WEBVTT 00:00:00.850 --> 00:00:06.890 lovely to see you I'm just going to stand here with a bit of paper because you're going to tell 00:00:06.890 --> 00:00:11.730 your story it's really wonderful to have Wendy sitting here I think one of the things that came 00:00:11.730 --> 00:00:18.170 out of the family night was obviously Wendy joining the senior leadership team and there 00:00:18.170 --> 00:00:24.930 an awareness that actually maybe not everybody knows all that much about you and and it was a 00:00:24.930 --> 00:00:29.810 great suggestion actually that maybe the next person on this is us would be Wendy so that she 00:00:29.810 --> 00:00:34.590 could share something of her journey how she's got to where she is today and all that God has 00:00:34.590 --> 00:00:40.370 done and so really the floor is yours I've got these questions to act as prompts but you'll need 00:00:40.370 --> 00:00:46.930 prompts okay so this is about your life your faith the lessons that you've learned along the way and 00:00:46.930 --> 00:00:51.530 I just wonder if you could start at the beginning and tell us a little about yourself your background 00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:56.410 what was it like growing up that kind of thing yeah well I'll say hi I'm Wendy Painter can you 00:00:56.410 --> 00:01:02.690 hear me okay? I'd much rather be doing this from the back row, just to say. But hey, that's 00:01:02.690 --> 00:01:08.330 me. I'm fairly, say quiet. I'm not quiet. I'm a more one-to-one person than a group 00:01:08.330 --> 00:01:14.390 person. But anyway, I'm married to Colin, so I'm the back row there. 37 years we've 00:01:14.390 --> 00:01:20.690 been married now. We've got two beautiful children, two daughters, who are both married 00:01:20.690 --> 00:01:26.010 now, I can say, because our youngest got married a few weeks ago. And you might see 00:01:26.010 --> 00:01:32.750 them her husband comes along to church and she occasionally joins him so yeah I was born in 00:01:32.750 --> 00:01:39.430 Coventry yeah sent there I was born there I was one of the first hundred babies to be born in the 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:46.330 new hospital and the first one to be born in the lift because I was number seven apparently my mum 00:01:46.330 --> 00:01:51.250 had seven children I was the youngest of seven so they didn't quite believe her and this baby's on 00:01:51.250 --> 00:01:55.190 its way she was an experienced mother she knew what she was talking about so yeah I was born 00:01:55.190 --> 00:02:04.390 in the lifting in Coventry um yeah what sort of child what was your childhood or your teenage 00:02:04.390 --> 00:02:10.690 years like I was a bit of um again a quiet child I think I had a happy childhood there wasn't a lot 00:02:10.690 --> 00:02:18.030 of um love spoken you know you didn't hear oh I love you or bedtime stories it was I think probably 00:02:18.030 --> 00:02:23.930 because I was one of seven it was just get on with it really um although I'm one of seven I only 00:02:23.930 --> 00:02:28.330 really lived with two of my brothers because my mum was divorced she had children before then met 00:02:28.330 --> 00:02:34.710 my dad so I only really lived with two brothers so um yeah but no I'd say a fairly happy childhood 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:41.990 um didn't like school didn't like rules didn't like but as I got to become a teenager got a bit 00:02:41.990 --> 00:02:47.570 more rebellious in a very quiet way I wasn't you know they say watch the quiet ones 00:02:47.570 --> 00:02:54.530 so I was a little bit rebellious on things like not turning up to my French exam because 00:02:54.530 --> 00:02:59.250 really couldn't be bothered to go back after lunch to do the French exam so school wasn't great for 00:02:59.250 --> 00:03:04.170 me wasn't wasn't I've never been an academic but anyway I progressed I went on to college 00:03:04.170 --> 00:03:10.510 and then continued on and did nurse training because I trained down at King's College in 00:03:10.510 --> 00:03:14.490 London did my nurse training there so I got there eventually but it was sort of like 00:03:14.490 --> 00:03:16.430 had to take my path really on 00:03:16.430 --> 00:03:18.250 the way I was told to go 00:03:18.250 --> 00:03:20.270 I don't like being told where to go 00:03:20.270 --> 00:03:21.730 no I can understand that 00:03:21.730 --> 00:03:24.410 what would you say that you enjoyed most 00:03:24.410 --> 00:03:25.710 