Rosemary Winnall

Rosemary has been married to Tony for 30 years and they have 2 children, Simon and Nicola. She worked as Education Manager with the Forestry Commission before retirement. Her particular interests are wildlife and biological recording.

Background

I was brought up in a loving Christian family in Swansea. We attended the local Church in Wales and were actively involved in many aspects of church life. The faith of my parents played a very important part in my early Christian commitment.

I was very keen on many sports at school and eventually trained as a PE teacher. I worked as an Outdoor Pursuits teacher in residential centres in Snowdonia and Gower for nine years before getting married and moving to the Wyre Forest. I felt privileged to have had a fulfilling career and an exciting life. I went to church when I could, but if I was honest, felt closer to God up in the mountains, watching birds or canoeing out to coastal islands amongst God’s amazing creation. In retrospect I acknowledged that there was an all-powerful God, but I did not know Jesus as my Saviour. I knew God on the outside, but not on the inside.

Crisis Time

I had reached my early 30s and by now had two lovely children, Simon and Nicola. Then things started to change as Nicola developed severe eczema when she was a year old. Life became more difficult, and I was faced with the first crisis time in my life. Over the next few years our lives seemed to be dominated by a distraught crying toddler, lack of sleep and many visit to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

I remember one night in particular which changed my life. Nicky was about three and as usual she only slept for about half an hour at a time before being woken by her terribly itchy skin. She spent most of the time dressed in an all-in-one cotton suit with gloves to minimize skin damage. It was difficult to hug her to comfort her because it would make her even hotter. So at night I would have to carry her round the garden to try to cool her and distract her from this terrible affliction. On this particular night at about 3am, I could not seem to pacify Nicky and I was overcome with the suffering that her little body was experiencing. So I can remember saying out loud, “God I cannot deal with this anymore, I give Nicky to you” Immediately I heard God speak to me in the darkness, “Come, pray to me” and there was a great sense of his love and his peace in the room.

I was amazed that God should be interested enough to speak to me and even want to spend time communicating me! I was aware as never before of his great love for me, and I realized that I had been trying to deal with Nicky’s illness by myself and had shut God out in my efforts to be self-reliant.

I was determined to find out more about this personal God and to learn more about prayer. I shared this experience with people in my church, but they could offer little advice for nurturing this personal relationship with God. I was determined to find people who, like me, wanted to grow spiritually and deepen my faith.

Arrival at Bewdley Baptist Church

So I started to visit other churches in the area, trying a different one each week! I gradually found myself coming back more regularly to Bewdley Baptist Church where I was delighted to hear challenging and instructive teaching, lively modern worship songs and a find friendly fellowship. I joined a Housegroup and gained so much from their care and leadership.

That was 20 years ago! Nicky is now a beautiful young lady with a strong Christian faith and I am still following my search to grow in my relationship with God – there is always more that he wants to teach us! It is an exciting journey!