Jan

Jan

Nurtured in a faithful Catholic family at an early age, I began my lifelong journey with God. No matter the weather, my mother and I walked for 30 minutes every week to get to our seat at 7 o’clock morning Mass. As a child, I walked with the Lord with blind devotion, listened to God’s Word so-often spoken in Latin but never truly understanding it. I continued this weekly routine until I left home for college.

When I first met my future husband, he invited me to his church. He was serving as a deacon at Glade Church at the time. Going to Glade Church, I experienced culture shock-the impact of moving from the familiar Catholic culture to one unfamiliar. Never before did I ever experience anything like this. Everyone knew one another’s family like their own and they sat and talked in the pews to one another before worship. Amazed, I began to attend worship services and other church-related activities.

During the next several years, encouraged and faithful, God played more of an integral part of my life, which prepared me for what was to come. In the beginning, I attended some activities at Glade Church but I limited participation with fellow worshipers. That all did change. Once I answered a call to mentor a young lady at Glade Church, my journey with God evolved, strengthened and became more meaningful through the good and bad times we shared together. In these six years, together we learned, grew, and changed.

Like Jesus’ forty days in the desert, I suffered through two recent back-to-back illnesses that greatly challenged my faith. In the first illness, doctors seemed powerless to treat the excruciating back pain, which worsened. Like light that seemed faint at the end of a tunnel, hopeless but never alone, I witnessed God’s teaching through my husband who cared for me at home.

In the second illness, doctors treated a bacterial infection that attacked my internal organs. As a result of the infection, a stroke occurred. During the hospitalization and rehabilitation, I witnessed God’s love through my family, friends, and church community who through prayers, visits, calls, and cards played an integral part in restoring my physical and mental health. While in rehabilitation, one of my visions was to sit with my church family in the sanctuary at Glade Church. Two months later, it became a reality.