about that season of your life 00:03:25.710 --> 00:03:28.450 what was the thing that stands out 00:03:28.450 --> 00:03:29.470 to you about that time 00:03:29.470 --> 00:03:32.370 I loved being away 00:03:32.370 --> 00:03:33.990 from Coventry 00:03:33.990 --> 00:03:35.310 from home 00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:38.630 I love the independence 00:03:38.630 --> 00:03:40.490 and just almost like trying to 00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:42.410 reinvent yourself you know when you're a teenager 00:03:42.410 --> 00:03:44.310 oh god be somebody all different 00:03:44.310 --> 00:03:47.430 and I can be, well, you know, a bit different. 00:03:47.630 --> 00:03:49.370 So, yeah, I did enjoy that bit of it. 00:03:49.470 --> 00:03:50.910 Finding out a bit more about myself 00:03:50.910 --> 00:03:54.330 and who I was away from my family, really. 00:03:54.870 --> 00:03:55.630 OK, great. 00:03:56.370 --> 00:03:57.290 Tell us about... 00:03:57.290 --> 00:03:59.250 So, obviously, this is your background. 00:03:59.430 --> 00:04:01.170 You haven't mentioned anything about faith 00:04:01.170 --> 00:04:03.850 being something that was in the background of your life. 00:04:03.950 --> 00:04:06.190 So tell us a little bit about your Christian story. 00:04:06.190 --> 00:04:08.110 How did... How was faith... 00:04:08.110 --> 00:04:09.770 Or how was Jesus introduced to you 00:04:09.770 --> 00:04:14.090 and how did you grow into, obviously, your Christian faith? 00:04:14.310 --> 00:04:18.230 yeah um i'd say i was brought up in a non-christian i would say it's a non-christian 00:04:18.230 --> 00:04:23.190 family there was a time when i think mom and dad dabbled in a bit of church life and i 00:04:23.190 --> 00:04:28.550 have vague memories of my dad getting baptized but it wasn't i wouldn't say i was brought up 00:04:28.550 --> 00:04:34.390 with in her faith family um it was when i went down to london and started my training and i 00:04:34.390 --> 00:04:41.270 was working with this this other student who was called jackie um she's gone to be in glory now 00:04:41.270 --> 00:04:45.830 but she was instrumental in bringing me to church she took me to there's a big church at 00:04:45.830 --> 00:04:50.790 the oval called st mark's it was an anglican church it had the biggest doors well it seemed 00:04:50.790 --> 00:04:54.710 to me at the time they're probably if i go back now they're probably tiny but these great big 00:04:54.710 --> 00:04:59.990 heavy wooden doors and she you know i kept talking to i think there's something about you what is it 00:04:59.990 --> 00:05:04.950 that makes you happy you just seem you're so different from everybody else i've ever met 00:05:04.950 --> 00:05:08.630 there's something about you of course she told me it was because she was a christian and she 00:05:08.630 --> 00:05:14.270 she knew Jesus and she invited me to go to church I said if I shut them doors I'm not going in I'm 00:05:14.270 --> 00:05:18.230 never standing at the door saying to the person you don't shut these doors do you bother in there 00:05:18.230 --> 00:05:23.270 you don't shut the doors are open you can leave at any point like okay I'll go again don't like 00:05:23.270 --> 00:05:32.130 to be boxed in or so I did go in and after several weeks of going there I um yeah sort of Jesus 00:05:32.130 --> 00:05:38.210 spoke to me and I gave my life to Christ and that was a defining moment for me it was you know I 00:05:38.210 --> 00:05:46.690 was looking for a different way of life and and i i got pointed to jesus and accepted him so yeah 00:05:46.690 --> 00:05:51.890 and i've been walking with him ever since uh as we all know for those of us that have been walking 00:05:51.890 --> 00:05:57.050 with god for a while life's not always easy is it yeah you might have god in your life but 00:05:57.050 --> 00:06:02.630 i always have this this image of like you know life has its ups and downs doesn't it but 00:06:02.630 --> 00:06:05.010 that Jesus is the one 00:06:05.010 --> 00:06:06.110 that is the constant 00:06:06.110 --> 00:06:07.390 and I can honestly 00:06:07.390 --> 00:06:08.390 hand on heart 00:06:08.390 --> 00:06:10.070 sit here and say 00:06:10.070 --> 00:06:11.090 that's so true 00:06:11.090 --> 00:06:12.430 that Jesus has been 00:06:12.430 --> 00:06:13.090 my constant 00:06:13.090 --> 00:06:14.350 throughout life 00:06:14.350 --> 00:06:15.430 do I need 00:06:15.430 --> 00:06:16.350 can you not hear me 00:06:16.350 --> 00:06:17.970 