BY JE’DON HOLLOWAY-TALLEY
Special to the Birmingham Times
“You Had Me at Hello’’ highlights married couples and the love that binds them. If you would like to be considered for a future “Hello’’ column, or know someone, please send nominations to Barnett Wright bwright@birminghamtimes.com. Include the couple’s name, contact number(s) and what makes their love story unique.
NATASHA AND GREGORY GLASTER
Live: Pleasant Grove
Married: Aug. 18, 2018
Met: Fall 2005, at Greater Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in West End. Natasha was a member when Gregory was sent to be interim pastor. Soon after, he was appointed to full pastorship, but they did not make a personal connection until more than a decade later, in 2017.
“I was over the youth ministry and the praise team so we communicated about those [matters], but one Sunday he preached a message on relationships and … and it just progressed from there,” Natasha said.
“On first Sundays, we would go out and visit and give communion to the sick, and she came and knocked on my office door and asked me had I eaten anything and I said ‘no’ and didn’t think any more of it. But less than 30 minutes later she came back with a sandwich she and bought me some lunch and that got my attention,” Gregory remembered.
The chairman of his deacon board would be in the office when Natasha would come by, and Gregory pointed out “that woman right there would make a great wife to somebody … I didn’t even know that I was speaking it on myself,” he said.
First date: July 6, 2017, at Logan’s Roadhouse in McCalla. “God had changed my heart to have feelings for him right before we started to date and I kept running from the feelings because I said I could not like or date my pastor,” Natasha said. “I was schoolgirl nervous, but it was a good date, he was great company.”
“Looking from a pastor’s view I was cautious because I was in a pastoral role but I had feelings for this young lady, and I didn’t want to offend her or stain my calling,” Gregory said, “but she was company that was needed, I could take off all my hats and finally be human.”
The turn: By September 2017 the two were a pair. “It didn’t take long because both of us were praying for spouses, so we went into the next two dates expressing that to each other. We knew we didn’t want to play, and be going out on dates just to be girlfriend and boyfriend… We wanted to get to know one another to see where it could go seriously. I can’t pinpoint the date, but it was very shortly after that we became exclusive,” Natasha said.
“Each time we were in each other’s presence it was something that we knew. We both had been searching for something for so long, and it’s hard to put into words but you just know when you’ve found it,” Gregory said. “That void that had been empty for so long was finally filled.”
“When we decided, we were going to date seriously, I called her up [to the front of the church] and held her hand and made an announcement to the congregation that we were seeing each other because I didn’t want any [whispering],” Gregory said.
The proposal: Eight days before Christmas 2017, at their church, Greater Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in West End after Sunday service.
“I did it before the congregation. After the sermon, I asked can we have as many people as possible stay behind because we have some business at hand and I won’t keep you long. I had already asked her mother [who is also a member of their church] if I had her blessing in marriage when [Natasha and I] started to date seriously…
“And I had the youth [department] escort Natasha up to the front, it was about 12-15 of our youth, and she didn’t know why she was being called to the front I got on my knees and asked her to be my wife. The church was elated, she was crying all over the place, I don’t know who was crying more, her or her mama. Natasha was reared in that church, she came through the ranks and played a role in so many of the youth’s lives…she’s always wanted a family of her own and now it was coming to pass and everybody was elated to see it come to pass in God’s house,” Gregory said.
“My best friend doesn’t go to our church, and he invited her, and right before he got on one knee he asked for the doors of the church to be opened and she walked in and when I saw her I knew something was up,” Natasha said. “And when he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him, I put my hand over my mouth and gasped and said ‘yes’. And when people started coming up to hug me I started remembering my prayers to God and realized that God didn’t forget about me, I was 39 and had been praying for a husband. …I asked God to bless me with somebody who could pray over me and for me, and I specifically asked for it to be somebody at my church because I love my church family and I didn’t want to have to leave and go to another church… It became so overwhelming that I just couldn’t stop crying.”
Proposing eight days before Christmas and deciding to get married on Aug. 18, 2018, was no coincidence. “Eight is the number of new beginnings and the Lord told me it was time for a new beginning,” he said.
The wedding: At their church, Greater Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in West End, officiated by Bishop Raymond Whitsey [Gregory’s pastor]. Their colors were red, black, and silver and their reception followed at the Marriott Hotel Ballroom on U.S. 280.
Most memorable for the bride was internal reflection. “I didn’t want the day to end, I loved every minute of it. When I came down the aisle my eyes went on Gregory and I just remembered ‘he [God] didn’t forget about you, and he didn’t forget about him [Gregory] either… And there was a part when they had the other First Ladies come and pray over me and the spirit got so high, I thought I was going to pass out, but they ended the prayer just in time,” Natasha laughed.
Most memorable for the groom was laying eyes on his bride. “When they opened the doors and I saw her, I knew I had finally gotten it right. I have messed up so many times in my life, that when I saw her, I said ‘Lord, if I don’t get nothing else in this life right, I know I got this right, Lord, I thank you’. It was like the final piece of my life was about to come together. She was what I had been missing in my life, and I finally had enough sense to let God do it, and it was finally done right…,” Gregory said.
They honeymooned in Gatlinburg, Tennessee at the cabins.
“We got upgraded when we got there and were put in a [newly renovated] cabin at the top of the mountain, and we’re still on our honeymoon today,” Gregory said.
Words of wisdom: “Never think that God has given up on you, what you’ve been praying for [is coming]. Keep God first, communicate with one another, and stay friends,” Natasha said.
“The bottom line is this– it’s one thing to love somebody, but you better make sure you’re in love, because if you’re in love, regardless of what comes up you can overcome it. There’s a difference between loving someone and being in love; I’m in love with Natasha,” Gregory said.
Happily ever after: The Glasters are a blended family with six children and their youngest, Isaac, 3 1/2, born of their union.
Natasha, 45, is a West End native, and West End High School grad. She attended the University of Alabama, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology; Grand Canyon University [online], where she received a master’s degree in education; and Walden University [online], where she obtained an Ed.S. in education. Natasha teaches 7th grade science at Hueytown Middle School.
Gregory, 64, is a Roosevelt City native, and Shades Valley High School grad. He attended the now-closed Southern Junior College of Business in Birmingham where he majored in business administration and played on the basketball team. Gregory pastors Greater Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in West End and is Chaplain of Pleasant Grove High School’s varsity football team.
