Gail - The Person

Autobiography
I was born on 16th March 1954 in Dudley, West Midlands, UK; the only child of Ernie and Anne Shaw, a working class couple. Although there was no wealth of finances, there was a wealth of love found in my small family. My childhood, from the exterior, was a very happy one but I carried many dark secrets into the adult world; my head was full of questions and my heart was full of anger.

My teenage years were the swinging sixties. My life during those hedonistic times was a mixture of exhilaration and confusion. The tangled impressions left upon me from dreadful, dark, childhood secrets led me into the world of the occult. It was there my world became even more chaotic. It was probably after my worst teenage trauma that I met a young man who changed the course of my life. He introduced me to the reality of Christianity.

I fell in love with Paul and became his wife in the heatwave of 1976. I left teaching when our first child, Adam, was born in 1978. Paul was a successful business man and I chose not to return to my career. Three years later Matthew was born; my world was perfect. Then, what can happen to ‘other people’ happened to me: cancer hit our family. How I wished I had been the victim but I wasn’t; my child was. From the age of 22 months, Matthew battled against Leukaemia, but after three years he lost his fight. A parent’s worst nightmare became our reality when Matthew died in my arms, three weeks short of his fifth birthday. The pain of that journey was, at times, almost unbearable, but the reality of my faith became evident. I had to learn to live again after Matthew. The story of Matthew’s life, and the impact it has had, is in my first book Harvest from Heartache Published by Kingsway.

Our decision to have more children was not taken lightly and it certainly was not an easy road. The joys of pregnancies confirmed were eliminated by the devastation of miscarriages. Adam was not immune to cancer scares either. At the point when my motherhood seemed to be fading away, and when my faith was tested to the utmost, Bethany was born into our family.

During those traumatic years we pioneered a church and became pastors – something I would never have envisaged myself doing! However, it was not until 1994, at the age of 40, that I was able to deal with my past. The secrets were unveiled and the recovery process began. Within two years I was a different person; I liked the ‘real me’ and so did Paul! At last I was free to be me!
This freedom has brought so many new opportunities; read my other pages and find out more.
I have both the ‘qualifications’ and the experience to prove that you can make life work if you choose to do so.

FACTS

• Born 16th March 1954 in Dudley, West Midlands, UK
• Qualified as a teacher in 1975
• Married Paul Chamberlain on 14th August 1976
• They had three children:-
     - Adam in 1978
     - Matthew in 1981
     - Bethany in 1989
• Matthew died in 1986, after a three year battle against leukaemia, aged four years.
  
• A grandson, Noah Adam Chamberlain, born on 18th November 2006 to
  Adam and Debbie.
• Lives in West Midlands, UK
• Pioneered a church with Paul in 1985
• Fully ordained pastor
• Skilled Communicator and public speaker
• Published Author