it's not working quite right 00:06:17.970 --> 00:06:18.570 is it not 00:06:18.570 --> 00:06:20.010 I sound really loud to me 00:06:20.010 --> 00:06:20.910 no 00:06:20.910 --> 00:06:22.070 have it right up there 00:06:22.070 --> 00:06:22.610 okay so 00:06:22.610 --> 00:06:24.690 so your faith 00:06:24.690 --> 00:06:26.150 has your faith always 00:06:26.150 --> 00:06:26.710 you said it's been 00:06:26.710 --> 00:06:27.450 a bit like this 00:06:27.450 --> 00:06:28.870 and which is 00:06:28.870 --> 00:06:30.010 this life 00:06:30.010 --> 00:06:31.010 yeah this is what life does 00:06:31.010 --> 00:06:31.910 and Jesus has been 00:06:31.910 --> 00:06:32.510 this constant 00:06:33.270 --> 00:06:37.030 Have there been seasons, because you said that from the beginning you followed him, 00:06:37.110 --> 00:06:43.070 but have there been seasons when you struggled or had questions or, you know, kind of asked that question, 00:06:43.210 --> 00:06:45.170 why or where are you in the middle of all of this? 00:06:57.500 --> 00:06:59.460 The magic button. Now I know. 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:03.340 Do you want me to ask the question again? Okay. 00:07:04.760 --> 00:07:08.520 You said the question is, has your faith always been straightforward? 00:07:08.700 --> 00:07:10.040 Have there been seasons when you've asked? 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:15.960 yeah yeah yeah yeah I'm human I live life I live it in this world yeah there have been seasons when 00:07:15.960 --> 00:07:21.920 I have questions and things um after we got married we married a few years and we moved with 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:27.100 Colin's work we moved down to Nailsy and I loved it down there it was beautiful it was so nice it 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:31.760 was it was a bit too middle class if I'm quite honest but you don't really like when you're in 00:07:31.760 --> 00:07:38.020 it it was just nice and comfortable and it was like really cozy and life life was good you know 00:07:38.020 --> 00:07:40.360 we had a young daughter 00:07:40.360 --> 00:07:41.800 Rebecca and then we had 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:43.480 Jen and then we had Rebecca 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.100 and life was good and then Colleen's work 00:07:46.100 --> 00:07:48.020 decided they wanted to move him back up 00:07:48.020 --> 00:07:48.900 to the Midlands 00:07:48.900 --> 00:07:52.420 I really didn't want to go because I just loved where we lived 00:07:52.420 --> 00:07:53.880 it was near the seaside 00:07:53.880 --> 00:07:54.840 it was just beautiful 00:07:54.840 --> 00:07:58.640 but anyway we're obedient and moved back up 00:07:58.640 --> 00:08:00.140 and the only 00:08:00.140 --> 00:08:02.260 positive about that was that I got to spend time 00:08:02.260 --> 00:08:03.620 with my mum and dad who were 00:08:03.620 --> 00:08:05.040 ageing a bit in years 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:07.200 and they got to spend time with the grandchildren 00:08:07.200 --> 00:08:09.620 so we hadn't been here very long 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:12.760 and my mum, I had a phone call from my dad 00:08:12.760 --> 00:08:14.640 one morning saying mum's really not very well 00:08:14.640 --> 00:08:18.100 so we phoned an ambulance and she had meningitis 00:08:18.100 --> 00:08:22.140 and we were told that she had a couple of hours to live 00:08:22.140 --> 00:08:24.520 that her brain was actually cloning over 00:08:24.520 --> 00:08:27.160 which is, once that's happened, that's it 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:29.260 you're saying goodbye 00:08:29.260 --> 00:08:34.100 I'd say I stood by her bed and prayed 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:37.160 I didn't realise, I stood by her bed and shouted at God 00:08:37.160 --> 00:08:38.380 I think, are you kidding me? 00:08:38.680 --> 00:08:40.840 You've brought me, you've taken me from this lovely place, 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:41.620 brought me back here. 00:08:42.020 --> 00:08:44.500 The only thing I wanted to come back for was to be with my parents. 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:45.900 And now you're going to take it. 00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:49.160 I said, come on, God, this isn't on. 