AUNT GLADY’S BUS SERVICE

In Jenny’s tenth year, her Aunt Gladys, who had five beautiful children of her own, began transporting her four oldest children, four or five neighborhood children and Jenny and Margaret to Sunday School and Church. There would always be at least ten packed into the streamlined Plymouth sedan, and they sat on each other’s laps and on the floor, and had a noisy, jolly time, but Jenny was shy and quiet in this group; they spoke a group language learned from movies and constant group interaction and Jenny’s soft hesitant contributions sounded awkward and were often ignored or probably scarcely heard or understood. They tolerated her, but didn’t wholly accept accept her as one of them. In the small school that Jenny attended, she had always been the pet and was loved and respected. In the bus group, she was at the bottom of the pecking order. Jenny had liked it better when Daddy had taken just herself and Margaret to Sunday School. It was so pleasant and simple then, and the three of them were in charge of how things were to be done.

With Aunt Gladys, they stayed for the Church service which followed Sunday School. She also picked them up for the two hour evening activities, so they spent 4 hours in Church each Sunday. It was a long day and Jenny was glad when it was over. In the evenings, the grade schoolers met in the basement for “Christian Endeavor,” which was under the excellent guidance of Mrs. Gobel. If you were eleven, twelve, or thirteen, you might get the chance to be the leader of the group for a lesson, if Mrs. Gobel deemed you were ready. She would give them a lesson to read in advance, an outline, so that they could tell it in their own words and a list of questions to be handed out. Jenny liked this sort of thing and it was important to her that she understood the meaning of the lesson so that she could do a good job leading the discussion. She would practice it in front of Mother until Mother thought it was good enough to present.

Jenny also did some accompanying on hymns such as “What A Friend” “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” and “Work, for the Night is Coming,” which she had diligently practiced at home, with Mother singing along. There was a voluntary prayer circle. The group stood in a circle with eyes closed, and those who wanted could say a prayer. There were certain topics that it was suitable to pray about such as, “We are thankful for thy blessings,” “We pray for our missionaries in China and India, that Thou wilt keep them from harm,” “Please bless the sick and the poor,” “Help us to do thy will.” Amen. All the prayers sounded much the same, but those who participated felt satisfied that they had performed their devout duty for the week. Jenny tried to participate each time, though it made her nervous and she was glad when her turn was over. Next there would be Bible questions on cards . It was like a game. Mrs. Gobel read the questions and the first child to put up their hand, would be given a chance to answer. If the answer was correct, they got to hold the card until the end of the game, when the cards would be counted. Jenny usually got the most cards. Because of her previous Bible reading, Jenny found he questions very easy. Her cousins regarded her as a “goody goody “ girl.

In the second hour, they went up the back stairs and lined up to sing in the evening choir, where they got to look out on the congregation. As the minister’s sermon in a pleasant cadence, went on and on about sinful man and being “saved by Grace,” Jenny and her cousin would whisper to each other about something funny they noticed in the congregation and would sometimes have to put their hands over their mouths hard to keep from giggling.

Aunt Gladys continued the bus service for three more years until she and her family moved into town, so the children could more easily be involved in school activities, though her husband still ran a prosperous farm operation, driving to the farm each day.

The Church played an important role in Jenny’s development and ideas. As she grew up and her sphere of influence widened, she kept some of the ideas and discarded others.