5 people who have influenced my Spiritual Path

I have just been named by dennis as someone who has influenced his spiritual path and what he wrote made me shed a tear or two. he went on to challenge the 5 people to name their own 5 people so here goes:


Dennis Coburn
Dennis and I met on 25th February 1989 when I was just 16 years old (in a telephone box!). Dennis was a Christian and saw something in me that I didn't see myself....not for a long time. Dennis introduced me to church, to the possibility of knowing God personally and to long snogs. Dennis spent endless hours reassuring me that I was worth something, that I was lovable and that the future could be better than the past. I truly believe God guided me to Dennis and He knew what he was doing when He provided me with my soul mate.

Sandra Jowett
Is a great woman of hospitality and love and showed me how you could serve others in love, joy and humility. Sandra always had great passion in seeing the best in people and was a real inspiration to me in the early days. She invested in me. Sandra and her husband Geoff even went so far as to pay for us to go to Harvest in the NE so that we could grow in our faith. Thank you for the impact that you made on my life Sandra.


Bill Chapman
When I first learnt that Bill was a minister an Elim church, I thought he was joking. Not because he was lacking in anything but because he was so approachable, real and honest. He was funny and not distant if you know what I mean?? I hadn't come across anyone like him before. His love for young people was infectious and his attempt at discipline hilarious. Bill helped me to see what a minister could look like.


Rob Ryan
Who spent countless hours driving back and forth to Birmingham with me. Listening to my ramblings in a non judgemental way, sometimes offering advice, never pressing his own view but opening up possible solutions. Ideal qualities for the ministry that God has placed him in now. I miss our chats and will have to make more trips to Rochester to hear some more wise words.


Jake Coburn
Jake is my son and friend. From a tiny child, Jake has seen God's plan for people and never held back in telling them what it is. His boldness, truthfulness and courage are wonderful aspects of his young life that I admire and wish I had more of. When all else seems to be lost, it is Jake who gets us to pray and to seek God in our desperation with an open heart and a trust that helps us all to see impossibilities. I pray that he will cling onto God and not allow what he sees in the establishment of the church to shake his faith, that he will stay safe and focus on what God's plan might be for his life.


Well, there you go. I hope that I have done these 5 amazing people justice.

I would have put Jessica Coburn here but felt that her input into my life is more about how to be a girl rather than being spiritual. She is the girl I never was and loves bags and shoes and make-up and hair. I don't understand it all or how I parented such a child but she is teaching me how to appreciate such things. Thank you Jess. x