|
send
page
I am from Dalkey – I am married to Des and I have two grown up daughters. I am working full time with Power to Change– I work in the office and also I have been going around the country giving presentation on Power to Change -and I have been really blessed by these meetings and by the people I met - some who are searching for meaning in life as I was a few years ago, but knowing Jesus in a close and personal way has changed my life and I know that the power of His love brings peace, healing and grace and new beginnings. – Jesus gives power to change.
I grew up in a Christian home and was brought up in the Roman Catholic tradition, where mass and prayer were part of my life. My concept of God was of a God who provided everything I have, but was somewhat remote –out there somewhere or up in the heavens – a God whom I turned to in difficult times, but for the most part I didn’t give Him a great deal of thought.
Six years ago I spotted a notice in a shop window about a “Life in the Spirit Seminar� being organised by St Michael Prayer Group and the Methodist Church in Dun Laoghaire. It was one of the speakers name that caught my eye – the Catholic Evangelist Joe Dalton. I invited six friends to come along just for the night to hear Joe Dalton– but we stayed on for the seminar. When they announced that they were going to run an Alpha Course – three of us decided to stay on for that course
Alpha was very special for me-I liked the friendly atmosphere and I was really challenged by the talks. Toward the end of the Alpha we had an away- day – that was a memorable day, when the whole concept of alpha fell into place for me. It was the day I came into a personal relationship with Jesus and I found a God who was so close, so real, someone I could relate to – and I left the venue just filled with the power of His Love, and His peace, and His Joy. That day changed the course of my life.
St Michael Prayer and Bible Group became my anchor – the place where I have been growing spiritually with the love, support and encouragement of the members. St Michael’s is an interdenominational group that meets every Wednesday night.
One of the first things that I notice was when I went to mass –– the gospels and the readings had a new meaning. I can only describe it as if the Lord just opened my eyes and my ears and I came away feeling refreshed. I also had a deep hunger to know and understand Scripture.
As a Catholic Christian I have been greatly enriched and certainly blessed by a “Disciple Course� which I attended a few years ago. Eleven Methodists and eight Catholics came together in a friendly home environment to study the Old and New Testaments. This gave me a great love of Scripture and I know I made some lasting friendships. Arising out of these friendships I joined the Growth Groups, where we meet once a fortnight in a home and we have fellowship with the Lord and with each other through prayer and Bible study, followed by a cup of tea and a chat.
Sometimes when I think of our prayer group and growth group, a line from John’s Gospel comes to mind where
Jesus said� open your eyes and look to the fields, they are ripe for harvest� and I feel the Lord is blessing what we are doing, as he prepares us to sow, and to water and to reap His harvest.
I have helped to run “Life in the Spirit seminars and Alpha courses with St Michael’s Prayer Group in Dun Laoghaire, also more recently in Bray where the Christian Churches came together for an Alpha which was attended by 150 people, and it was lovely to see so may lives being touched by the Lord as he did mine six years ago.
.
Over the past six year my life has changed in many ways, - just to mention a few–my prayer life has change and the Lord has healed me from my smoking addiction. My interests and hobbies have changed. - my faith has deepened as I am learning to rely on the Lord when facing challenges, and I have a great sense of fulfilment – an inner peace and joy even in difficult situations.
There was one piece of Scripture that helped me in my walk with the Lord – Rev. 3.20
where Jesus said “Here I am I stand at the door and know, if any one hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me�. I remember looking at that verse and thinking – here is the God who created me – the creator and sustainer of the whole universe - waiting for me to invite him into my life!! I now know that when I open up to Him - I feel his love, I feel his peace, I feel his strength and I know I am not alone.
My desire is that my family, friends, neighbours and people everywhere may personally experience the Joy and Peace made possible through the power of His great love for us.
As I travel around the country as part of the Power to Change Team, helping to equip individuals to share their faith, I think of Jesus’ words in the gospel “when I am lifted up from the earth – I will draw all men to me� - and he will do just that. It is the drawing power of Jesus Christ that comes into action, when through faith; people’s lives like mine take on a new meaning.
I daily thank the Lord for the people who have touched my life – my family and friends.
|
