Like so many, I grew up in a Christian home and my family and I went to Lymm Methodist Church. All was fine until I began secondary school. I hated it - I didn't fit in - and so the Youth Club at Lymm became my haven - the only place I was really happy.
Wanting to give back some of the happiness my Christian roots had given me, I became leader of the over-13's Youth Club at Lymm, whilst being at college at UMIST studying engineering. At the age of 19, at one of the MAYC Conferences, I committed myself to follow God's ways to the best of my ability.
By the age of 23, I had finished college and had begun work on the family farm in Plumley. It was at this time that I met Dawn. After knowing each other for just over a year, we set a date for our wedding and spent all our spare time converting the farmhouse. It was ready just in time for our marriage.
After some time, we began searching for a place of worship in the Plumley area and I was immediately drawn to Knutsford Methodist Church - I was attracted to the way it was supporting the spiritual growth of its young people, just as Lymm had done in my youth.
I continued farming but, after ten years, the loneliness of my particular working situation had become oppressive, and I wondered how long I would want to go on in this way - also we had our new baby daughter, Natalie, to consider; so I asked God to help me review my future. About that time, a number of people independently told me that I had the necessary talents for a career in teaching. I believe that God guided me through their words and I went back to college to qualify as a primary school teacher.
Teaching felt so right for me and I thoroughly enjoyed my first teaching job. But after being appointed at my second school and meeting privately the head teacher, I spent the whole Summer worrying about joining the school. Something did not feel right. The school proved to be a very unhappy one. I would arrive home late, tired and tetchy and then spend the rest of the evening planning and marking. I was not the person Dawn had married.
After two years, I was called into the head's office to be told that I should consider my future as a teacher. I was in despair. Again, God spoke to me - this time through a sermon by Dan Paterson the very next Sunday. He began it by saying something like "Who are you? Are you the kind of person you want to be at work? If not, give it up. Trust God. He will provide." I was awestruck. These words were for me.
After the service, Dan prayed with me - and the next morning I confidently handed in my resignation. God did provide. Three months later, I began another teaching post. Here, I received almost daily approval for my teaching methods. It was exhilarating to be so fully appreciated.
A couple of years ago, I completed my 'Masters' and began looking for a senior management post within a primary school. I prayed to God to guide me in a direction where I could best serve him. When I first visited the school where I am now head-teacher I was able to go home and tell Dawn that this was the right one for me. The job has proved a challenging one and I am daily tested to my limits. I pray for guidance in each and every situation I am faced with, and I am quite certain that God is walking with me.
I know I am lucky. I am happily married with two lovely daughters, Natalie and Laura. I hope, though, that the low spots in my life have given me empathy with those whose lives are not going so well. Where God will lead me next I do not know, but I leave things in his care.
Peter
