‘They were different. They cared, even for older people’
Wendy’s story | Faith later in life
“I only became a Christian in my 40s. We had teenage children, and I wanted to go back to work. So I retrained as a high school teacher. I went to Uni. My husband was the sort of person who criticised everything. He’d had a hard life, and he was negative. He thought Christianity was rubbish. But I met Christians while I was studying. They were different. It was the way they lived. They respected people. They cared for people, even older people, like me. I started thinking about it. Then one of our teenagers changed schools. He went to a private, Anglican school, and I went to education week, and there was a Christian service. It was the first time I’d been to a proper church service. Everything was different. It was the way they sang, and the way they cared. God was touching my heart. On the spot, I thought, I want to go to church. And I did. My husband came along once, to have a sticky beak, but his god was science. But for me, my faith has grown and grown. I’m 82 now, and I’m forgetting things. But my favourite verse is in John 17. Jesus was praying for all the believers. I find it so fascinating. He was about to give up his life, but he was praying for his disciples. He said, ‘I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them …’ (verse 26). What a reassurance that is! Jesus is praying that for us now!”
Ann-Marie’s story is part of Eternity’s Faith Stories series, compiled by Naomi Reed. Click here for more Faith Stories.
