Margaret (known to everyone in the church as Marge) has been married to Jeremy for 35 years. She has three daughters, Hannah, Rachel and Naomi.  A primary school teacher, in the summer of 2007, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

My background
 
I was baptised at the age of 16, being brought to Lord through Girls Brigade. I was employed as a primary school teacher, eventually going back to work part time after having our children. This allowed me to devote time to leading Girls Brigade, Sunday School, Youth Group. Over the  years we moved locations and worshipped in different churches - Baptist, Methodist, Anglican.

I was introduced to Bewdley Baptist Church in 2000 by our eldest daughter. This followed a couple of years of not being at church. At our  previous church we had run a youth group which attracted large number of teenagers but the leadership were unhappy that youngsters did not come to church. We believed that showing Christian love and planting seeds were effective mission  and so a bit disillusioned we drifted away from church but knew that something was missing in our lives.  At Bewdley we again experienced God’s grace and moved forward in our walk with the Lord.

Diagnosed with cancer

I was happy teaching at a C of E primary school and was to really looking forward to becoming full time in September 2007. However, I was taken ill in the summer holidays and diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My mother had had this eight years earlier and survived for only three months,  so I knew it is a silent deadly cancer without good prognosis. Everything happened very quickly, with major surgey followed by 6 months of chemotherapy. In all this time despite being very ill I felt an enormous peace. I knew that people in many churches were praying for me and I was enormously uplifted by this.

Retirement

After a year I tried to return to school two days a week but it was not to be. I couldn’t cope either physically or mentally. It was very hard having to apply for ill health retirement, working with youngsters was what I did.  The motto on the wall of my school was “Feed my Lambs” and it was a real grief to me that I was not going to be serving the Lord in that way.
 
Helping others

One day at church an Elder spoke to me saying that he felt the Lord could use me with local people who were touched by cancer. I had used a website to share professional teaching ideas and I found my way to it’s Health and Wellbeing section. It is on here that I speak to people who either have cancer or someone in their family has. It is part of my daily routine to make myself available, to show unconditional love, to have words of encouragement and compassion as our Lord has shown to me.
It has been a humbling experience meeting people in their need. In the summer I met some "posters" face to face in London. One of them  had been very ill and we had spoken a great deal and it was so touching that this was her last outing before she died. It is a privilege to pray for my cyber friends and wonderful that cancer has brought me so close to them. Of course I still pray that there may be opportunities locally to be of service to other cancer sufferers.
So cancer has certainly been a turning point in my life. God is wonderfully good and I have had the bonus of two and a half years life and whatever happens He will enable me to face whatever lies ahead in the future.

Two quotes that I read everyday
 
Isaiah  40 v 31
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength
They will soar on wings like eagles
They will run and not grow weary
They will walk and not grow faint
 
If but one person hath breathed easier because you have lived.