Because I know that when things are going really wrong, when things are really desperate, actually, this was in God's sovereign world for me, is what he has allowed to happen.

And it also says that in the Bible that he will not face anything that he hasn't prepared us for.

I love that. I love the fact that, okay, so you've given me the tools that they've kept with us.

And I love that he's the one, he's, he's the author of my salvation.

Welcome everybody. This is Simon Gilbo and I am here with my good friend Joanna Whitaker. Hello, Joanna.

Hi there, Simon. And this is inspired. So it's inspired this week with Joanna Whitaker. And Joanna is the

author of She's Just Alice

and we're going to be talking about Alice and we're also going to be talking about Joanna's

multiple sclerosis and her life in general but some massive, massive stuff that she's come up against

that she's very willing and open to talk about. So it's going to be moving. it's going to be a deep, poignant time today. And so let's get straight into it, Joanna. So tell us a bit about your faith journey. How did you come to faith? Well, it's always a long journey with everyone and how they come to faith. And I think my biggest thing was that my mother got ill. And although I'd been praying through my A levels,

making sure I was doing okay, and making sure God was making up for the fact that I wasn't working,

actually the biggest thing for me was my mother getting cancer. And it was my second year of university

and when I was meant to be having a really fun, fun time, which I was, but that sort of sent my

world into free fall.

And that's really when I began to really properly, properly pray,

because I couldn't understand how she could suddenly not be here.

How could this person who was my mother suddenly not be anywhere?

And it didn't make sense that she would just vanish and there could be no, nothing.

It just, it didn't, it wasn't logical in my mind.

But probably the biggest thing was when I was traveling in Africa.

I'd been on, I'd been going to church a little bit with my mother.

She'd become a Christian through her sister, my aunt.

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