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:51.120 I really did plead and beg with him. 00:08:51.400 --> 00:08:52.960 And anyway, she recovered. 00:08:54.180 --> 00:08:56.860 That's my miracle, that she recovered. 00:08:57.380 --> 00:08:59.880 And the other miracle was about it, she never smoked again. 00:08:59.880 --> 00:09:03.260 My mum smoked 40 cigarettes a day for most of her life. 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:05.700 But in that time of being in a coma, 00:09:05.700 --> 00:09:10.520 she completely forgot that she smoked oh wow we kept joking about putting nicotine patches on the 00:09:10.520 --> 00:09:16.020 wall she was unconscious but anyway uh but she made it she came through and i had a few not many 00:09:16.020 --> 00:09:20.180 more years because then she had a massive stroke and died but we had a couple of years with her 00:09:20.180 --> 00:09:26.280 which which was nice yeah so that was uh one of those times where you know you question thinking 00:09:26.280 --> 00:09:32.970 really god what what's going on um but yeah and the other time i guess was with my with my father 00:09:32.970 --> 00:09:39.450 as well he had he developed Alzheimer's and was quite poorly um and I guess that's that's the one 00:09:39.450 --> 00:09:45.370 time that I can honestly say I as if God was sat right next to me and said to me you know that 00:09:45.370 --> 00:09:50.190 audible voice of God is like because I was pleading again for him to die actually because 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:58.530 he was in so much pain and it was the opposite prayer please God take him um and uh he God just 00:09:58.530 --> 00:10:03.370 said to me he said you know I knew the day that I brought him into this world and I know the day 00:10:03.370 --> 00:10:08.470 that I'll take him to be with me and that was like that shut me up as you can imagine it was like 00:10:08.470 --> 00:10:15.270 okay God you're in control I get this now I get this and he he passed away the next day peacefully 00:10:15.270 --> 00:10:21.750 so yeah so thank you for that um so how would you say your relationship with God has changed as 00:10:21.750 --> 00:10:28.180 you've gotten older I think it's changed in I I'd like to say I do trust him more but there are 00:10:28.180 --> 00:10:34.500 times when say i'm human and you think you think i trust him and then you think why am i doubting 00:10:34.500 --> 00:10:39.520 um but i i think yeah i think it's just seeing his faithfulness when you look back 00:10:39.520 --> 00:10:45.420 over the years you see actually god you know he turned up every single moment in my life 00:10:45.420 --> 00:10:49.860 from the small little things that you think you know i've lost my keys i can't find this or 00:10:49.860 --> 00:10:55.240 whatever you know we pray pray for car parking spaces everything you just bring it to god 00:10:55.240 --> 00:11:01.440 from those tiny things right through to the the major things of you know like really big thing 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:05.820 isn't it death in the family it's losing your parents is a big thing so right all the way 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:12.060 through I look back and I see God's hand upon it all and where he's led us as a couple as a family 00:11:12.060 --> 00:11:18.060 we didn't have an easy time with my pregnancies I was very very poorly with my pregnancies in 00:11:18.060 --> 00:11:23.220 hospital for months at a time actually ended up on the ward I used to work work on because it was 00:11:23.220 --> 00:11:28.180 it affected my liver so much so i ended up on my own ward but yeah it wasn't it and for colin it 00:11:28.180 --> 00:11:34.240 wasn't an easy time was it god really tested us didn't they and in that time so okay what is the 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:40.800 most um what is the most important lesson do you think or lessons that life has taught you or your 00:11:40.800 --> 00:11:44.800 faith has taught you i mean you've mentioned a couple of them already you know i love that when 00:11:44.800 --> 00:11:49.460 you said about um about your dad how god spoke to you and said you know i i know the day i brought 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:56.210 him here and I know the day that I will take him and so that was yeah that was wind your neck in 00:11:56.210 --> 00:12:02.830 kind of thing yeah definitely just putting words in your mouth but I mean is there any other lesson 00:12:02.830 --> 00:12:08.490 that you think actually