no church for me please!
I am 62 years old, married with four grown-up children. I grew up in Leeds in West Yorkshire and I attended a Church of England school. My early experience of church life was not one that I wanted to be a part of. My memory of that time is of having to learn the creed etc. and that seemed to be all that mattered. As I got into my teens I rebelled against going to church.
When I was 21 I had a car accident and was taken to hospital where I met my wife. She was a student nurse and also a Christian. We married two years later. I didn’t know until about five years later that she had been praying constantly that I would come to know Jesus as my saviour as well.
In 1973 we had twins – we already had two girls. As she always did, my wife was getting the children ready one Sunday morning to go to church. I had watched her many Sundays but had always refused to even think about going with her. This particular Sunday I told her I would go with her to help with the children but only if we sat at the back and left straight away when it finished. God had other ideas.
When the pastor gave her message that Sunday morning, everything she said was as if she knew all about me – it seemed to be directed straight at me. Afterwards I accused my wife of telling the pastor about the life I was leading, but she hadn’t. The following Sunday I had to go again to find out more. Later that year I went to a special meeting at a church in Leeds where an opportunity was given for people to respond. I did and accepted Jesus into my heart.
The change that took place was gradual over many years. As I look back over my life before and after that day in 1973 I can see God’s hand guiding me and helping me. He has brought us through many difficult times. He gave me a wonderful Christian wife who never gave up on me. We have been married now for 39 years and I wouldn’t change a thing. We have four great children and though we still occasionally go through difficult times, God is always there, helping us through.
Many times God has performed miracles and shown his love for us more times than I can recount. I often think of what my life would have been like if I had not gone to church that day. I thank God that I did.
Jeff
North Wales