Back to the Beginning Part 6 1942

       World War II was raging over in Europe and now Asia. Men and women were leaving to serve their country every day. 
       Glen was 31 when he went before the draft board. He was told that in these traumatic times ministers were needed at home because morale was low. His classification statis was changed. He was needed at home! 
       Glen continued to work on his ordination and did complete the preliminary course of study, so he could join the Iowa conference of the Free Methodist Church on probation. 
       Corina wasn't feeling well and soon discovered she was pregnant again. Their fourth baby was expected in October. The responsibilities of being a mother to three young children, with another one on the way, and a pastor's wife was not easy, but as a faithful wife and mother, she kept going... 
       Pastors in the Free Methodist denomination are appointed to circuits and Glen was told they might be moved to another small church in a different town! Another man would take over Fairview Free Methodist Church.
       This news added to the stress Corina was already feeling. Together they made the decision to request that they be allowed to remain at Fairview as assistant pastor under Pastor Walls. 
       Then news arrived that Pastor Walls had been elected as conference superintendent! What would this mean for them? A new pastor would be appointed to First Church and he would probably want a different assistant pastor...
       Neighbors and church folks were good to help out when Corina wasn't feeling well. But, when she was about six months along in her pregnancy, serious problems developed. 
       Glen came home from work one day to find her having convulsions. He called for an ambulance. Lorraine remembers him kneeling beside the bed, praying for God to touch Corina. 
       Neighbors had taken Anita home to care for her but Lorraine remembers the ambulance taking Mother away. To this day, whenever she hears an ambulance siren her mind goes back, all those years ago, to when the ambulance drove away with Mother.
       A memory of Richard's is the ambulance backing up over the curb, through the front yard, smashing his scooter, and stopping at the front door of the house! He watched as the men put Mother onto the stretcher while she was in the midst of another convulsion, and into the ambulance. This was a very scary time in the family and the church.
       Neighbors kept the children over night. Corina's mother came the next day to stay with the family.    
       Corina was diagnosed with Uremic Poisoning and was very near death. The baby, not yet born, wasn't expected to live either...
                           To be continued...
       


       
       

Back to the Beginning Part 5 1941

     Glen and Corina moved the family into an old house that was the parsonage of the Fairview Free Methodist Church in Des Moines, Iowa. As pastor, it was rent free and that was a blessing. The church paid him no salary and his job as chef of a downtown hotel was just sufficient for the families needs.
     Glen felt the need to be an ordained minister to fulfill his duty as a pastor, even if it was such a small congregation. In fact, it was mainly a Sunday school followed by a morning service. Families drove to the big church on 22nd and Clark Streets for the evening service. Glen occasionally filled in for the pastor at the First Church and was becoming more confident in his preaching.
     He was told he could earn his ordination by taking correspondence classes. He dove right in and enjoyed studying again. In four years he could be ordained.
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     Glen had graduated from high school in 1928 and had lofty plans for the future. Law School looked fine. He was a good student and loved debating. He enrolled at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Glen enjoyed Debate Club and was on his way to a bright future as a lawyer.
     No one, especially not a bright, energetic, young college student like Glen, expected the crash of 1929, which spread across the entire country. What a shock and disappointment. Glen had no money and neither did his parents. He, like so many others, had to drop out of college.
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     Now he was studying to become an ordained minister in the Free Methodist Church.
     Richard and Lorraine were enrolled at Phillips Elementary School for their beginning years of education. One day they were running late and were afraid of the consequence's. They had about a mile to walk to school! The church had an outside toilet and they decided to hide in the toilet until time to go home. Somehow Daddy discovered them hiding. He didn't get upset very often but when he did...you didn't want to be the one he was upset with. Well, he was angry! He took both of them by the back of their shirts and marched them straight to school! Lorraine was fortunate and had a substitute teacher that day!
     Anita attended a preschool at the Salvation Army. One day a guest was invited to the preschool. A puppet sat the the man's lap and talked to all the children. Anita was fascinated and asked her mother if she could go up. Corina thought she meant she had to go to the restroom and said to be sure to come right back. (Now days we wouldn't dare let our children go to the restroom alone!) But Anita didn't go to the restroom...she walked up on stage and over to the man and his puppet! They took time to talk to her for a couple of minutes, to the delight of the audience, and then told her to go back down to her mother! No one was more surprised than Corina!
     This year, 1941, was a year of unexpected events in the lives of nearly everyone. December 7, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. That was such a shock and ushered the US into active duty. So many young men and women joined the armed services, including Corina's younger brother, Rich.
                      To be continued...


