I have been thinking about her alot lately. She is my husband's aunt. His father's sister. In her 60's. Everytime I have encountered her she exuded servanthood. Coming from a conservative church upbringing I always wondered how she managed to forge through life ultimately to be ordained and pastor a church. Not that the family didn't support her, they just didn't talk about it. When it came to ministry it seemed easier to discuss my husband's music ministry in greater depth than what Gladys was doing...
Throughout the years our ministry notes rarely overlapped. In fact they looked totally different. While my husband and I were serving in our church creating cool programming to attract "seekers"?, on the otherside of the continent she was visiting the sick. The year we installed projection screens in our "multipurpose room"? she was serving as an airport chaplain. When we began the fundraiser for our 9 million dollar auditorium she was being ordained. When the building was finished (only 2 million over budget) she had taken a post at a small church in the prairies of Manitoba mostly tending to the needs of the elderly. I find myself in mourning over thise reflections right at this moment, to the point of tears. Not that I think that the ministry that we were doing was not part of god's design. No. Reflections in the now don't invalidate the actions of the past. But I can't ignore the impact that they have on me right now. Maybe they are giving me directions for the future. Hmm.
I always regarded Gladys as unique. Not in a cool way, but the awkward way. Not pretty. Never married. The kind of person that you couldn't quite fit into any particual social category. Yet one thing I knew without a doubt. She was a servant of Christ. You could smell it on her.
Somehow I think that I will be reflecting on her more in the future. Maybe I should give her a call.
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