I live in Fareham, in Hampshire, England.  I have been a Christian since 1985.  In all those years, like many of us, I have found myself on a learning curve.  I have received a lot of teaching and input from many faithful people over all this time.  Of course, I have also learnt through my own study of scripture and through life experience.  Writing is something I really enjoy and the aim of this blog is to share thoughts, personal experience and testimony to encourage others.  I would never claim I know it all and do not still have a lot to learn myself, but having received so much, I would like to pass it on to help someone else.  In the early years of my faith especially I needed the help of others.  I needed someone else to explain scripture and give me some insight into how to study and learn.

My early experience of God/the Church.  I was given a Children's Bible, a big heavy A4 hardback book, which I still have today.  I loved it, mainly I think because it has loads of great pictures in it.  I joined the Girl Guides and as part of that, we were take to Church on a Sunday morning.  I believed what I heard, yet the real understanding of why I needed to accept Christ came much later.

My involvement with God and the Church never came into my life again until my early 20's.  I was working in my second job in a supermarket in Gosport.  It was not an easy working environment at all, I really struggled and frequently struggled with depression.  At that time my elder brother was going to a Church that met in a local hall which was right next to our family home.  I would often stand in the doorway of our kitchen and watch them and listen to the singing. I learnt much later that the people in the Church would often see my at the door and ask my brother about me and would pray for me.  I left work one night, I worked a late night on a Wednesday finishing at 8pm.  I don't know why, but I just felt completely overwhelmed by everything that night. I got home and with myself and my brother alone in the living room, we started a conversation about  my struggles at work, the Church, etc.  A couple of days later, my brother said he wanted to take me to meet some friends of his from the Church.  I went and we sat in the living room and the lady of the house came in with tea, I was so amazed because I recognised her as one of the ladies who worked on the customer service desk at the supermarket.  She had known all this time who I was.  I can't really remember what we talked about, but I welcomed an invitation to go to the Church on the Sunday.  By this time the Church had moved down the road to their own site and building, they had been gone a while from the hall next to our house.

I went into the Pastor's office with this lady and the Pastor said to me, "Do you want to be saved"?  I said yes and prayed a prayer accepting Jesus into my life.  I always smile to myself when I recall this, as I really did not know what was meant by this at all!  I did know it was the right thing to do. 

I have been learning what it means ever since.