     

Back to the Beginning Part 4

Part 4  1940
       Glen and Corina loaded their car and a four wheeled trailer with their meager belongings and along with their three children got a morning start to a new life in Des Moines. What did the future hold for them?
       They had only been on the road for an hour when a strong south wind came up. It tugged at the trailer, whipping it if Glen drove much over 20 miles an hour! Each slight grade had to be negotiated in second gear. They soon knew they'd never make it to Des Moines in one day.
       The small town of Marshalltown was about half way and became their goal. By late afternoon a bank of black clouds came blowing in. Lightning began streaking across the sky, followed by peels of thunder.
       Gas was getting low but Glen knew of a gas station about eight miles before they would get to Marshalltown. If only they could make it...they did. But alas...the gas station was closed! 
       Glen measured the amount of gas by sticking a ruler into the tank. The end of which barely got wet. Oh no. He began to think they'd never make it to Marshalltown. It was a hopeless situation. But Corina...was not giving up so easily.
       "Hasn't God called you to preach?" she asked. "Aren't we doing everything we can to answer that call? I've been praying every mile, and I believe He will see us through."
       "I know you have," Glen replied. "So now, I'm going to explain our anxiety to the Lord in minute detail. He already knows it, but I'll tell him anyway."
       "Dear Lord," Glen began. "We're in trouble." Now in the 30's and 40's most folks, including Glen and Corina, prayed using King James vocabulary. But on this day, Glen approached the Throne of Grace with intense, mid-western English. "We must reach Marshalltown before dark on account of this open trailer that has no lights. Our load of furniture must be under cover before the rain. If we have one flat tire, we'll never make it. If we run out of gasoline, we'll never make it either. All we're asking is that our tires hold up, out fuel holds out, and we beat the darkness and the rain to Marshalltown. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen."
       They began slowly moving on their way. "God is answering our prayers," Corina whispered as they passed the city limits.
       "Yes," Glen answered. "We've barely beat the darkness and the rain. I see a garage where maybe we can get under cover." Glen turned into the drive and blew the horn. A mechanic opened the big door just as the first drops of rain began to fall. Moments later there was a torrent of rain!
       Inside the garage, the mechanic told them they had a tire going down! He could hear it!
       "Sir," he said, "If you'll move your car to the back of the shop, I'll change it for you. I'm the night man."
       "Thank you," Glen said gratefully, as he began driving the car to the back. The motor suddenly sputtered and died! They were out of gasoline!
       Glen and Corina were in awe... "Be still and know that I am God." Psalms 146:10a


       Does God answer prayer? Well, not always this dramatically. But, yes, God always answers prayer; not always the way we want, but God does answer prayer.


       So began life for the young family in Des Moines, Iowa, in the early years of the 1940's.
                                         To be continued...

Back to the Beginning Part 3 1940

Part 3  1940
       Glen had a gift for public speaking. The pastor, at that time, recognized this and often used Glen to fill in for him. He was granted an Exhorter's License by Pastor Walls. Then the pastor was moved, by the conference, to Des Moines to pastor the church there and also a small church on the east side of town called Fairview Free Methodist Church. He asked Glen to consider moving to Des Moines and taking over the small Fairview congregation. He would have to have a job besides the church, because they couldn't afford to pay a salary to the pastor.
       Glen and Corina prayed about it and Glen applied for a chef position at a hotel in Downtown Des Moines. He was hired! The family moved to Des Moines, Iowa in 1940.
                                     To be continued...

