GOD ALWAYS WINS

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a woman who has a lot of life experience behind her (interpretation: I am past the first flush of youth). I do not aspire to grand things. Nothing pleases me more than a walk through a nature reserve on a Summer morning, or a cosy coffee with a friend in a favourite cafe'.

Like many of you, my love of writing showed up early in the journals I would keep, the stories in the school magazine, the positive comments on my English assignments. The next obvious step seemed to be to study English at University. I embarked upon this course and loved every minute of the reading and analyzing and discussing of texts with others. Unfortunately, I fell short of finishing my degree due to family upheaval at the time. Instead, a series of mundane jobs became my lot until, happily, the release of marriage and children. Because, you see, I decided to be a stay-at-home mum. As a young girl, I had often been called a 'little mother', feeding my hapless brother with Farex and dressing up my long-suffering cat in baby clothes. Clearly, it suited something deep within my personality to nurture, cosset and fuss.

As my children grew, I completed my English degree and thought seriously about further study, with the object of obtaining a librarian qualification and becoming an income-earner. A lot of prayer went into this, because my heart wasn't really in it. All I really wanted to do, deep down, was Christian ministry or writing or preferably a combination of both. And indeed, God did seem to be saying very clearly not to pursue a librarianship or any other career. 'Be still at my command' was the gentle word that I kept hearing.

God knew something that I didn't. In the not too distant future, I would need to be there, at home, using all the strength and resources that He would supply to me to supervise, pray for and support my youngest in her long battle with depression, anxiety and alcohol abuse. 'But this can't happen in a Christian home!' someone might be thinking. It can and it did. God can throw a curve ball at us from time to time, but His intentions are always for our ultimate welfare, and through that dark time, my daughter came to faith in Christ and I grew.

My daughter still struggles, but her heart is in the right place and God is polishing her - sanding a rough spot here, highlighting a facet there - until she becomes the beautiful, refined gold that He has in mind for all of His children. I no longer fear trials and troubles, because I know that God always wins. Always.

And the Christian writing ministry? My daughter's journey became the subject of my first book - unpublished yet, but quietly awaiting its time.