My early childhood was good. My mum and dad believed in God. Although my mum went to church and had Christian friends, my dad didn't believe in the same way.
I went to Sunday school on a few more occasions at different times whilst growing up. I was twelve the last time I went, and bought a Bible with tokens I had received from Sunday school.
The years after school were spent enjoying myself, discos, parties and going to pubs.
We wanted children so we had three. Our second child we were to realise later had problems. He couldn't speak and had epileptic fits. We coped only because the Lord had His hand on our lives, although we didn't realise this at the time. God was far from our minds.
In 1985, unknown to us, a Christian neighbour had heard of our problems and was holding prayer meetings and praying for Matthew and the whole family.
About that time I was searching for something but I didn't know for what and would often go to the Library to get books on subjects such as fortune telling, the unexplained and U.F.O.s etc.
We decided to move to a bigger house and found one nearby. I was happy to move, not knowing what was in store.
Whilst taking my children to school I became friendly with another mum who invited me for coffee. She said she was a Christian and told me all that the Lord had done for her.
I left her house looking into the clouds. I had never heard anything like that before and felt uneasy.
Malc came home one day and gave me a book on the unexplained.
Then one night I had a dream.
When I awoke I could still see Jesus beckoning me to come. I told June about the dream and asked her to explain it, which she did.
When we next met at my house I told June that I could still see Jesus beckoning me. She asked me if I wanted to invite Jesus into my heart and life and I said..... yes!
After I had prayed, (with help from June) I felt different and very happy. I wanted to tell everyone! The wall was gone and my sin with it!
My husband was very annoyed when I told him that I had asked Jesus into my life.
A few months later my husband became a Christian and our two other children (Emma and Darryl) also later accepted Jesus as Lord, and we believe that Matthew will have a full recovery.....just as the Lord has promised!
There is a wall of sin in every unbelievers' life, and it gets bigger every day.
This is His work of salvation accomplished when He shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary. He has paid the debt, the price of my sin and the price of your sin!
I remember going to Sunday school for the first time in an old farmhouse but only once because soon demolition workers had reduced it to rubble.
It was my first Bible (I still have it today). I tried reading it but found it difficult to understand. But I remember thinking, I'll be able to read it some day!
I met Malc when we were both 18 and by 20 we were married.
She often invited me in for coffee mornings but I always declined.
I believed that I was a Christian and told her so. My friend asked "have you invited Jesus into your heart and life?" I had to answer "no!"
She told me that in which case, I wasn't a Christian!
She said that Jesus could help Matthew, which strangely, I believed. She also told me that Jesus would be coming back and that 'every eye shall see Him'. (Revelation ch 1 v 7)
Inside was a photo of a man's face in the sky. The author claimed that the picture, taken from an aeroplane, was of Christ. With what June (my friend) had told me and now the picture things began to have an effect on me.
I was standing in front of a very high wall. On the right of the wall stood two people. One was a woman kneeling, and the other was a man in a white gown. I knew the man was Jesus.
They were smiling and beckoning me to come to them. But although I wanted to I could not because the wall stopped me. There was no way around it!
The wall was my sin and I needed to ask forgiveness from the Lord Jesus so that I could go to Him.
(He was very much against the things of God). I was not able to get to a church to begin with, but prayed and read my Bible everyday.
The Lord spoke to me and gave a promise, that Matthew would recover and speak!
Every one of us needs to ask for Jesus' forgiveness and by His grace He will remove all sin from our lives.