Memorial Service

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GLORIA’S SALVATION TESTIMONY: WHO IS GLORIA?

Gloria grew up in a stable, loving, happy farming family near the small town of  Lewis in Southwest Iowa.  Her small high school class of 1956, had between 20-25 students. With her family she attended a small church in Lewis every Sunday and in fact sang in the choir.

She married at 19 and moved to California.  She and her husband Jack lived in Riverside and eventually moved to Encinitas, just north of San Diego. 

Gloria had no friends in the Encinitas area. Her friend Jan encouraged her to visit a gathering of women who studied the Bible in nearby Vista.  This was a “Bible Study Fellowship” gathering of over 100 Christian women.  All Gloria knew was that they studied the Bible. She always heard that the Bible was the most popular book in the world and so thought she might learn why if she attended that meeting.

Gloria was 37 when she entered the church where the women gathered. She heard them all singing.  She told me that the minute she heard the singing she knew she was home!  

She started attending their weekly meetings.  About the third or fourth week the woman leading the service asked a question, ”Have you ever accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your ‘Personal Savior?’”  Glo was transfixed. She had never heard of that before! The leader explained that if you have not yet received Christ as your personal Savior, go home, find a quiet place, confess your sins and short-coming to God, ask the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive your sin and come into your life and give you eternal life.

That was April 16, 1975. Glo told me she went home, sat down by the dining room table, took out her Bible and read a Bible verse on salvation like Ephesians 2:6-7, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”  She then prayed, confessing her sins and asking  the Lord Jesus Christ to be her Savior.  Thus, Glo was “born-again” and started her first day as a follower of Christ.

In her “Thanksgiving Book” where she has recorded over 5,000 things for which she is thankful, she refers often to that day as the most significant day of her life.  And all of you who know Jesus as your Personal Savior can point to a similar day in your lives. 

In spite of her salvation, she faced problems. Several times she told me about a deep bout of deep depression she passed through.  One day the neighbor lady came to the house and found her lying on the kitchen floor, too depressed to get up.  Her friend insisted that they go to the doctor. She got medication to help her. But for a year she could not concentrate enough to read her Bible, although she longed to read it.  She decided to get a writing tablet and copy verse-by-verse, verses from the Bible.  Over many months, morning by morning, she filled up many tablets with Bible verses and finally was able to concentrate enough to again read the Bible. 

After that bouts of depression would come once in a while.  At the hotel where she worked, one of her jobs was to daily walk down the hill and get the mail. Often, she would say out loud, “I am a daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords.” That lifted her out of those short periods of depression.  If you asked her before her passing who she was, she probably would have answered something like, “I am a Daughter of the King of kings and Lord of lords”.

So, who is Gloria? A daughter of God, the King of kings and a lover of the Bible, His Word.  A couple of quotes, things she was thankful for among the 5,000 listed in her “Thanksgiving Book.” 45 years after she became a follower of Jesus: 

Sept. 29, 2019 – Thank you Father for Sunday, the Day of the Lord, gathering with my church family, the family of God.

Jan. 31, 2021 – Thank you Father for the Bible that is living, that reveals who you are! 

Feb. 9, 2022 – Thank you Lord, that you, the Lamb of God, have washed away all my sin and shame!

She was exposed to the Gospel and came to understand the promise of eternal life through the ministry of Bible Study Fellowship in Vista, California.  On  April 16, 1975, at the age of 37, while sitting at her kitchen table in her Encinitas, CA home, she prayed asking the Lord Jesus Christ to be her personal Savior and give her life eternal.  During the rest of her earthly pilgrimage, she faithfully followed her Savior and Lord and by all was considered a true follower of the Lord.

Gloria served as a “Group Discussion Leader” with Bible Study Fellowship for seven years.  She also served for many years as a volunteer at Carlsbad Community Church (Carlsbad, California). After moving to Arizona in 1995 she attended Bethany Community Church (now Sun Valley Community Church) in Tempe. As a member she sat on the Church Mission Board.

TWO MINUTES ON MY LIFE WITH GLORIA

As part of my daily devotions I, too, have developed a list of things for which I am thankful. That list includes a list of Gloria’s qualities, for which I often thank the Lord. I want to share a few of those qualities with you. 

(1) She Truly Loved Me, Believed in Me and Encouraged Me!!! 

Sometimes I would get angry with myself, and shout out-loud to myself, “Jeff, you’re so stupid!”  She would say, “Don’t talk to my husband like that!”

Gloria was a tremendous, happy help-meet and partner in our small insurance company and missional internet ministry to Indonesia.

