Jennifer is a retired teacher who still teaches! She recently moved to Coventry from Lincoln. This is her story...
Thinking about what I would say to you has really brought home to me how good God has been all my life.
As a child I went willingly to Sunday School. I helped with the primary class of little ones, and even attended Bible classes run by the minister.
Teenage rebellion
When I was about sixteen we moved house to another area of town and, combined with my increasingly bolshie teenage attitude was a lack of desire to find another church.
In RE discussion groups at school I would argue the case for evolution and whilst not actually "anti" Christianity, didn't really feel it had a place in my life. Eventually I left school and lived a sinful, unrepentant life. All right, I didn't steal or kill anyone, but I had a fairly riotous time. To me though, it didn't feel sinful - I wasn't hurting anyone so where was the harm in my actions and attitudes?
God at work
All the way through, though, God was looking after me even though I wasn't aware of it. Situations and people came "out of the blue" as He gradually led me to the realisation and confession of my sins. The duty minister who took my mothers funeral gave just the sort of preaching that my Christian friend, Hazel, was searching for. For nearly ten years she attended the church where he was the pastor. Every so often I'd go with her to church if her mother wasn't able to go - supposedly to keep her company! Continually the jigsaw was being built up until the "God - shaped hole" which is in everyone was miraculously filled.
Until then I gave Hazel a hard time! Whenever she showed concern for my spiritual state I'd say, "oh, I'll be all right", and she'd think - "made a mess of that again", however, God was still chiselling away and I can now see that He was moving me towards conversion.
Moving to Coventry
Since that time, I am aware of His hand at work everyday - a job I wanted but didn't get was replaced by a better one that I hadn't known about. I was able to take early retirement and become self employed. This offered the freedom of moving to Coventry when the time seemed right - God's time of course! Even in this God was working, as we first visited Lower Ford Street Baptist Church at Christmas 1999. We had no thoughts of moving then, but just felt so at home here that when I woke one morning sometime later thinking "why don't we move?" we knew our spiritual home had already been found for us. After that everything seemed to slot into place.
My best friend
Obviously, I commit each day to the Lord in prayer and I know that my prayers are answered - a potentially difficult conversation goes all right; a particularly busy day works out well with enough energy for everything. I've been given wisdom when dealing with certain situations - in so many ways I know that God is there.
I know many non believers think we use God as a crutch, but to me He is the source of my daily life. Without Him I shouldn't be able to function as well; I should not be as strong. I just thank God He didn't abandon me when I abandoned Him.
