By Janet Seever,
Contributing writer
Jeremiah 29:11 is a precious verse for Wendy Hunter who has had a life-long battle with anxiety and depression. The verse says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
A care-giver working with seniors all over the city, Wendy at one time felt she was without hope. That was before Christ was part of her life. Now she says, “I see God working in my life and I find that He is doing wonderful things, and that’s joyful.”
Early Years
Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Wendy is the youngest of five children. She remembers her upbringing as busy and happy. They were raised Roman Catholic, went to a Catholic school in their early years and went to church every Sunday.
She married a man from Montana in 1993 and moved down to Montana with him. They had three children: John (1994), Liam (1997), and Sara (2001). Sadly, the marriage didn’t last, and Wendy and her husband were divorced after nine years of marriage. Wendy continued to raise her children in the Catholic church during her marriage and even after she was divorced.
She found herself missing family, so she and her children moved to Airdrie in 2005 to be near her sister and brother.
"The kids attended Catholic school,” Wendy says, “but our attendance at church started to dwindle. With my divorce, I felt that my life didn't jive with the teachings of the church, and I felt like an outsider.” At that point, they stopped going to church altogether. The feeling of hopelessness set in. Without a church home, Wendy had a few years of floundering. She knew she was lost. Life just wasn’t working for her.
Finding a Church Home
As a single mother of three with nothing to anchor her life, Wendy’s stress level was extremely high, and her blood pressure was out of control. Stress, depression and some back injuries at work left her debilitated. Then in 2008, she suffered a small heart attack—her body just couldn't take the stress anymore.
“I began to have a lot of anxiety which caused me to choose risky behaviour,” Wendy recalls. “I was really out of control.” She felt lonely, hopeless and didn't really want to live. But she thought there was no way she was going to heaven, and that worried her.
She told a sympathetic friend how lost she felt without a church, and the friend responded to Wendy’s need. In January 2010 that friend invited Wendy to come with her to Centre Street Church. Wendy instantly felt connected again and started attending church at the Central Campus on a regular basis.
Soon after that, she found out she was 16 weeks pregnant! She had been taking her blood pressure and other medications all that time. The doctors were afraid that the baby would be born disabled because of the medications and tried to convince her to have an abortion. She was scared!
Shortly after that, CSC hosted an evangelistic service where Nick Vujicic, an Australian evangelist and motivational speaker, was speaking. (Vujicic, who has no arms and no legs, has founded an organization called “Life without Limbs.”) As Wendy attended the service, Vujicic’s words spoke to her heart. At the end of the service, he called people up for healing and to say the sinner’s prayer.
“He asked us to put a hand on the place that needed healing in our body,” says Wendy. “I placed one hand on my heart and one hand on my stomach. He prayed over us and we said the sinner's prayer.” She accepted Jesus that day.
“And in the few weeks that followed,” she continues, “the ultrasound showed that the baby looked to be developing normally and the ultrasound of my heart showed that my heart was functioning well. The baby and I were both healed! And since then, I have had an angiogram that showed that my heart was completely healed.”
Lily Jean Hunter was born happy and healthy on September 13, 2010.
A Changed Life
What difference has accepting Jesus made in Wendy’s life? “My life after Christ has been more hopeful and I have more of a sense of purpose and meaning,” Wendy says. “I got a new hobby! No longer did I ‘have to’ go to church in order to get to heaven, as I felt when I was Catholic. I now love Sundays because I ‘get to’ go to church! I very much want now to be a good Christian example to my children and to help them in their relationship with Him.”
Because Wendy lives in Airdrie, it was natural for her to begin attending the Airdrie Campus of CSC when it opened eleven years ago. She has served in Children’s Ministries in the past, having been on the Airdrie Campus staff team before COVID. She has since found her mission with Centred Singles, joining in the spring of 2020. Since that time, she has helped to start a Singles group that meets in Airdrie and this has become her spiritual family.
“I think first and foremost, I am impacting my children and my immediate family,” Wendy says. “I have a more patient, loving attitude at work, and I get along with everyone at work. I think I am less judgmental towards everyone I encounter. I think just having a more loving attitude towards people in general has made me care more about my community.”
Her boys have finished school and moved away. John is now married, with two children and lives in Oklahoma where he is serving as Staff Sergeant in the US Army. Liam lives and works in Montana, Sara lives and works in Airdrie now. Wendy is raising her daughter Lily by herself, and working as an entrepreneur, in food-related businesses as well as proof-reading.
“It is still hard. I am still a single mom,” Wendy says. “And there have still been times when I really wasn't sure I wanted to be here on this earth anymore. But my faith and spirit are strong, and I know that the rewards will be great if I continue to persevere.”