Singing the hymn 'And can it be' by Charles Wesley this morning in church, these words almost sprang off the page and seemed so relevant to my life.

For two years I had gone about my daily life in what felt like a black hole, a dungeon, feeling no emotion except sadness. Then the time came to look for promotion and I applied for a job in a school in Bradley. I knew nothing about Bradley, not living in Huddersfield but was delighted to be invited to visit the school before having an interview. As I walked through the door I immediately felt a sense of 'love' that you could almost touch and that was the moment my life began to change beyond belief.

I got the job, and as I began work in Bradley Infant and Nursery School I not only continued to feel the strong sense of love and support in the school but found that it was infectious. Many people talked openly about their faith and what it meant to them and one evening as I drove home, I realised that I felt genuinely happy and that there was something working in my life that I hadn't felt before. I really felt that I could see the light, I was free again. I began to see beauty in the world around me, see the funny side of things and I even felt really excited about a family holiday that we were planning. I was really keen to find out what it was that was changing me, this power that was at work in my life.

Not long after, we started an Alpha course for staff in the school. I went along to the first meeting and listened to what was being said and decided that I was going to start going to church again to find out more about God and His power in my life. I could have gone to a number of churches but chose to go to the church I had attended as a child. I went on my own and was amazed that the words of the vicar in her sermon were just so relevant to me, so much so that I wanted to applaud at the end of it. After a few weeks, I talked to the vicar and was astounded when she told me that she had attended Bradley School as a girl. There was God's power at work again! Each week I find relevance in the sermon and readings and learn so much about having faith in God. I went on to do the Emmaus course with people from my church.

Over the last two and a half years, my faith has grown and so has my realisation of the true power of God in my life. I understand now that God will never give us any more than we can cope with and that we can use our experiences to become stronger, better people.

'I rose, went forth and followed Thee'

Zoë Whitworth

Zoë is now the head teacher at Bradley C.E. (VC) Infant and Nursery School and is a member of St. John's Church, Bradshaw