Life Story - Sonia Peloe

Nice but dim
(remember Harry Enfield?).

That’s what I though of Christians. Really nice people, but how could they really BELIEVE in miracles and things.

I’d been visiting Arbury Community church intermittently over a couple of years, but I just couldn’t get it. I liked the people, had made good friends and agreed with many of the moral points of the teaching. I wanted to believe in Jesus because it all sounded so appealing, but I didn’t. To me, it couldn’t be just a decision, it would have to FEEL different too.

I wasn’t looking for God. It was October 2000. I was 31, had a good part-time job, a loving husband and three beautiful children. I was happy. I didn’t need God. But God knew better!

A friend invited me to the Alpha Supper. A meal, a video on Christianity, no commitment and no strings attached. I was interested in going but I warned them that I would say what I thought and challenge things I didn’t believe.

I found the Alpha course very interesting, relaxed and enjoyable. I was always able to put my views, questions and challenges across and I never felt put down or threatened.

Very early on, I discovered that there was real scientific evidence for the existence of Jesus, a basic fact I had never known before. Knowing that he really lived and seeing how he lived his life and said the things he said, I had to decide if he was mad and deluded, lying and deceitful, or truly God’s son. They were the only three possibilities. I came to the conclusion that Jesus had to be whom he said he was – God’s son.

But although I believed it with my head, I didn’t feel different, I didn’t believe it with my heart. One day however, I was quietly washing up when Jesus entered my heart with such impact that I found myself kneeling on the kitchen floor shaking, crying, laughing with joy and thanking God for his love - still wearing my bright yellow marigolds! My life would never be the same again.

In March 2007 my 7-year-old daughter was admitted to hospital with stomach pains. I thought it could be appendicitis. The next day I was horrified to learn that she had a 10cm ovarian tumour. I felt like the very earth had been pulled away from beneath me. As my head spun, my imagination took me to every dark place possible. That night a friend and her mum put their hands on me and prayed for me. I literally felt God take hold of me and set me back down steady and firm on solid ground. Jesus is very much alive and active in our lives every day – if we will just invite him to come in. His presence with us through that difficult time was tangible. He gave us tremendous peace and strength. He bought miraculous healing to my daughter - she astounded everyone by her amazing recovery after major surgery and the tumour was later found to be benign

I do not know how I could live my life outside of Jesus’ unconditional love, his forgiveness, his healing, his wisdom, his power and his strength. “Jesus loves you”. It’s a simple statement - but a life-changing realisation. Jesus loves YOU.