Isn't it funny, how sometimes the worst things in life can lead to the best. I was thinking about this recently, walking back in the rain from YP the other night. It was through missing my offer grades that I ended up at this university, and if it wasn't for a series of unfortunate events, I'd not have found my church here, and I certainly wouldn't have been walking back to my flat in the rain at 10 oclock in the evening that night. Not only would I not have found my church, but I'd also not have found the CU, or any of the amazing people I have met in the past couple of weeks through hall group and Story week, and my weekend away. Aside from the grades thing, everything else I've mentioned can be traced back to one point, one event, and ultimately, one person. My friend Jordan.
A bit of context here: After results day, and when I knew where I was going, I spent a significant amount of time on social media finding and attempting to connect with different freshers groups. I ended up in a group chat for year 1 physics, and through this group chat I met Jordan, who isn't actually a year 1 physicist (but is year 0 so close enough). To cut a long story short, we arranged to meet up for a church walk hosted by the CU in an attempt to try and find churches here. Of course this happened after Ruth had already decided to visit, and so I ended up going to the church walk but not meeting Jordan that week (we actually met, and then established we were going in different directions, so yeah...). The next week they ran the event again, and once again I didn't manage to meet Jordan, but because of this I was forced to make a decision on impulse, which led me to the church I'm now settled in. Because of Jordan I met Ruth, and because of Ruth I met pretty much everybody else I know in Cardiff outside of my degree. Through what was a bad situation, I found probably the best thing about being here so far.
I was talking to a couple of the people from my church about assertiveness, and how we need to have more confidence in ourselves and our faith, because having this confidence is the only way we can ever make things happen. If we ever want our faith to mean something we need not just to think it means something, but to *know* it means something.
That can be initially quite hard to get your head around. Faith is about more than blind hope. If all we have is blind hope, then that really is all we have. It is only when we are able to say with absolute certainty that this is real that we begin to see change, because we were not made to be passive beings or to sit on the sidelines, we were called to be the light in the darkness, great warriors in the daily battles of life, and we can't be either of those things by being indecisive, shy or unconfident.
We also can't expect things to be easy.
Being a Christian means placing your absolute faith in God, and his plan for your life, and that is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Being a Christian costs, and you have to be prepared to give up everything you ever wanted, everything you ever hoped for, everyone you ever loved. It's incredibly hard, but if you are able to let go, then that is when you will truly feel alive.
I leave you today with a song: Au5 - Freefall
Shining faces lining up, everybody's filled with hope and disbelief
How could something so broken take us up beyond the reach of gravity?
Every second building up until we come back down like tears on this brave new world
this brave new world...
I know that I'm supposed to be afraid, but I'm not
I know that I will find my hand in yours when we drop
I am only alive in the freefall
I am only alive in the freefall
I am only alive...
Shining faces lining up,
Everybody's filled with hope
Everybody's filled with hope, and disbelief
(I am only alive in the freefall)
That time...
That time that we fell...
And we kept going, we kept going
(I am only alive)
I know that I'm supposed to be afraid, but I'm not
I know that I will find my hand in yours when we drop
I am only alive in the freefall
I am only alive in the freefall
I am only alive...
I am only alive in the freefall.
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OK it's been a while... I'll be honest, I gave up even trying to keep going for 40 days, I simply just don't have the motivation, or the time, to write a decent post every day. And so it is that days 9 through 25 simply ceased to exist and things move back to normal. Sorry... :c
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