Picture a girl aged around 10 year old walking down the street of her housing estate on her way to Sunday School a couple of kilometres away, her head down and perhaps looking a little grumpy. You see, her mum set her on her way, dressed beautifully all in pink as she thought a girl should be. The piece de resistance was the baby pink angora knitted beret that felt as soft as a cloud, and to this girl’s mind, so very ugly and girly. Two blocks down the road and out of sight of her mum, she whipped that beret off her head and stuffed it in her bag, hoping no one saw her wearing such a thing, or removing it either.
That little girl was me, and I was mostly much happier jumping the big fence and sitting up in my neighbour’s Jacaranda tree reading Enid Blyton books or hanging upside down from a branch rather than playing with the neighbourhood girls.
Still, the wonderful Bible teaching that I received in that Sunday School gave me a real heart for the Lord, and soon after, that Lord became my Saviour, Jesus.
Now, being a Christian didn’t make me like pink any more than I did before, and so many, many times over the years I felt as though I just didn’t fit into any of the girls and women’s groups anywhere, not just at church. It wasn’t anything that they did wrong; just me being that square peg who didn’t fit. One day I went to a special ladies craft day but was so overwhelmed with fear and dread that I turned around at the door and went home in tears. How could God possibly use someone like me in His work? So I threw myself into Sunday School and youth work and loved it so much.
When my children were toddlers I did finally join a ladies bible study group in my neighbourhood that I was happy to be part of. Over the years I grew to love my bible study and when I moved to the Snowy Mountains from Newcastle NSW in 1988 I soon joined the Cooma KYB group. The one hour plus journey there and then back again on my one day off a week proved a challenge, but what a wonderful group of ladies they turned out to be, and I felt quite at home and accepted in their company.
Retirement came and another move, this time to Bonny Hills, where I joined the KYB ladies, first at Dunbogan, and later, our two local groups combining, at North Haven. To say that these ladies are awesome is an understatement. Even with our many diversities, backgrounds and different personalities, we are a united family of sisters, loving, laughing, encouraging, sharing our passion for God’s Word and lifting each other before our Lord in prayer.
To cut my story short, I’m seventy two years of age now, riding my little Honda motorcycle to KYB, Bible and study book on board, and praising God for these wonderful blessings He has so graciously given to me.
It was my Heavenly Father who created me, understood me and my needs and it was He who provided such a beautiful place as KYB where I could feel safe, accepted and happy.
How wonderful our Heavenly Father is. He was, is and will continue to be the God of God’s, the Lord of kings and the revealer of mysteries.
Come to think of it, when He turns our hearts to Jesus, a miracle takes place in all of us. What was impossible for us was oh so possible for Him.