that's kind of been like the backdrop to my life I I yeah that's what I've 00:12:08.490 --> 00:12:15.720 learned I think with I'm very much a people person I think God's taught me to to look beyond what you 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:21.380 see in front of you that and try and see people through jesus eyes because that's um you know 00:12:21.380 --> 00:12:25.380 i've always i think one of the questions is something like what would your family and 00:12:25.380 --> 00:12:30.520 friends say about you it'd be like you know i'll talk to anybody we used to go to the supermarket 00:12:30.520 --> 00:12:35.480 shopping and i'll be chatting away to the cashiers and colin would come out where do you know them 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:42.360 from i don't know what yeah i'm very much a people person i think god's showing me that 00:12:42.360 --> 00:12:48.600 you know sometimes we can be a bit judgmental of people you know put my hands up I can be sometimes 00:12:48.600 --> 00:12:54.740 and actually I really try I think God's teaching me to you know life isn't black and white it's 00:12:54.740 --> 00:13:00.820 not always straightforward and to try and see people through his eyes really um so yeah I think 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:06.740 that's probably one and you know just know that he's faithful he's so faithful no matter what we 00:13:06.740 --> 00:13:13.080 go through he's there might not see him might not see what he's doing but he's there I mean 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:17.920 just a thought that came to mind and I don't want no examples or anything but would you say that 00:13:17.920 --> 00:13:23.540 that kind of it's a gift really to be able to see people as God sees them have there been times in 00:13:23.540 --> 00:13:29.820 your life where you have you have made a judgment about somebody and God has surprised you in that 00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:35.320 you've then seen them as God sees them and it's like wow that's never what I would have imagined 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:43.340 uh can't think of anything specific no but but yeah it is i mean i know particularly when i 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:49.940 started working with christians against poverty and it was quite easy to walk into because we 00:13:49.940 --> 00:13:54.220 used to go into the homes all the time that's that's where we met people so you would walk 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:59.000 into all sorts of different homes and and you know see these massive like tellies on the wall 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:05.560 and you know all this expensive and you think okay but you're in debt up to your eyeballs and 00:14:05.560 --> 00:14:12.980 light yeah but I think God's shown me that you know you can't judge you can't judge um you just 00:14:12.980 --> 00:14:18.680 got to love just got to love yeah and just see them as he sees them so obviously one of the big 00:14:18.680 --> 00:14:24.680 questions I think from people here this morning was yeah how how was your journey or what does 00:14:24.680 --> 00:14:33.950 your journey look like when you came to MCF how did MCF yeah feature on your radar uh yeah well 00:14:33.950 --> 00:14:39.490 we we moved up to sheffield about five years ago and that was a whole nother story and journey in 00:14:39.490 --> 00:14:44.870 itself and uh they have you know you expect god to take you in a certain way and then things don't 00:14:44.870 --> 00:14:51.390 go quite how you thought they would go um so yeah so we we moved up to sheffield five years ago we 00:14:51.390 --> 00:14:56.890 actually arrived 10 days before our our um first grandson was born which was a bit close for comfort 00:14:56.890 --> 00:15:03.350 for me but there we go um and we started going to st thomas philadelphia in the town center in 00:15:03.350 --> 00:15:08.310 sheffield because our our daughter and her husband went there and we were trying to it was just after 00:15:08.310 --> 00:15:13.210 covid so we were trying to get them back into church and we thought actually if we just quick 00:15:13.210 --> 00:15:17.610 text on the morning saying oh just going to church this morning will we see you there sort of yeah 00:15:17.610 --> 00:15:24.250 sneaky little things that you do as parents um so yeah so we started going there and we were happy 