A Tribute to Donna Dodds Gaines
“He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.” (Proverbs 18:22)
It was a brisk, fall day on a sidewalk leading to the college cafeteria. The most beautiful girl I had ever seen was walking to class alone with her head down. As the sidewalk I was on was about to merge into hers I said, “Look up, it’s a beautiful day!” She awoke from her state of concentration, smiled, and said, “Hello.” We made small talk until we reached the building, and then we separated to go to our individual classes. But something happened to my heart during that brief conversation that I’ll never forget.
Donna Dodds was “Miss Everything” at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. She had been Miss Union her freshman year and went on to place very high in the Miss Tennessee Pageant. She had always fared well in such competitions. At Union she was also president of Chi Omega sorority and captain of the cheerleading squad. Every year the student body selected her as one of the campus favorites.
I had transferred to Union as a junior after playing football for two years at a Division II school called the University of Tennessee at Martin. It was at UTM that I really fell in love with Jesus. I transferred to Union to study the Bible and to prepare for the Gospel ministry.
Dr. Bob Agee, who at that time was a vice president at Union, had told us both a year before that he thought we were “made for each other.” But when we had met a year before, things just didn’t click. Donna was dating someone else, and I really wasn’t interested in dating at the time. But a year later, everything was about to change.
I mustered enough courage to ask her for a date, and she said, “Yes.” That date took place on December 1, 1978. I went to watch her cheer for both the men’s and women’s basketball games on a Friday night. We ate dinner afterward, and had a wonderful time. I played my guitar and we sang worship songs, as well. When we prayed at the end of that first date, I sensed the Holy Spirit come down on us both. I knew God was doing something wonderful.
At the end of the month, on my 21st birthday (12/31/78), we told each other we loved each other. A few months later on April 23, 1979, I asked Donna to marry me, and once again, she said, “Yes.” We married on June 14, 1980. That was thirty years ago.
I love Donna more today than ever before. Why do I love her? Maybe it’s because of how she unselfishly taught school to help put me through seminary. Perhaps it’s because she gave us our four beautiful children and stayed at home to make sure they were cared for by their mom. She never complained about my meager salary at my seminary church. Money was scarce, but love was abundant.
I love Donna because of her love for Jesus. She is more like our Savior than anyone I know. Over the years she has studied and become an outstanding Bible scholar and teacher. Hundreds of women benefit from her teaching and discipleship sessions every week. She is an author and a very gifted speaker.
I also love Donna because she has always been supportive of me. When I was in seminary, she helped me grade papers and helped me study for tests. She even typed my papers before I learned how to use a computer. When I became very ill with myasthenia gravis in 2000, she helped me in ways I never thought anyone would have to. She would comb my hair and tie my shoes before I went to the church to preach. She would rub my feet when they cramped at night from the muscle contractions. She did all that and much more.
Every good memory I have has Donna in it. She has sat on the front row of five different churches to hear me preach, week after week, sermon after sermon. I can’t walk out of the house on Sunday before she prays for me. We sit together in worship services, and I cannot go to the pulpit until she prays for me.
Now, all of our children except one have moved out. The “baby” will be a senior in high school this year. After that we will enter the empty nest phase of life. We are grandparents, and we enjoy that immensely. We still love our children, and most of all, we still love each other. I still sing love songs to her, and we still sing worship songs of love to the Lord.
These past 30 years have gone by like a blur. I can still remember vividly pulling that Ryder rental truck up to the front steps of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, with my bride of two months. We were both 22 then. A lot has happened. We’ve had some great times, and we’ve gone through deep valleys, but we always did it together.
I wouldn’t want to live a day on earth without her. I write this with tears in my eyes. Donna Gaines is the best person I have ever known. I thank God for the privilege of being her husband. That day on that college sidewalk I didn’t just find “a good thing;” I found the love of my life.
On Monday, June 14, 2010, Donna and I celebrate 30 years of marriage. All I know to say is, “Thank you, Don Don, for saying “Yes.” I love you.
T.B. (Steve)
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