Talk of the Month - Early Years.

Ephesians 1:4 - Chosen before the foundation of the world - how incredible is that!

I am aiming for this talk section to be a once a month post. So this is the one for March. I have realised it is exactly a month ago  this week since my first post so thought it an appropriate time to issue another talk one.

Last time I gave a brief introduction to my Christian background and will continue to use this post as a reflection on my growth in faith over this time and hope this will help me to see how God has really worked in my life.

I was born in  North Wales at the start of the 1970s. My father worked for the local council but was also heavily involved in the Methodist Church. When I was around 5 we moved to Kent due to my father's job. We then started attending a local Methodist Church and my dad was a lay preacher. After a couple of years of living in Kent my Father collapsed suddenly at a local Church meeting and was rushed to hospital. Sadly he died and my mum was a widow at the age of 36 with 2 young daughters (my older sister Susan and me).

Susan on the right me (the cute one) on the left.😊

 My mum ensured that we continued to attend Church and Sunday School and found it to be a supportive and comforting network in her time of grief. My parents had also lost their first child (Wendy) when she was only 3 months old and my dad's mum within a year of that.  As I was quite young at the time of my dad's death I did not realise how difficult it must have been for my mum.


Throughout my childhood and teens I continued to attend the Methodist Church and was heavily involved in the youth group and Sunday evening youth fellowship which was called "Chatterbox". Chatterbox was run by a really lovely couple who were in their early 30s called David and Helen Piper. They opened their home to the youth of the church every Sunday evening to discuss Christian issues and issues that affected us. This fellowship had a big impact on me at the time and was the start of me really understanding that there was a God and he sent his "Son" Jesus Christ. I grew up with this in mind anyway but this group helped affirm it for me. I counted myself to be a Christian at this age, but did not understand the importance of it until much later.

The other key person who had a big impact on my childhood was an elderly lady called Nora Goy. I always called her Aunty Nora even though she was not my relative. She was a very gentle  and kind woman who had a real love for the Lord. I treated her like a Grandma as my real Grandma lived in Wales and was in a care home so I did not see her much. Aunty Nora was a strong spiritual guide in my life and I saw her every week. We often went around there for tea and she taught me how to make greeting cards. I think I got my interest in crafts from her as she always seemed to have something on the go. Sadly, she died when I was 18 but I hope that I will see her again in "Glory".

My mum was keen that we had a holiday once a year so it became the norm. for us to go on a Methodist Guild Hall holiday annually. This was how my parents actually met so my mum had a keen interest in them. I have many happy memories of these and they were good as they were quite focussed on the bible and we got to meet Christians/Church goers from all over the country. I don't think these holiday's exist anymore but they were good.    

When I was 14 my mum met Brian who became her second husband. We continued to attend the Methodist Church for  a while after they got married but as Brian was not a Christian they stopped attending. I still continued and had involvement with the youth groups etc. until the Pipers moved away and then I met Lance.

When I look back on that time now I can see how God looked after me even  from a young age and how he has guided me throughout my life in both the good and bad times. I realise now that the Methodist Church doctrines are quite far removed from the Christianity that I understand today but it certainly gave me the building blocks to recognise Christ as my Lord and Saviour from a young age.