The Boss and the importance of influencing others

Jill my wife has sometimes said who has influnced you? Often I struggle to answer that but this past week I know afresh one person who has.

Wednesday saw me travelling to Lincolnshire and Alford crematorium. 

When as a youngster I moved from Sunday School to Sunday worship something most of my contemporaries never did. Phylda invited me to be a Junior Church steward. I was to do the role properly. It was not paying lip serviceto involving   young people. So I had to do the job correctly and attend church councils etc. 

What the 'Boss' did as I affectionately called her was to nurture me through my teenage years in the life of the church. Without realisng it she was one of the biggest influnces on my faith. So when she died age 93 I had to rearrange my diary to be there. It was both a sad time but joyful. As her story was told I discovered she went to the same secondary school as I did in Skegness ( obviously well before my time!). I was really touched when one individual talking about her life mentioned me. To meet up with people I havent seen for years was amazing not least her daughter Janet. Janet made me smile as she said mum loved getting my letters but kept saying ' he's doing too much' . Well to listen to her life you might say she did a lot as well not least how she touched my life and nurtured my faith. It's been a reminder about how important it is that we nurture each other on our journey of faith. Right to the end she would recite Psalm 121 I lift up mine eyes to the hills ........My help comes from the Lord. Yes indeed it did and does.