Brought up in a Christian home, I knew about God but as a severe Judge, and I always had the horror of going to hell.
As a child of about 9 years old, our family of four lived on a farm near Crooked Lane, and on Sundays we all went in the sulky to the little Methodist Church at North Richmond. It was there one morning when the minister emphasised that “you must be born again”. He said it more than once! It was a total mystery to me. Being born at all in those days was a dark and well kept secret! However, those words God hid in my heart and now and again down the years they seemed to thunder.
At the age of 24, my dear mother died, in our home, an agonising death from cancer and I wondered if there could be a God at all.
Ken and I were married two years after World War II and had a son and daughter. We managed without any apparent help from God until I was invited to bring John to Sunday school at Eastwood C of E. Drawn in on Mother’s Day by loving teachers, I began to go to church and hear about Jesus. He seemed too good, and totally out of my reach.
After moving to Cheltenham, there was more fellowship, Bible study and church in Beecroft. The children had grown up, we had a lovely home (and garden!), Ken had a good job, but as time went by, my life seemed terribly empty. I used to pray that God would take away the concrete from around my heart so that I could believe.
In His mercy, I became ill and at the age of 49 was preparing for surgery for the removal of a large fibroid in my uterus. Ken was about to take leave for two weeks to help at home. One morning, alone and in pain, I took my KJV bible into our lounge room and it fell open at James 4:2. Seven words leapt out of the page, “we have not because we ask not”. In a flash, I was on my knees and experienced the most wonderful cleansing, like a spiritual shower bath. With joy, I stood up and looked out the window. Strangers were walking past. I loved them and the trees looked so green. Now I knew what it meant to be born again.
As the days went by, it was obvious that the fibroid was gone. I had been instantly healed as well: two miracles had taken place!
Footnote: Two years after my conversion, I came across Ezekiel
36:26-27, and they nearly blew me away! This is a prayer now for my loved ones.