Philippians 3:10 “ I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.”

What is currently your favourite song?
‘Be Lifted Up' – I love the way this song starts with quiet and awesome reverence for our Mighty God; we bow low and exalt Him alone. Then the song and music builds and becomes a plea for the whole world to recognise God as God and rejoice in Him with the angels of Heaven and all creation. As we lift and exalt Him, all men are drawn unto Him; I just love to give Him His rightful place.

If you were to bring one CD on a long journey, what would it be?
‘Today' by Brian Doerkson/Vineyard - Brian seems such a humble, ordinary man who gives his gifts back to God, giving God all the honour and glory.

What inspires you to worship God?
I love to ponder what God is like. He is completely good; there is no darkness in Him at all. He is generous, faithful, merciful, forgiving, loving, kind, compassionate, strong … the list goes on and on! When I consider Him and what He has done for me, in washing me clean from everything wrong that I've ever done and accepting me as His child, my only response is one of worship. He knows me completely, and has given me hope and a future to live for; He has made good plans for my life and has blessed me with a great family, job and Church family, and He alone deserves all the thanks and honour for it.

Even when life hits a ‘bump in the road', He is there as my comfort and protector, the One who sees me through to better times. Some years back, when Tiffany was a baby, I was a ‘full time mum' and not working, Stephen took ill with meningitis and lost his job when he was unable to return to work after 6 months. This was such a difficult time; seeing Stephen suffer so much, feeling responsible for caring for our three kids without his help, without wages coming in … it was hard! God provided comfort to Stephen and to me. He provided money through many caring people, for which we are so thankful! We had a peace inside us, despite the difficulties, and knew God would work things out. We would've liked Stephen to be healed instantly, but it was a gradual restoring of health and strength over the next few years. During this time Stephen was able to meet God in a new ‘depth' and was led to work in Emmanuel for Him!

I really think many people who don't realise that God cares for them and knows all about them and wants to have a close relationship with them miss out on so much. Life is many times better knowing the Creator and Maker of life.