00:15:24.250 --> 00:15:29.810 there um just to say in our before we moved up to sheffield we were in our previous church for 00:15:29.810 --> 00:15:35.350 20 odd years weren't we and it was home it was our spiritual home it was where we made those 00:15:35.350 --> 00:15:41.930 really good friendships that will last a lifetime um so this this was a big move for us we liked it 00:15:41.930 --> 00:15:46.950 at philly we we felt welcomed and everything but the turning point was when we did the alpha course 00:15:46.950 --> 00:15:52.370 and we were traveling backwards and forwards like trying to get there for like six o'clock was just 00:15:52.370 --> 00:15:57.450 impossible and how many sets of traffic lights colin 28 sets of traffic lights we had to go 00:15:57.450 --> 00:16:02.350 through to get to philly from where we live so we thought this is crazy we need we and we'd always 00:16:02.350 --> 00:16:07.210 been fairly local to our church so we thought we need to start looking and to be honest can i say 00:16:07.210 --> 00:16:11.330 can i really be really honest be really honest when we first looked at the website we thought 00:16:11.330 --> 00:16:15.090 no we're not we didn't even look at it because we thought no we're not going there but it's 00:16:15.090 --> 00:16:21.470 changed since it has changed it's amazing it's an amazing website amazing um so do you know what 00:16:21.470 --> 00:16:27.850 this looks really let's give it a go um so we and instantly i think we thought yeah we could 00:16:27.850 --> 00:16:35.130 this this feels like us this feels like we could sell this it's a you're a bunch of amazing people 00:16:35.130 --> 00:16:42.990 who were so open and honest and humble i mean the leadership i can't say i'm on the leadership map 00:16:42.990 --> 00:16:48.870 i think you guys are so humble and so real and that's what really touched me it's not about i 00:16:48.870 --> 00:16:50.030 I mean, Nick even did it this morning. 00:16:50.170 --> 00:16:51.010 We were talking about communion. 00:16:51.290 --> 00:16:53.850 You know, there's so many different ways that we've got to do this 00:16:53.850 --> 00:16:55.470 and it's got to be blessed by so-and-so 00:16:55.470 --> 00:16:57.590 and it's got to be before it touches your lips. 00:16:58.250 --> 00:17:00.190 No, Jesus wouldn't have done it like that. 00:17:00.670 --> 00:17:05.770 So I think you guys, we, us guys, do it the way, you know, 00:17:05.830 --> 00:17:06.810 Jesus would have done it. 00:17:06.930 --> 00:17:09.490 And that's what I love about this place 00:17:09.490 --> 00:17:11.610 and that's why we feel so at home. 00:17:11.610 --> 00:17:15.610 And your heart for the community and about being real with people 00:17:15.610 --> 00:17:17.390 and seeing people's lives transformed. 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:23.570 it's uh it's yeah it's it's what jesus is about isn't it it is what jesus is about it is what 00:17:23.570 --> 00:17:29.090 jesus is about just a couple of um further on questions from that you recently joined the 00:17:29.090 --> 00:17:35.730 senior leadership team um how are you feeling about this new season and and it's early day so 00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:40.590 i mean but yeah what are you feeling about this new season and and yeah well i've got i've got 00:17:40.590 --> 00:17:44.830 two words and i think which one do i say first i think i've got to say excited first because it 00:17:44.830 --> 00:17:50.810 is exciting scary was the other one but uh yeah it is exciting i mean i have been on leadership 00:17:50.810 --> 00:17:56.710 before but it was very different it was within the baptist structure so there was a lot of 00:17:56.710 --> 00:18:03.810 structure to things which i i do i do quite like structure i do like structure and organization 00:18:03.810 --> 00:18:09.990 and so i struggle a little bit sometimes if i'm honest but it's good because it's good to be 00:18:09.990 --> 00:18:14.390 challenged isn't it and i think as i get older it's another thing god's showing me that actually 00:18:14.390 --> 00:18:20.090 be open be open to to learning and to being challenged and to be because sometimes we can 00:18:20.090 --> 00:18:24.410 get to a certain age i think oh well i've done that i've like god choose me in that and yeah 00:18:24.410 --> 00:18:30.350 that bit of my life's over and i'll just sit back and no you're never retiring god's kingdom do you 00:18:30.350 --> 00:18:38.970 there's always something