Manor Park Evangelical Church|Serving Christ and the Community in St. John's
Pat's story
Peace through suffering
Hello everyone. I was born in Coventry in 1943 towards the end of the war.
I had a very happy childhood. My brother, just sixteen months younger than me and I played well together, sometimes having a good fight! My Mother's health was affected by the war and she was very deaf. My brother and I were quite naughty children but we grew up having to help around the home especially when my little sister was born in 1958.
I became a Christian when about five or six years old. My parents read bible stories to me and prayed and sang hymns for children to us when they put us to bed. Dad explained that Jesus was real and He lived in Heaven now. He said Jesus could see you all the time even under the bed or in the cupboard under the stairs. He told me Jesus loved me but He didn't like the lies I told or the naughty things I did.
One day Dad was really cross and said it was no use saying you were sorry if you were always doing naughty things! I climbed the stairs, knelt by my bed and cried and said sorry to Jesus.
To my surprise I suddenly felt much better and as if a huge weight had gone from me!
When I went to Stoke Park Grammar School for Girls I remember cycling to school every day and really enjoying it.
However my Mother was ill and in 1962 she went to a Psychiatric Hospital for treatment. I looked after my little sister and left school apart from doing Chemistry 'A' level.
I started work at Courtaulds, a textile firm, in 1962. John and I were married in 1968 and we were very happy. He also was a Christian but we weren't very happy in the Fellowship we were in! In 1970 we left it and met with a much smaller group.
Our first daughter was born in 1971 and our second in 1973.Our elder daughter was married in 1996 and our first grandson was born in 1997.However John suffered with depression and in 1999 he took his own life after I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. My whole life changed overnight and I entered a suffering world!
In 2002 my younger daughter came home to live and as she was happy at Manor Park Evangelical Church I attended it with her to see what it was like. My health wasn't good and I had another major operation. Also last year my cancer recurred. People at Manor Park have given me so much practical help from housework to hospital visits but most of all I would say I have proved the love and care of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. I have two good daughters and sons-in-law and four dear little grandsons ranging from five months to nine years old.
