Model Friend

Model Friend

Like Gertrude Wicksberg, Rebecca Croschuk is a faithful member of the Orthodox Community Church. There, the similarity ends. In the light of Rebecca’s relations with Jill, Rebecca could be seen as a loving person.

Rebecca, though a product of her rural conservative community, is not bound by their traditions. Like people in her community she is a stay-at-home mother who has five children. They attend their church school. She’s content following the traditional female role. She plays an active role in the church’s social activities.

Rebecca is in no way related to Jill but she often comes to Jill’s aid. When Jill loses her baby, Rebecca helps her through her grieving time. Family and church are top priorities in this community. Jill strives to complete for her Grade 12 Diploma. Some women in the Orthodox Church believe that once you have children seeking higher education unnecessarily takes time and energy from those priorities. Jill is judged harshly. In comforting Jill, Rebecca characterizes those critical women as “narrow minded.” To Jill she tells her to be true to herself. “Don’t let those women dictate your life.”

Rebecca’s patience and acceptance of Jill and her emotional volatility is tested. When Rebecca told Jill that her husband, Joseph, was hurt when Jill refused to see him at the hospital after she lost her baby, Jill had quit accepting Rebecca’s visits. After several weeks Jill invites Rebecca to Joseph’s birthday party. An apology erases their strained relations.

A murmuring arises among some older women in the church when they learned that Jill went online for prenatal information instead of seeking their wisdom. Rebecca points out that Jill’s heart is in the right place. She questions where their heart is.

Supportive, forgiving friends are hard to find. Who do you have that’s like Rebecca?

Rebecca Croschuk together with her husband, Thomas, frequently act as substitute parent’s for Joseph in Baggage burdens. See how this plays out in my next blog.