In 1961 I became a Christian and our first child was born in 1962. I had married Malcolm and we lived on 20,000 acres on which we share farmed. We were ten miles away from any doctor, and all those miles were on very rough roads. I had a second child, then four miscarriages before carrying my third child, Wendy.
Despite all my previous problems during pregnancies, Malcolm and I felt very confident about this baby. Everything had gone well, and there were no mad dashes over rough roads to the doctors. Of course I knew I must have the baby in hospital.
It was then that my problems started. I sustained a haemorrhage due to a retained placenta. Naturally, I was rushed to the theatre. The doctors worked on me for two and a half hours. I could feel myself drifting in and out of consciousness.
Suddenly I felt myself being drawn up out of my body, going up and up. Eventually I came to what looked like a sea of glass. The beauty of the place was astounding. I walked past this sea and I could then see the River of Life, just as I had read about in the Bible. On either side of it there were the most beautiful trees. So overwhelmed with the magnificence of everything surrounding me, I came to a standstill and, as I did, I saw Jesus coming towards me. Behind Him, and stretching as far as the eye could see were thousands of angels, all singing. The music and singing was indescribable. I have never heard such sounds on Earth, and I wanted to remain standing there, just drinking it in, but I felt myself being drawn further on.
Someone came alongside and put their arms around my shoulders. As He turned me round, Jesus said, ‘It is not your time yet, I have work for you to do.’ No sooner had he spoken those words than I was back in the operating theatre, and I could see myself holding the baby as I came back into my body.
In my childhood I had experienced rejection. This experience, and others, caused me to realise that despite the rejection of my childhood, Jesus loves me. For Him there is no such thing as an unwanted child. God has used me, along with my husband, to bring that love of Jesus to many people, especially the young, in both Australia and England.