  “Great,” Johnnie Mae said, sitting back in her chair. “Care for more pie?”

  “No, thank you. I think I’ll pass,” Gabrielle said.

  The dance ministry met for their first official meeting on Tuesday night. Both Fatima Adams and Tiffany Connors made the team along with thirteen others. There would be two teams, divided up by age—the young adult and the adult team. The young adult team consisted of those ages fourteen through twenty-one; the adults, ages twenty-two and up.

  Johnnie Mae began by congratulating them on having been chosen. She told how it had truly been a difficult decision. But the committee was dedicated to the mission and vision and felt all of them had exemplified what the ministry was looking for.

  “I have just one more announcement.” She paused and waited. Gabrielle came in from a side door.

  Fatima began the applause—happy to see that, in spite of how it had looked, Gabrielle was somehow a part of the ministry.

  “For those of you who don’t know her, this is Gabrielle Mercedes,” Johnnie Mae said as Gabrielle stood beside her beaming. “She will be our sixteenth member.”

  Fatima couldn’t stop smiling. She couldn’t believe Gabrielle hadn’t told her that she’d made it. After Fatima called on Tuesday to let Gabrielle know she’d received her call, she was just sure when Gabrielle learned she’d been chosen, she would call and tell her. After Fatima didn’t hear from her on Wednesday, she didn’t want to call and ask about it, seemingly rubbing it in that she’d been chosen when Gabrielle hadn’t. Now, it looked like Gabrielle had in fact made it.

  Gabrielle stood next to Johnnie Mae as she continued to speak. “I have asked Gabrielle, and she has graciously agreed, to help with choreographing our first dance routine. So, she’ll be doing double duty: choreography and dancing. For the rollout of this ministry, we’ll be ministering as one team instead of the two teams we will minister as later. We will be ministering the third Sunday morning in August during a special Sunday celebration. So you can see, we have a lot of work ahead of us and not a lot of time to do it. Are there any questions so far?”

  “You say Gabrielle will also be dancing with us?” Tiffany asked.

  “Yes, she will be the choreographer as well as an active dance member,” Johnnie Mae said.

  Tiffany smiled Gabrielle’s way and nodded.

  As others asked questions about the schedule, what they would be wearing, and things along that vein, Gabrielle went and sat down next to Fatima.

  Fatima leaned over and gave her a quick hug and smiled. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this!” Fatima whispered.

  “I couldn’t,” Gabrielle whispered back. “I was asked when I found out on Saturday not to say anything to anyone until it was announced today. You wouldn’t believe how bad I wanted to call and tell you,” Gabrielle said. “That’s why I didn’t call you back Sunday night when you called. I thought I was going to burst not being able to tell you!”

  After the meeting was over, Tiffany came over to Gabrielle. “Congratulations!” She grabbed Gabrielle’s hand and squeezed it. “This is so exciting! Isn’t it exciting?!”

  Gabrielle beamed. “I know. God is so good!”

  “Oh, all the time!” Tiffany said.

  “All the time,” Fatima said.

  “God is good!” Gabrielle and Tiffany said in unison. They all laughed.

  Chapter 16

  From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
/>   —Ephesians 4:16

  In July, Gabrielle received yet another notice: her car note payment was over two months in arrears, her car in serious danger of being repossessed. Her house she’d placed on the market at the beginning of June hadn’t sold yet. She was six weeks behind in making that payment in full. Housing sales had picked up in some areas, but the valuation of houses was the problem with many houses being able to sell. Her house was definitely overvalued now. The way things looked, even if she did sell it, she was underwater and would have to sell it at a loss—the difference in what she owed on her loan and what she could get out of it. Help from the government was supposed to have been on its way, but she hadn’t seen any evidence of it addressing people like her. Now for her, time had almost run out.

