Testimony of Glenn

I was born in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, where my childhood, youth and early adulthood were spent in the midst of a protective and loving Christian family. God’s salvation was expounded from the pulpit week after week.

One spring day I was helping a friend build a packed snow and ice dam across a small creek. Sure enough, the dam gave way and in plunged my friend. Fortunately, he could swim and I was able to reach his hand and help him out. But I couldn’t swim and I was later horrified at what might have happened to my soul!

A new birth

About three years later, in the summer of 1959, an itinerant preacher, Bert Scott, was talking to me after a children’s meeting. I suddenly realized that, because of my sins, I deserved to die but Jesus had died instead—I committed my life to Him then and there. The theme of Christ as the Divine Substitute has been priceless to me ever since. Years later I learned that if I had been the only person in the world, Jesus would still have died for me.
A logical outcome of my Christianity was a love of reading the Bible, branching out to theological works by such outstanding writers as C.S.Lewis, J.I.Packer, John Stott and others.

Chemistry and refractories

The best time of my school life was my first year at Lakehead University, even if I often had to walk four miles there (and sometimes back as well). After my bachelor studies, I headed for Toronto and, I hoped, a career in a science discipline. A few weeks later I had a call from an unknown company called Plibrico, who manufactured refractories. Refractories? Who ever heard of “refractories”? Over the next thirty years my standard answer became “high temperature linings for furnaces”.

Love and marriage

In the last months of 1968, I settled into a church in Mimico and was thrilled to meet and eventually marry Joy – the only girl I ever dated. My all-time favourite hymn (sung at our wedding) was appropriate in more ways than one – “Love divine, all loves excelling…”
The next five years were relatively quiet but Joy and I managed to buy a little house and, in 1973 and 1974, daughters Rebecca and Betty-Lou arrived. Then suddenly, in 1975, my employer moved to Burlington to be closer to the big “refractories” users in Hamilton (the steel companies). Of course, we moved to Burlington too and, in 1980, son Andrew arrived.

Spiritual journey

This was also a time of spiritual concern, with serious questioning of many of the values I had been raised with. Although my Christian associates were good-hearted, faith-filled and utterly reliable, I was uneasy about some of the intense legalism. As a consequence, Joy and I were welcomed into Shoreacres fellowship and were happy to raise our children here for the next decade-and-a-half.

Career

For over 33 years I worked for Plibrico and its successor companies. It really was true that I sat at the same desk, in the same office, and worked for five successive companies. For most of this time I was the laboratory manager so I enjoyed great learning opportunities in quality control, statistics, and especially some R&D. For many years I represented the Canadian lab in intra-company technical meetings all over the world— the U.S., England, Germany, Austria, and Japan.

Hardship and hope

Joy’s and my life together was badly shaken when, in May 1997, Joy was involved in a head-on collision by someone running a stop sign. Now began countless doctors’ visits and treatments. But God held us together through it all.
With daughters and son now safely and happily married in the Lord, with four charming little granddaughters and two inquisitive little grandsons, the main theme stirring in my heart has been, “Lord, I don’t deserve it but thank You for these great gifts!”