Aunt Gladys
One Sunday morning, I was about 11 years old. I was loading up my dad's truck with the tools needed for a job we had to do. It was a side job, a subcontracting job that would bring in more money, but it had to be finished that day. I knew it was going to be a traumatic day. I’d done this before. I knew the expectations: how heavy particle board was, the complicated cuts, the different challenges. I just dreaded it.
As I worked, my Aunt Gladys pulled up. She said, “Get ready, I’m taking you to Sunday school.” I said, “Aunt Gladys, I can’t. I have to work with Dad today.”
She said, “I’m going to talk to your father. Just get ready.”
I pleaded with her not to. It was already going to be a difficult day. Her interference would only anger him and make it worse. But she went inside anyway. I thought to myself, you might as well call 911—this woman will not come out alive.
About three minutes later, she returned and said, “Come on, you’re going to Sunday school with me.”
So I went. After Sunday school, we went back to her house and worked in the garden. We planted pickle beets. We stretched the string straight, dropped the seeds in evenly spaced, and covered them. The entire time, she talked to me, praising the work I was doing. Her words stroked my ego like nothing I had ever heard before.
We had lunch and talked, did the dishes, and she taught me how to wash and dry them properly. She was investing in me. Afterward, we went outside and cut a piece of cardboard to roll a little metal car down a slight incline in her yard. She continued to praise me and told me about the Lord and His love.
Aunt Gladys was truly investing in me. That summer, I got to spend every Sunday with her. Each day was structured, calm, polite, firm, and uplifting. I could see two distinct sets of values forming inside me—one from my home, one from Aunt Gladys. They were polar opposites, but clearly defined. I knew then that I wanted to change my life and be more like her.
I cannot tell you how much Aunt Gladys meant to me. She was a flashlight shining up into the tree for me, showing a different way of life, a different type of fruit. I will owe her for the rest of my life for the investment she made in me. I was just a small child, but she altered my life.
Nuggets of Wisdom
- True investment in a child comes from patience, attention, and care.
- Consistency and kindness shape values more deeply than fear or pressure.
Proverbs
- “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6
- “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” — Proverbs 15:1
Nuggets of Wisdom
- True investment in a child comes from patience, attention, and care.
- Consistency and kindness shape values more deeply than fear or pressure.
Proverbs
- “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” — Proverbs 22:6
- “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” — Proverbs 15:1
There is a companion workbook for this story. Open the workbook (PDF).