  The bright spot through all of this was the dance ministry. She loved dancing for the Lord. It was even better than she had anticipated it would be when she learned it was a possibility. She and Tiffany Connors had grown to be friends. She’d grown closer to many other members of the dance ministry as well. And she still faithfully attended Bible study, so she was learning more and more about the Lord and growing stronger in faith.

  The date for them to minister in August was rapidly drawing closer. Tiffany was struggling with being able to practice at home the way she needed to. Besides working a full-time job, she had the responsibility of taking care of her children and a home. Her husband wasn’t much help since he was always working late, leaving her pretty much on her own until he came home sometimes well after midnight. By the time she got all of the children taken care of and to bed, she was exhausted. Tiffany pulled Gabrielle off to the side after Bible study when she saw her. Tiffany asked if it was possible for them to get together at her house so she could get in some extra practice to get her steps down better. After all this time, she still hadn’t reached the level she needed to be, and it was showing.

  “I don’t want to get kicked out of this ministry,” Tiffany said. “It’s hard to practice at home when you have little ones to constantly see after. Especially when you don’t have much help,” Tiffany said.

  “It’s no problem. I would be glad to come over. We’re part of the same body, fitly joined. So we need to work together to help each other succeed. I can ask Fatima if she would like to come over as well, that’s if you don’t mind?”

  “Oh, no,” Tiffany said, excitement blanketing her voice. “I don’t mind. That would be great! Please ask her and any other members you’d like to. I can move some of the furniture out of the way in the den, and we would have plenty of room for at least five of us.”

  “I was only thinking of Fatima maybe. She has the routine down almost as well as I do. Not only could she help with the dancing portion should we need it, but between the two of us, we can help with the children when necessary. She and I can take turns helping out and give you all the time you need to rehearse.”

  “Oh, that’s too much to ask of her. I couldn’t ask her to come over here to help with my children. I know her a little, mostly because of this dance ministry, but I wouldn’t feel right asking her to do something like that,” Tiffany said, shaking her head.

  “I’m sure Fatima won’t mind. She’s a team player. And I believe she will love doing this. Besides, it’s about the ministry, and she loves this dance ministry as much as you and I do.”

  “Well, my children are pretty well-behaved.”

  “I’ll tell you what,” Gabrielle said. “Let me ask her and see what she says. Then, we’ll go from there.”

  Tiffany began to clap with excitement. “This is so great! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I really appreciate this. I don’t want to not be giving my best, and I need to get these steps better. You coming to my house will be such a blessing, you just don’t know.”

  Gabrielle called Fatima as soon as she got home from Bible study.

  “How would you like some extra off-schedule practices?” Gabrielle asked Fatima.

  “Am I that bad?”

  “No, you’re not bad at all. In fact, you’re very good. That’s why I thought of you. We have a member in the ministry asking for extra practices. She’s having a hard time being able to rehearse on her own because of her home and family obligations. I was thinking you and I could help her with practice, as well as with the children while she works at getting her steps down better. It was her idea—the extra rehearsals, that is.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Fatima said. “I would love to get more practice in myself.”

  “She said it was okay for us to come to her house. Would that be a problem for you?”

  “Nope. Not a problem for me. And it makes sense, especially if she has children. I can help with them while you help her with her steps. That’s what this ministry is all about: serving others. It’s based on the principles Christ exhibited. So, when were you looking to get started?”

  “How about tomorrow? That’s a Thursday and nothing’s going on at church that any of us have to be there for.”

  “Tomorrow works for me,” Fatima said.

  “Great. Then, I will call Tiffany and—”

  “Tiffany?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t tell you who it was, did I. Yes, Tiffany Connors. You know, she has three young children. I’ve met them a couple of times, and they are so adorable: Jade, Dana, and Little D. I believe I have their names right. And Tiffany is so great with them, too. So I know they’re not going to be much trouble at all.”

  Fatima’s mind was going a mile a minute now, her thoughts all over the place. Tiffany Connors, Darius’s wife. And she wants us to come to her house, her house, where she and Darius live . . . together. Darius, the guy I had a three-year affair with.

