Well, I missed last month and I'm incredibly late this month. In fairness it has been a crazy two months, two months of learning, growing and reflecting.
For most of month 4 of this crazy adventure I was actually back home in little Annalong. I was with some of my favourite people for one of my favourite times of the year. What a joy it was to be able to celebrate the birth of my King alongside friends and family who I love so dearly. Throughout these past 2 months one word to describe how I have been feeling is grateful. Grateful for the special special people God has placed in my life. Grateful for friendships that distant and time don't change. Grateful for family who love me and are constant there no matter how far apart we are. Grateful for times to laugh and times to be encouraged. Being home with all of my friends made me realise how blessed I am to have such good pals who are there for me even when we can't spend everyday together like we used too. I am beyond thankful for all of my home friends and all of the wonderful new friends I have made in Cardiff. God has been so good and faithful in answering my prayers regarding friendship - he has by far exceeded my expectations!
This past month I have been learning a lot about humility. Pride is something I tend to struggle with. I have high expectations and I don't like to fall short of those expectations. But this month I have found myself in situations where I haven't done as great as I would've liked to. At first I was cross, disappointed and annoyed. But after a lot of prayer and being completely honest with God and with some close friends and family, I've seen that I need to give the pride which I struggle with and my fear of failure over to God. I've realised that I won't be able to be excellent at everything, and I don't need to be excellent at everything. All I can give is my best and even if that's not very good I need to learn to be okay with that. You see as humans we aren't going to be good at everything, we're going to fail. But in Christ we can find fulfilment and completeness and this month I've seen and learnt that I don't have to be excellent at everything because in Christ I have everything I need. Nothing else really matters.
Forgiveness is the last thing God has been challenging me on this month. Picture this: multiple bible readings, 3 sermons and random conversations all talking about forgiveness and the command we have from Jesus to forgive those around us. Some may say that is a big coincidence but in the words of my dad I would call this a "God-incidence". You see there has been a certain area of my life that I have been bitter about and trying to work through for the past year and a half. And finally, this past month I've been able to truly forgive this situation and start to fill the situation back up with love. And do you know what... I feel so much better for it. I feel free and relieved of a big burden that I've been holding on to. PRAISE GOD FOR THAT!!
It's been a busy busy few months. Since returning to Wales for term 2 I've actually only been in Cardiff for 2 weeks. The other 5 I have been away on placement. And while being at home for Christmas I was very very apprehensive for coming back as I did not want to move away for all my friends for 5 weeks. But God has also been faithful in answering my prayers and worries in that situation too. I was placed in accommodation with a fabulous group of girls who I can now call friends and he gave me such a wonderful lady as an educator which settled all my fears in a totally new environment. And after placement I can confirm I am doing the right course and I cannot wait to become an Occupational Therapist in a few years.
Here are some of the highlights from the past 2 months both at home and in Wales:
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| Belfast Christmas Markets with these gals!! So much love for these two! |
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| Dinner date with this girl... |
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| ...Who made me laugh a lot a lot! |
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| Forever thankful for time spent with two of my favourites! |
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| Reunited in the flesh with this crazy gal! No-shame One Direction singing happened this night! |
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| Christmas was truly wonderful, even with Peter half way across the world |
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| When you accidentally match... #friendshipgoals |
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| These two drove up just to hang out with me before I went back to Cardiff!! |
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| We signed for a house... |
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| First day of the rest of my life!! |
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| #lifeofanOTstudent |
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| Placement got us like... |
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| Ice cream and comfort food was needed to get through the long nights... |
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| I get to live with these beauties next year! |
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| Spontaneous coffee dates with Ffi make me very very happy!! |
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| Starting the last week of placement off right... |
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| Study dates with Sophy were thee best!! |
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| And we survived and passed the first placement... |
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| I've started training myself to run... Roath Park makes this a little easier! #cardiffisbeaut |
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| I AM BEYOND EXCITED TO BE REUNITED WITH THIS ABSOLUTE BEAUTY!!! |
You can see now that to say it's been a busy few months is an understatement, but I would not change any of it for anything! This new journey is exciting, challenging and truly marvellous and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for month 6!! Thank you all for your love, support and prayers, I appreciate them all!! Beyond excited to get stuck back into Cardiff life this month!!
Wrote with love,
Jemma