to do so yeah i'm excited um to be to be serving god in this way and serving 00:18:38.970 --> 00:18:43.830 you guys on leadership but uh it'll be in his strength not my own that's what i need to keep 00:18:43.830 --> 00:18:51.970 reminding me but yeah fighting and um thank you for that um probably the last question um 00:18:51.970 --> 00:18:57.630 if you could sit down with your younger self um what would you say to your younger self 00:18:57.630 --> 00:19:08.100 I think I'd say to um live out the fact that you know God's faithful that um one of my favorite 00:19:08.100 --> 00:19:15.540 verses um is in in Joshua 1 verse 9 it says you know be strong and courageous you know the Lord 00:19:15.540 --> 00:19:21.260 your god is with you wherever you go and i was actually given that verse um my friend jackie who 00:19:21.260 --> 00:19:25.740 brought me to the lord her mum did a little tapestry thing for me cross stitch i'll still 00:19:25.740 --> 00:19:30.320 have it up in our house because when i left london and moved back to the midlands to marry colin 00:19:30.320 --> 00:19:35.760 um i was given this little tapestry and that that's a very you know no matter where you go in 00:19:35.760 --> 00:19:41.990 life that god's there but to go back and live it because i haven't always perhaps believed it and 00:19:41.990 --> 00:19:50.720 lived it but to know that truth of actually he's always going to be there we're going to pray for 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.640 you now um and i think the last question is as you look ahead what are you praying for in your 00:19:54.640 --> 00:20:01.660 own life that we could say amen to um as we pray for you and colin uh this morning yeah i mean i'm 00:20:01.660 --> 00:20:07.740 sort of looking to as you say we're grandparents now and you want to bring up that next generation 00:20:07.740 --> 00:20:15.740 of christians don't you to so yeah so good to pray for my family um that they will um come to 00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:22.160 know the lord and for myself really that i'll just continue to to be open to his leading and his 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:29.600 guiding and you know you never finish he's not finished with me yet and just to become sounds a 00:20:29.600 --> 00:20:34.180 bit christian but to become more christ-like because at the end of the day that's that's 00:20:34.180 --> 00:20:40.740 what we want to do isn't it we want to become more like him so yeah good thank you very much 00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:46.300 thank you let's pray let's pray father i want to thank you for uh wendy wendy and colin i want to 00:20:46.300 --> 00:20:52.760 thank you for their journey the story of how wendy came to know you thank you for that journey and 00:20:52.760 --> 00:20:57.500 and the fact that they are with us uh now and today thank you that you have called them to be 00:20:57.500 --> 00:21:02.980 with us thank you that they are part of our family and we thank you for this transition as 00:21:02.980 --> 00:21:08.260 well into into leadership and we just pray father it is exciting and there is an awful lot that is 00:21:08.260 --> 00:21:12.200 that is very exciting but there are things that are scary along the way and i pray 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:19.240 for wendy and for us lord god that you would give us the grace and the courage uh to do what is right 00:21:19.240 --> 00:21:24.140 before you and to walk with you lord god and i pray father that i can just hear it in wendy's 00:21:24.140 --> 00:21:28.140 heart desire for her children and for her grandchildren to know you and i pray as colin 00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:33.860 and Wendy live out their faith courageously and quietly. Lord God, I pray that you would 00:21:33.860 --> 00:21:38.940 use them to show to their grandchildren and their children just the faithfulness of God 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:44.600 over generations, Father. And I pray that they would see, Lord God, the fulfillment 00:21:44.600 --> 00:21:48.180 of the promises that you have for their family over their lives. Father, we just pray for 00:21:48.180 --> 00:21:53.840 them and continue to fill them with your Holy Spirit, continue to pour your grace into their 00:21:53.840 --> 00:22:00.820 lives, Father, and grant them great wisdom, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you very much.