Back to the Beginning Part 2 1939

Part 2 1939   Anita and Lorraine both contributed in this chapter.        
        Life as Glen and Corina knew it, made a complete turn around. The two biggest issues had been drinking and smoking, but now, whatever they felt was pleasing to the Lord they were willing to do. 
       For three days Glen struggled with quitting smoking after their conversion. He prayed earnestly for God to help him...and He did. Wednesday evening he suddenly knew he was delivered of smoking. Glen felt he now was truly a child of God.
       Corina soon felt, because of the other women in the church, that plainness was pleasing to the Lord. She didn't have much, but the little jewelry she had, she threw away. She began to let her hair grow, braided it and wrapped it around her head.
       The little family enjoyed going to church and Sunday School and rapidly grew spiritually.
       Family members and friends soon saw a big difference in Glen and Corina and weren't sure what was happening, but they knew they didn't like it. Tension built up but Glen and Corina were determined to live for Jesus.
       Praying together became a special time of closeness for them. They learned to give their concerns to the Lord and their faith in God grew by leaps and bounds.
       A whole new concept was introduced to them: tithing. Oh...the Lord wanted 10% of their income? How could they give that much? They had so little now and the money they no longer spent on beer and cigarettes was helping them tremendously. Could they give 10%? Well, the Bible said so. So, they began, by faith, to tithe 10% of their meager income. True to The Word, the Lord honored them as they honored Him!       
                                        To be continued...

Back to the Beginning

Today I'm going way back to the beginning… 1932.

        Corina was visiting her Aunt Pauline and Uncle Tony in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Uncle Larry was also there with his Indian Chief Motorcycle! Well, he invited Corina to go for a ride, and she, being an adventuresome teenager of 17 years, accepted his offer!
       Both Uncle Tony and Uncle Larry worked in the kitchen of the President Hotel in Waterloo. As Larry and Corina were riding Larry decided to stop off at work for some unknown reason. A young man, Glen, was working there at the time.
       "Wow, Larry, where did you find such a beauty? What is she doing with you?" Glen demanded!
       Larry grinned and quickly introduced Corina as his niece.
       It didn't take Glen long to make his move! He and Corina spent some wonderful days together before she returned to La Crosse, Wisconsin to finish her last year of high school. They corresponded that year and got together occasionally. Corina graduated in June. She got a job as a hired girl for a very wealthy, prominate family. She learned many valuable lessons that came into use in the years to come.
       Glen and Corina were so in love. Glen proposed and to his delight and surprise, Corina accepted! On Thanksgiving Day, it was decided this would be the day. Glen began calling pastors in town, but being a holiday few were home. Finally he tried Rev. Mark __, pastor of the Free Methodist Church.
       Yes, he would marry them but they’d better hurry because he was going hunting! Larry, Corina’s uncle and Glen’s co-worker, and Larry’s, friend, Marjorie, stood up with them. So they were married in the parsonage of the Waterloo, Iowa Free Methodist Church on November 30, 1933.
       Life went on, but times were tough, they made a couple of moves, wherever work could be found. Two children were born, Richard Glen in 1934 and Lorraine Roseann in 1936. Then another move was made, back to Waterloo. Their third child, Anita Gail, was born in 1938.
       One day Glen was reading the newspaper, when he suddenly laughed out loud! “Corina,” he said, “Guess who’s singing in a church? My old buddies, JK __ and Oscar __! I can’t believe it! They’ve always sung in bars! In fact, they’d throw a hat down, I’d walk up and toss in a fifty cent piece, as bait! Other folks would then, also, toss in a few coins. Later we’d go to another establishment, they’d give me my half dollar back and we’d repeat the scene! What are they doing singing in a church?” Then he read that the Free Methodist Church was having a revival and his friends were providing special music!
       “Corina, let’s go tonight! I’ve got to find out what’s going on here. The minister who married us was pastor of the Free Methodist Church!”
       That evening they made their way to the church and discovered that Glen's friends had made a life changing decision to follow Jesus! They went to church every evening during that revival, became under conviction by the Holy Spirit, and soon prayed for forgiveness of their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior! Glen first and then Corina.
                                            To be continued...