Home again

Around this time I had begun to pray for Sean’s grandmother. I have to admit that at first it was not easy, but the Bible clearly tells us to pray for our enemies and sadly, at this point in time, that was what I thought of her. I did pray for her and bit by bit I began to forgive her. I also began to realise the part I had to play in the breakdown of our relationship and my need to take responsibility for it. One of the wonderful things about this is that I lost all the dislike I had in my heart towards her, so it was a double blessing for me. Also, I felt let to write a letter to Dave in Dublin, well actually, to his girlfriend who we broke up over. I wrote to her telling her what happened to me. I told her that I didn't hold anything against her for what she and Dave did, after all, there are lots of things I had done that were wrong and God forgave me. I had no right to hold a grudge against them. Anyway, I told her that rather than bump into her in Dublin, I would like to meet up with her in private. \\she wrote back to me saying how bad she felt over what happened and that it was always with her. She accepted my invitation so, the Summer following my conversion I held two gospel meetings in a big tent in my back garden with the help of friends and on one night Dave and his girlfriend, Cheryl came and on the other night Mickey came. I hugged Cheryl and we chatted for a short time. All three of them heard the gospel. During these early years God showed me how important it is not to hold a grudge and He showed me the importance of peace making. 'As far as it depends on you, live at peace with all men.'

I came home from America on Friday 14th of December and went to court six days later. Stephen came with me, as he did on each of the four court appearance. He was a tremendous support to me. I felt sick with apprehension at the prospects of seeing Sean’s grandmother again but found that, what with talking with Stephen and discussing the Bible with him, the time passed quickly and almost pleasantly for me. I spoke to my Solicitor, Catherine, and instructed her not to cross-examine Sean’s grandmother. I had decided that I would not make any accusations against her of any sort but I would defend myself against any she might make against me. Catherine was not happy with my decision and spent most of the morning trying to persuade me to have her questioned. I had prayed a lot about the whole situation, as I knew I would face opposition. Well, I wasn’t disappointed! I got plenty of opposition from my family as well as from my Solicitor! I found it very difficult to hold my own and not give in to pressure. After getting advice from other solicitors and a barrister, Catherine told me that if I didn’t have her cross-examined that the Judge might not allow me to give evidence. I had, in the end, decided that if that was the case then I would just not give my evidence and leave it in God’s hands. Thankfully I was saved from having to go ahead with this decision as the case was forwarded to 2nd January2002.