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Viewpoint from Helen Farman 19/05/2017
 Helen Farman
Light of Life Baptist Church, Ormesby
as published in the Yarmouth Mercury
Can you remember what happened in your life on Friday 28th April this year? Possibly not! It’s the day I am writing this article. Today has come at the end of a strange week and one that will be memorable. Last Saturday my daughter gave birth to a little boy. When he was born he was floppy and not breathing. The skilled staff managed to get him breathing and he was taken to the special care unit
Baby Isaac and his mum are still in hospital but she can now feed him and hope to go home soon. This is not a week any of us will forget; it is a week in time for ever etched on our memories. It made me think how much our lives are affected by memories; these can have a positive or a negative effect on the people we become
Mandy will always remember the day her brother gave her a message from her father, “ You can tell Mandy she’s no longer my daughter.” Her parents were separated and she only saw her father twice a year. Aged 18, she had carelessly missed one of his visits. He was so annoyed that he dismissed her and, although she didn’t know it at the time, she would never see him again
 Lizzie, at 14, will never forget the day when she returned to school following a lengthy absence due to a horse-riding accident. She had put on a bit of weight. There was a lot of bitching about her having had a lot of time off. Then someone said, “Hello, fatty.” This had a big effect on her and was the beginning of a road that led to anorexia
I still remember the day at school when my best friend told me she didn’t want to be my best friend any more. I was 10 at the time and I was devastated. You might think, “So what! No big deal.” But it did have a powerful effect on me, making me think that no one will want to be my friend
The three illustrations of ‘memory’ that I have given, are related to words that have been spoken. Negative words destroy in us our confidence in who we are and our worth as unique people, deeply loved by God. Jesus spent time on earth building up people who had been knocked down by negativity
Peter spoke negative words to himself after he had denied Jesus; he felt shame and failure. How could he face the future? But Jesus spoke words of healing and hope into Peter’s life. Mandy recognises that there are still traits in her caused by her childhood trauma, but she also knows that she has been led by Jesus on a path to wholeness which still continues today. Remember who you are!
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