How Does Gervase Howard Influence My Life?

A story that has greatly influenced my life is a novel written by Gilbert Morris called “God's Handmaiden”. Gervase Howard is orphaned in 1851 at fifteen years of age. She is sent to live with her aunt and uncle, who serve as head cook and gardener at the Kimberly Estate. She is befriended by the master and mistress's son Davis Winget, whom she develops feelings for as the years pass, she knows that her feelings are wrong, however, there is no denying the agony when he weds another. Driven by heartbreak, Gervase departs Kimberly to serve a remarkable woman named Florence Nightingale and in the year 1854, accompanies her when the Crimean war breaks out and she is asked to form an assembly of nurses. What inspires me most about Gervase is that even through all the trauma, she stayed strong, doing her best to …show more content…
Her compassion showed what an angel truly was, she was patient, kind, and strong. Every day she saw men die from their wounds, men who had families waiting for them, men who fought so bravely, but died so soon. But she also saw men who could have died, leave the hospital alive and well. To all these men, the nurses were angels, and they thought of Florence as a saint, “for I have ordained a lamp for my anointed”. That verse describes Florence and her nurses very well, for to these men, the arrival of Florence and her nurses were like a ray of light, a ray of hope, hope that they had lost. Finally in 1856 the day came when the last patient left the hospital, it had almost been two years since they first stepped onto that hospital. The experience had changed Gervase, overseas, her trust in God and sense of purpose had increased, Preparing her what lies ahead, A time when she crosses paths with Davis once again. A time when his life will rest in her hands in the face of danger that, unknown to Gervase, stalks them