Truth to Stir the Soul

My life - prior to securing my faith - had no concept of God. I would have been at the front of the queue to mock at anything in context. I was born into a family that outworked a traditional religious stance, for most people – myself included – this creates an aspect of the identity we hold. My point being, I thought I was a Christian through cultural and institutionally determined aspects of my past! When you have reached to God from a sincere heart, a new day is to start and your perspective of life prior to that moment in time will be changed completely. Jesus’ name and nature came through His relationship with His Father and not through his compliance to the tradition that many would strive to force upon Him. Securing who we are as individuals is fundamental and our true foundation in life. We can only but try and bring love to the young.

As a schoolboy concentration was a real issue for me, had there been a lesson in daydreaming I would have been an A-star pupil. After leaving school, for the first three years I was a butcher and then into textiles; this becoming my industry for the next fourteen years. In May 1998 I was made redundant and had no idea what lay ahead. My partner and I had started a family and though we knew it was going to be difficult I would go back to school at thirty-three years old. When I went to our local college for the first time, a gentleman in admissions asked how he could help me. I told him that I wanted to do English and computing. “Today, we start our communication skills workshop in English and computing,” he said. After I had told the subsequent teacher of my poor schooling efforts, she asked if I could write a short account of something so that she could assess where I was at with my literacy, I wrote a short account of the most special night of my life, the night I found my faith. A short while after reading this - with tears in her eyes - she said something that I found startling in the extreme, “I don’t know what you are going to go on and do, but you are a natural writer!” I remember thinking about that statement for some considerable time. It was a profound and challenging statement indeed.

I did not understand it at the time as my lot did not reflect that I would make progress in life to become the person I am today, experiencing the issues in LIFE that have come my way. Life took me away from being a Weaver of Cloth to become a Weaver of Words and People! My life, my relationship with my wife, my children and eventually all that would become part of my world was to change!

Through the earnest desires of a simple heart, I was awaked to the fact that God is real. Jesus opened a door and invited me in; He turned my world upside down and the right way up. Today, and until the Father of all calls time on our present understanding of life, Jesus continues to beckon to those who do not yet know Him, is this your time of opportunity and favour? If you don’t know Him, then you certainly can, no matter what your life story holds!

We are all very different, unique in the sense that inside nobody feels just as we do. I love God and delight in His Word; He set a broken and hopeless young man with suicidal thoughts on a new path. New life came, new hope, a new education, new skills and perspective on life experiences to mould into a new facet of my life; I am a writer!

I sincerely hope that you enjoy reading, these words are from the heart and for the heart; mine was lost and would have had nothing except scorn to offer at the thought of God. The veil was taken away and Jesus brought a new spirit and LIFE!

The one thing I have come to appreciate as the years pass is that we all have something to give. Every person’s situation is unique in context; we all have different strengths and weaknesses, abilities, skills, dreams and desires. I hope my words of encouragement are a blessing to you and those you LOVE.