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More About Gertrud
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A Nanny Originally I was supposed to be a nanny for a family in Texas. I even started the job when they came to Switzerland. After three days, I couldn't stand it any longer and returned back home. Fortunately, I had not traveled to the United States yet! A second family was interested in having me work for them and I made new arrangements and within a few weeks, on February 15, 1985, I arrived in California. |
| Through this family I started going to church - not because of church, mind you, but because of the choir. I also went to the adult education classes so I could have an American high school diploma. I thought at some point that may come in handy. |
| Nag! Nag! Nag! Soon after I started attending church, the guy I worked for nagged me about attending a singles Bible study. "Just what I need!" I thought. "This is going to be soooooo boring. Isn't it enough that I'm going to church every Sunday?" Finally, I agreed to go, thinking I'd go once, then tell him how horrible it was, and I would never have to go again. WRONG! I went, opened the door, saw this guy - and it was like lightning struck. I didn't know his name, or what he did for a living, but I knew for sure that I was going to marry him. This is how I met my husband Chuck. |
I opened the door, saw this guy, and lightning struck! |
| What in the World IS a Christian? Growing up in Switzerland, you go through the motions of baptism, confirmation, etc., but no one ever really asks you to make a commitment to Jesus Christ. So I thought I was a Christian, even though I didn't believe one word of the Gospel. I met other Christians and through the Bible study and I realized that I was not a Christian. This led me to a two-year struggle with the issue of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which finally led to my surrender to Jesus. I'm still stumbling along, trying to live a Christian life, and balancing that against what the world wants from me. But now I have a standard to live by - the Bible - and it sure makes it easier to cope with all the cultural differences. My husband and I were married in 1986 and our son David was born in 1988. I became a US citizen on February 14, 1995, one day before the 10th anniversary of my immigration to the United States. |
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| Joanne Rae Meads jrmeads@worldnet.att.net |
| Updated September 1, 1999 |