Meg's Story: Daring to be Different

Teenage years for Meg Thomson were absorbed by two passions: football and church.

Such was her love for the game that she managed to overcome her natural shyness and become fully accepted as a member of the male dominated football scene –not an easy thing to do in the 70’s. It was a risk but playing football in every spare moment showed Meg that it was possible to be different from your peer group and yet still be one of the gang.

This readiness to ‘dare to be different’ also carried over into her Christian faith. Sundays were definitely not for football, they were for church. “And it was wall-to-wall church” says Meg. “Church with family in the morning, Crusaders in the afternoon and Youth Group in the evening.”

It was at a Youth rally, when she was 14, that Meg was confronted with the possibility that the dynamism that she saw in others, especially her older brother and his friends, could be hers too. “They had a powerful inner peace that made a real difference, and I wanted it too”. “I soon learned that following Jesus means standing up for what you believe. It means that at times I had to tell teachers at school that attending a Christian Union rally was more important than playing hockey for the school. Being a Christian means making it clear to your friends that you are not off your head to spend the weekend at church.”

Meg had learned that faith was for living.

Meg’s faith is very evident in her work-life and gives shape and colour to all she does. Meg has worked as a maths teacher for 25 years in the same school on Teesside and during that time she has gone on daring to be different.

She makes a point of having no regular seat in the staff room. She moves around talking to different people every day. “Being a naturally quiet person allows me the opportunity to attend to others and to listen to what is going on in their lives.” She engages with staff and students alike with a great degree on openness and interest. Meg aims to be ‘interested’ rather than be ‘interesting.’

She is never abashed to share her faith but has learned from her own experience never to push her views onto others. She makes it clear that she prays for others and for their needs. Often colleagues will come to her to ask her to pray for them.

“One member of staff came to me and said, ‘Meg, I don’t believe in all this stuff but I know you do, so will you pray for my friend ?

Her faith has a marked effect on the way she manages others. “You have to show respect and always seek to affirm others. People must do things because they want to.”

“There is also a place for tough love” she adds, “and it is necessary to stand up to colleagues and the boss at times if I think something is wrong or unprofessional. My faith helps me to challenge things without being confrontational.”

Meg has always had a strong sense that God has been guiding her in the differing roles she has had throughout her career. “God has always put some new challenge in front of me particularly at times when I have been restless to move on. Sometimes it is only when you look back that you can see why God wanted you to stay in a particular place. It can be some time later that colleagues might tell you how glad they were that you were there at a particular time of rapid change. You know then that you were in the right place at the right time, and that it was God’s timing that put you there”

What is so striking about Meg is that she seems totally comfortable and relaxed about her faith. She has found a way to be different and yet to be totally accepted and valued by staff and students alike. That powerful peace that she has found has a real impact at work as she dares others to be prepared to be different too.