Amazing talent, amazing Grace
Ligia and I witnessed a beautiful and inspiring concert today, given by a young lady by the name of Mary Grace. Born with a stump for her right hand and one leg shorter and smaller than the other, this girl didn’t give up. She studied the piano, every day, for up to 4 hours, and now she plays it better than a normal person.
It is truly inspiring to watch her play. What’s even more inspiring is to know that she does not seek financial gain from her concerts. She will come to any church that invites her and give a concert, for free. She does it all for God. People that want to give her something are encouraged to contribute to the non-profit organization started by her mother, called Adopt-a-Minister International.
That organization is the only one I’ve ever heard of that is fully, 100%, non-profit. It takes no money from the sponsors’ donations for their own expenses. Every single cent goes toward their purpose, which is to match ministerial graduates in the Philippines with local churches in that country, and to pay their salaries.
Mary Grace took a break in the middle of her concert to tell us about herself. Her inner joy radiated from her face. She loves to serve the Lord, and she loves to use the talent that He gave her to give others joy and hope. I tell you, I was very moved to watch her play. You really have to see her live in order to realize how hard she works to play music that would intimidate a person with two hands.
Toward the end of her concert, she asked our permission, because she wanted to play “Flight of the Bumblebee”, and she knew she’d make some mistakes. 
That piece runs at a frantic pace and any accomplished pianist would pause a little before agreeing to play it. You have to be able to play very fast in order to do it right. Of course we all said yes, and she played wonderfully. Ligia and I could not believe how fast she moved that little arm of hers. It was a sight to see! I took a photo while she played that song, but it doesn’t quite do her justice.
We came away from the concert with a clear appreciation of our God-given abilities, knowing we’d just been humbled and awed by a young lady that didn’t give up although she had plenty of reasons to do so. How can we, possessing the full function of our bodies, say no when we know we can do something for God?
October 6th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
[…] Written on October 6, 2007 at 7:45 pm by Raoul Have a look at this post, entitled “Amazing talent, amazing Grace“, at Dignoscentia. Ligia and I attended a concert at our church today, given by a young lady […]