Reaching Out

Hello, my name is Ali. I belong to the Stafford Christadelphians. I've been a Christadelphian for 46 years and I thought I would share some of my journey with you, in the hope that if you are, or have, experienced similar things, you can know that you are not alone.

To begin …

I am happily married, with three wonderful grown-up sons. Whilst they were growing up, one of those sons was to take us on a path that I never would have thought possible …

The Journey

My beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby was such a joy, then a lovely toddler, who I could take anywhere without a problem, onto a fabulous young boy, all I could have wanted. Then we hit puberty, he turned from this lovely, polite, thoughtful lad to someone I didn't recognise. He was quite a shy lad, until he started drinking alcohol, no longer was he that shy young boy, he came out of his shell in ways I couldn't believe. He would steal alcohol from wherever he could, began misbehaving in school, rude and aggressive to teachers, fighting, lying, you name it, he was doing it. After many exclusions he was eventually expelled. He turned to drugs and became involved in petty crimes and more, not a day went by when the police weren't on our doorstep, until finally he started being arrested. Going to court became a regular occurrence. Eventually after the courts had worked their way through all the different levels of ASBOs, electronic tagging and other punishments, he was sent to a young offender's prison. We visited him every week, praying he would learn his lesson, but sadly no, it took quite a few more prison stays before that began to happen.

How is he now?

This son is now grown up, has a job, a long-term partner and three beautiful children. After what he (and I) had been through, and many other things that I've not written about, I never thought I would see this happen. I feel so blessed.

Conclusion

I would never wish these experiences on anyone else, but I can now look back, at this journey, coupled with my faith in God and know it has brought me to where I am today. Don't get me wrong, my faith took a complete battering, but God, my Father didn't let go of me. Being part of the Christadelphians helped, I know that it was through their prayers that my husband and I came through it, so although some people didn't know how to help us practically, they prayed and now here we are. I've been able to learn many valuable lessons and grow spiritually and learn more each day to put my love and trust in our heavenly Father.

What about you?

I hope that if you have read this and are able to relate to it in some way, that you can know that you are not alone. God is available to all through prayer and through reading the bible. There are people like me willing to help, with a listening ear. Just reach out …

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Philippians 4:6

All things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to his purpose

Romans 8:28