Apologises that this blog post is a little late this month! To say it has been busy is a slight understatement!
I have had so many ups and downs this month, with many laughs had and quite a few tears shed! But I am growing and learning so much, and even through the tears and the hard days I truly am loving University life and loving the beautiful city that is Cardiff!
I have been so fortunate to make great great great friends in the CU since arriving in Cardiff. I feel like I've known some of these girls and guys for a lot longer than 2 months. But I hadn't really made any close friends on my course, and every one around me on my course seemed to have made their own friendship groups and I didn't seem to fit in anywhere. Until one Sunday, my friend Beth came home from church and was like" Jemma I just met a first year OT from Northern Ireland at church tonight!" At this point I laughed and told Beth that there was no other Northern Irish people on my course as on the first day I had been the only person to lift my hand up when they asked who was from Northern Ireland. But Beth was adamant that this girl was from Northern Ireland and was on my course. I didn't really think much more about this until another girl was walking with me into Uni and said that a girl called Morag was a morning prayer that morning and was a first year OT from Northern Ireland. At this point I knew I had to find this girl and introduce myself to her. Like what are the chances of a Northern Irish Christian being on my course? Well I am now happy to tell all of you that this girl has quickly became one of my best friends here in Cardiff and I honestly do not know where I would be without her over this past month. God is
faithful, he heard my prayers about wanting a good Christian friend on my course and he provided something even more than could even imagine!!
God has been teaching me and showing me how he
brings peace to his children is this month. I took a trip home this month, for a few reasons but mainly to say goodbye to big brother Peter who left to go and serve in San Francisco for 6 months! I found that when I came back to Cardiff after my trip home I was very unsettled! For 2 days straight I cried, was not good company and just wanted to be back home with my all my friends and family. I was so upset because I knew I wouldn't be seeing that big brother of mine whenever I went home at Christmas or Easter and I think it just hit me how much I would miss him! Not knowing what to do, and not wanting to freak all my Cardiff friends out with all my tears (cause in case you didn't know I can cry a lot!) I simply sat on my bed and just poured out my fears, my worries, my anxieties out to God. I told him how I was feeling and was completely vulnerable before my Father. And do you want to know something, I was still sad but I can't even being to describe the sense of peace and contentment that came over me. I was at peace with all the change in my life and I trusted that God has everything in control. He is
trustworthy and he brought me peace in my time of need.
Literally this past week God has showed me how he
provides and how he
listens to our prayers! If you haven't heard, this past week all of the CUs (Christian Unions) had a mission across the city of Cardiff called 'Convinced?' We had free teas and coffees on our campuses, we had lunchbars which was a short talk on a certain question/topic with a free lunch and we had an evening event which dealt with a question/topic with live music and desserts. Going into this week I did not know what to expect. I was not confident in asking people along, I was scared about being rejected by people, it was all a bit overwhelming. A lot of prayer and preparation went into putting this week together and now as I sit writing this on the other side of 'Convined?' I can tell you that God has provided far more this week than we could even imagined. So many students were given the opportunity to here the Christian perspective on topics including; atheism, suffering, judgement, love and the Bible. And so many of these students were interested in hearing more about what Christianity has to say and offer. There are various examples of people who came to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. Students who at the start of the week were against Christianity and religion are now loving and getting to know their creator, Saviour and friend. God listened to all my prayers of anxiety and fear and gave me so much boldness and courage this week. He gave me wisdom when people approached me with questions and it wasn't as awkward or scary as I thought. Students and friends of mine were genuinely interested in what I had to say and so much more open than I thought they would be.
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!! God does so much more than we can even think or imagine! So often we limit him or think we know best but he has taught me this week that he cannot be held within boundaries!!
"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." ~Ephesians 3:20-21
Apologises for the length of this and fair play if you've made it this far! To finish here are some photos showing some of my highlights from this month:
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| CU weekend away: When there's 4 blondes you have to take a photo! ;) |
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| CU Weekend Away: My favourite ginger lady in Cardiff! |
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| CU Weekend Away: My Irish sister and OT buddie! |
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| CU Weekend Away: This girl never fails to make me laugh! |
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| CU Weekend Away: Cartwright Court Crew plus Morag! So blessed by these 3! |
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| The sunshine did not last forever - I can confirm in Wales it rains a lot! |
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| Happy to be reunited with this brother of mine!! |
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| Life without these 2 this year has been very strange! So happy to be reunited! |
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| I missed these three more than anyone will ever know! |
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| WE HAD CHRISTMAS IN NOVEMBER!! And Peter got an Ireland shirt! |
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| Ladies who share a waffle are friends for life! |
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| Post CU banta is the best!! Especially when it involves ice cream! |
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| Breakfast date with Ffi! This girl is so wise and beautiful inside and out! |
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| Free tea, coffee and cake under a big red gazebo! Lots of laughs were had! |
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| These two girls constantly challenged me this past week! Love them a lot! |
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| #friendshipgoals #irishsisters #otbuddies |
And that's it! Month 2 done and now into month three!! This year is flying in and I am excited to see what else is in store!! All your prayers, support and love is valued more than you will ever know!
Wrote with love,
Jemma
