Happier School Days
by Sue
Primary School
Miss Basket was my Junior school Head Mistress and someone who really helped me learn to read. She was a very kind lady and always tried to encourage me, even in ways outside of our classroom. She would invite me to her office at lunchtime and ask me to help her wash up her cups and saucers. She was very understanding towards me with regard to my shyness and helped me in any way that she could.
Miss Harlow, who taught music, was another very nice teacher at my Junior school - very kind and understanding and she also helped me in lots of ways. She worked hard to help me read, as I did struggle with reading at that stage, and she gave me a place in the school choir, even though I was not a great singer. She also encouraged me to memorise Psalm 23, which I did, and when I repeated it to her, she presented me with a pretty card with that Psalm printed on it for me to keep. One time she sang to us in the classroom that old tune “Mama’s little baby loves shortening bread.” She had such a lovely voice - just like Doris day, and even dressed a bit like her. She should have been on the stage and not a school teacher, I always thought, but when later she announced to us that she was leaving school to get married, I remember feeling so sad about that.
Senior School
Miss Spraggs was a lovely teacher and very good at religious education. I looked forward to that lesson every week, she was a very nice Christian lady.
Mr Chifney was our art teacher and he put my name forward to receive a book of my choice, for some good work in art. The book I chose was called ‘The clue of the broken locket’ a Nancy Drew story, and on a presentation evening, it was presented to me by one of the school governors. My mum and dad came to see me nervously go up onto the stage and shake hands as I received it. They were so pleased and as thrilled as I was receiving it.
Our lovely music teacher was Mr Hamlin. He tried to encourage me to learn an instrument and loaned me a guitar to practice on at home, but I struggled with it, and I took it back to school at the next music lesson. He was very good about it and said “not to worry.” But I loved listening to classical music and particularly liked Handel’s ‘Messiah’, ‘Amahl and the Night Visitors' by Gian Carlo Menotti, Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ and many others. When it came to our music exam I didn’t do too badly - one of the few subjects I did OK in as I remember.
I stayed on an extra year at school, till I was sixteen so that I could learn shorthand and typing – although the school was mixed boys and girls, the class I was in then was just all girls, and our form teacher for that year was Mr Blake, who taught English. All of the boys in my school year and most of the girls had left to go to work whilst I stayed on to the fifth year.
One day, Mr Blake asked us, girls, to write a love poem. After he had read them all he chose mine and asked me to read it out in the classroom. I had never been particularly clever at school and was very timid and here I was having to stand at the front of the class and read it out. But the girls in my class were all very nice - it was the best year I ever had at school in fact and we all got on so well. I even got compliments from some of them saying “How did you write such a beautiful poem?” Well, I believe I now know how - because Jesus helped me write it. The goodness of the Lord helped me through a lot of difficult patches I experienced over the years.
One of the girls in my class at that time later went on to become a very famous actress. She was really nice and I pray the Lord will continue to bless her in all that she does.
I do have such fond memories of the Lord interceding in my life. One night, I was feeling down and a little depressed as I went upstairs to bed. I had always prayed about what had happened during the day at school, usually pouring my heart out with my eyes shut thinking about how maybe I will never get married. I mean, who would want me? Silly, really but that’s how I felt at the time. My parents were still downstairs watching the TV and never knew about how I was feeling. Well, that night, I felt a wonderful presence in the room and when I opened my eyes I sensed that it was Jesus present with me and He told me in a still, small voice that things would get better as time went on. I visualised him standing there, tall and dressed in a wonderful white robe with blue trim. I never did share that night with my parents even though they also knew Jesus was with them. But that moment was for me because I was so very distraught. And just as my lovely Lord and Saviour said, things did get better for me and in due time I met my lovely, handsome husband Malc, whom the Lord had chosen for me. We both serve our Lord and Saviour and will do so until the rapture – and that is due very soon - any day now. No one knows the day as it is not appointed for us to know, but we both feel it will be very soon. That is the reason we are sharing these things on our website so that anyone reading them who might be in a similar situation might be touched by our testimonies of the amazing things that the Lord has done for us.
This we have learned - when we have difficulties and we look to others for an answer we get stressed, when we look to ourselves, we get depressed, but when we look to Jesus we get blessed! No one has seen God but in knowing Jesus we know him and have seen Him.
If you feel you are being called by the Lord – if you are on the verge of accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour - do not delay Jesus is saying to you now – come!