Beyond that she was:

(1)    Congenial, Good-natured, loved to laugh

(2)    Generous yet Frugal

(3)    Loved to Support Christian Work 

(4)    Hospitable, Loved Having Guests 

(5)    Embraced the Vision of Missions

(6)    Indonesian Friends said she was polos (genuine) 

(7)    Devout, a Passionate Lover of Christ

(8)    Evidenced the “Fruit of the Spirit” in Her Life = loving, joyful, peaceful, forbearing, kind, good, faithful, gentle, self-controlled.  

She was an absolutely delightful Christian woman, wife and a wonderful best-friend. It was a true honor and great privilege to have had her for my wife!

THE NIGHT GLORIA CROSSED OVER INTO HEAVEN

On of her many note books that she used to record her thoughts was titled, “GEMS TO LIVE BY”   The following “Gem” was marked by her with ***** “Do not see death just as a biological necessity. See it as God tucking us in at bedtime so that we can rise to new life in the morning!”

Glo and I always turned the lights out and went to sleep at 9:45.  And so it was on Tuesday, May 30^th.  She had not been responsive all day. At 9:30 I went down-stairs. The hospice attendant came down in haste at 9:45 saying she thought Gloria had passed away. 

GLO’S THANKFUL HEART

“Glo’s Thanksgiving Book” covers Sept., 2019 to October 2022 – Over 1,000 days. Glo listed at least 5 things every day that she was thankful for.  The list includes people, God and His Word, the plus side of her affliction and the joys of life. She quit writing on Oct. 20^th, 2022. the first time she went into the hospital for 6 days.  After that, she laid down most of the time and could not easily write. 

At the top of each page Glo wrote Col. 3:15-17 which includes the phrases, “ . . .and be thankful . . .” “. . . giving thanks to God the Father through Jesus.”

Here are some miscellaneous quotes just from Jan. 1 to Oct. 20 of 2022. She probably mentions most her friends in her list of things she is thankful for.  I am only able to share a few.  One thing she told me in her last days was, “I don’t know what I would do without my Christian friends!”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY  

Jan. 1 – TY Lord for Dusty and Rachel and the white rose bouquet they sent (for my birthday).

Feb. 2 – TY Lord for Sue who pampered me yesterday with games, soup and hand cream.

Mar. 23 – TY Lord for Sue Adams three-hour visit. A blessed conversation.

Aug. 7 — TY Lord for a lovely phone visits with Doreen Buckles in Portland, Or. and Dennis and Ellen Himes in Battleground,        Washington.

Aug. 9 — Thank you Lord that my purpose in living is to love you and love others, for your glory.

Aug. 14 — TY Lord for my sister Dolores, with whom I have built a deeper relationship.

Aug. 28 – TY Lord for lovely evening – game night with the Putrasahans.

Oct. 9 – TY Lord for an “upper” phone call with Sharon Austen – How I love her!! 

Sept 3 — TY Lord for the many Christian friends you have given me!

Sept 9 — TY Lord for Stan and Carol, Fellowship of Light, for their cards and care. 

Sept 19 — TY Lord for a nice birthday lunch with Doug and Adelina. 

Nov. 10 — TY Lord for a loving visit with my dear Carlsbad sister-in-the-Lord, Peggy.

Nov. 24 — TY Lord for Jack, who drove his bike over from Yuma and visited with us.  

THE JOYS OF LIFE

Jan. 6 — TY Lord, for each day, a gift from you.

Feb. 3 — TY Lord, for my cute mutt Gigi, that brings me love and comfort.

March 17 — TY for clean air and water and freedom to worship.

March 27 — TY for the ability to gather with God’s redeemed children every Sunday.

Aug. 17 — TY Lord that you gave me an “upper” disposition, free from depression and negativism. 

Sept 7 — TY Lord for my two children, for Jack and our days in Riverside and Encinitas.  

Oct. 5 — TY Lord that Jeff called Steve and prayed for him and then Steve prayed for both of us. 

Oct. 13 — TY Lord for my secure and growing up years in Iowa.

Oct. 14 — TY Lord for each sunrise, your gift to all mankind. 

LIVING WITH CANCER – 2022

Jan. 26 — TY Lord for showing me how to live with my affliction.

March 20 — TY Lord for the promise of a new, heavenly, body to replace this old, hurting one.

Aug. 28 — TY Lord for the pain pill that kept me “OK” last night.

Aug. 31 — TY Lord that this old, sickly body causes me to yearn for my “heavenly” home. 

Sept. 20 — TY Lord that pain and cancer has revealed to me what is really valuable in life.

Sept. 24 — TY Lord that you know my pain level and my struggle to keep  going. 

Oct. 1 — TY Lord for a wonderful, pain free night of sleep until 6:00AM.

Nov. 11 — TY Lord, that though this old tent of mine is wasting away, I am moving towards a new heavenly body.