In the past I have not been confident, even now I tend to be a bit fearful, but God is changing me. There were three incidents that had knocked me back during my early childhood. I found school quite hard and often got in trouble with the teachers. I was noticing others were doing better than me and I was getting left behind; after a while I was placed in the bottom set. One particular incident I remember when I was 8 years old the teacher made me sit in the corner with a dunce’s hat on; I had no idea what I had done wrong. I was sent to ballet classes and unfortunately my coordination was not very good and I felt quite self conscious about my “two left feet” I could not do what the others were able to do and was always several steps behind; I soon left. Because I was being laughed at, both at school and at ballet, I tended to lash out at people in defence. I seem to hang my life on these experiences and tend to let them hold me back. On the other hand I was able, even at a young age, to go out on my own either cycling or walking out on to the common land near my home. I found solace in being alone where people could not hurt me. God had other ideas and had a plan for my life. Spending time at the common, or even time in the garden, I became interested in wildlife. Hearing the Cuckoo, seeing the butterflies and bees, collecting frog’s spawn, or enjoying the flowers, God started to speak to me through His creation. My mum went to church and I went to Sunday school with her. I enjoyed the competitions like Sword Drill – this is where you have to find Bible verses quickly. I felt I was very good at it. One Palm Sunday, when I was around ten years old, we had a guest speaker at the church. He was speaking in the service and the Sunday school was in the meeting as well. I can’t remember what he spoke about but when he spoke I felt it was directly at me. I responded in my heart and gave my life to Jesus. I did not know I had to tell any one so kept quiet about what had happened to me for a time. According to my mum she recognised something had changed.