  “Did you tell her you were thinking about bringing me?” Fatima said, stalling as she continued to try to sort this out in her mind.

  “Yes, and she thinks it’s a great idea.” Gabrielle stopped for a second. “Unless you don’t want to be bothered with her children?” Gabrielle sighed audibly. “You know, I really shouldn’t have done this like this. I am so sorry, Fatima. I didn’t think that you really might not want to be bothered with someone else’s children. Now I’ve placed you in an awkward position.”

  “Listen, there’s nothing wrong with what you did,” Fatima said as she wondered what she ought to do now that she was being given an out. “A fellow laborer in the ministry needs our help. You wanted us to help her. I don’t have a problem with that. I was just trying to see whether tomorrow works for me.”

  Fatima was trying to buy some time to figure out what she should do. She couldn’t go to Tiffany’s house. That was definitely out. What if Darius was there? She had made every effort to avoid him over the past few years since she’d broken off with him. They saw each other at church on occasion, but nothing that placed her face-to-face with him for any great amount of time. The last thing she needed was to set foot into her ex-lover’s house at the request of his unsuspecting wife. That was more than just tacky.

  Gabrielle could tell Fatima was wrestling with this. “If you like, I can see if Friday or Saturday would be better,” Gabrielle said. “Tiffany didn’t give me her schedule, but she pretty much made it clear she was available whenever we were,” Gabrielle said. “She’s much like me: you go to work, to church, and you come home.”

  For Fatima, the problem wasn’t the date—Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were all fine for her. The problem was the place they wanted to meet.

  “Why don’t we have it at your place? Or better still, we can have it at mine. You know,” Fatima said, her words pumped up now with a bit of enthusiasm, “I could fix us something light to eat, and we could make a special time of it. I know Tiffany would have the extra burden of having to bring her kids over here, but it would be so much fun. I’m sure her kids will love it. And I bet you anything, Tiffany would like the change of scene. Work, church, grocery store, and home can get a little stale after a while. Why don’t you see if her coming here will work for her? In fact, you know
what? We could do this for any and all of the extra practices, if we decide to continue to do this. It would be a real sister-girl thing. Like Waiting to Exhale, only waiting to exhale with children in tow.”

  Gabrielle smiled as she thought about how thoughtful Fatima was to even suggest such a thing. “I love it! I’m not sure what Tiffany will think, but I certainly will call her and find out.”

  “And if she’d rather do it on a Saturday during the day so the children won’t have to be out late, Saturday works for me. That way we could get even longer practices in, should she find she needs it. This will work.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to convince me. You’re . . . what is it that people say when they mean you’re telling me something I already know?” Gabrielle said.

  “Preaching to the choir,” Fatima said.

  “Yeah, you’re preaching to the choir now. I’m getting excited just thinking about this,” Gabrielle said. “Let me call Tiffany real quick, see what her thoughts are on this, and get back to you.”

  Fatima hung up and waited. She prayed Tiffany would go for the idea.

  Gabrielle called back ten minutes later and told her they were all set for Saturday. “Is two o’clock okay with you?”

  “Two o’clock is great,” Fatima said. She hung up the phone after they finished, then released a huge sigh of relief.

  Chapter 17

  Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.

  —Romans 15:30

  The three dance team members came together for several weeks of practice outside of the entire dance team’s scheduled Tuesday night rehearsals. It had truly been glorious. Even counting their first rehearsal when Jade, Tiffany’s eight-year-old daughter, hugged Gabrielle, then gave her a big kiss on the cheek, and out of nowhere (it seemed) Gabrielle broke down and began to cry. She had quickly composed herself. But she couldn’t quite explain what had been the cause of her unexpected reaction. Fatima attributed it to Gabrielle still being deeply affected by Michael Jackson’s untimely death. It became fairly obvious to everyone that she and Jade developed a special bond after that.