2. Why the Aberdream

2.  Why the Aberdream

A number of people have asked my why I chose to return to University and why Aberdeen University.  There are loads of different answers I could give to those questions, but, by far, the most accurate would be that I believe this is where God wants me to be.  There are few decisions that I have made in my life that I can reflect on and state so clearly that they were categorically the correct decision.  So far the Aberdream has proven to be one of the best decisions of my life (though that might be the impending 4 months of holiday talking!)

There’s a whole gamut of reasons that I could give that brought me to the decision to move to Aberdeen and why I categorically believe it to have been the correct decision.  The following is a reflection on some of the reasons that led me to Aberdeen.  It may prove fairly lengthy, and is probably written more for my benefit than for the benefit of any reader (sorry!)  I have tried (and completely failed!) to keep some of the background stuff to cliff-notes.. enjoy!

August 2004 - June 2008 - Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities 

On leaving school I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do.  I had never really excelled in education and the idea of continuing for a further four years wasn’t exactly appealing.  I had achieved some decent results in my exams, especially given I really didn’t put much work into them, but I wasn’t really interested in taking any of the subjects further.  The problem was that I had no idea what I wanted to do.  My parents - I think - expected me to go to university.  All of my siblings had gone to Glasgow University and they had all done (at least some) Maths.  And so, in a startling move of originality, I decided that the best idea would be for me to go to Glasgow to study Maths.  Needless to say, I didn’t enjoy it.  Somehow, I graduated after 3 years with a non-honours Maths degree.  (3 years in 2 sentences!  See?  Cliff-notes!)  I was always good at Maths, but I wasn’t really interested.  

On graduating, I still had no idea what I wanted to do - but now I had a piece of paper!  My Dad - A Maths lecturer at Glasgow University - advised me that the best option for me would be to go into teaching.  I had no enthusiasm for that idea at all, but was devoid of a better plan.  And so, I attended Strathclyde University where I achieved my PGDE.  Didn’t enjoy that either - in fact hated almost every minute of it - but I got through it.  The good news is that, this time, I didn’t have to wonder what I was gonna do next!  On I went to my probationary year as a teacher.

August 2008 - September 2017

Cliff-notes - honestly, I am trying!  So I did my probationary year in teaching… pretty much hated it.  I was now 5 years down the line of doing things that I wasn’t enjoying and no real idea where to turn.  So, I started applying for teaching jobs.  I was getting no where, until I got an email from the, then, Head Teacher of, what was then, Falkirk Day Unit.  He was looking for a young teacher, fresh out of probation, to come and work in the Unit.  I had never thought of behaviour support as an option, but thought I’d give it a try.  From August 2009 until September 2017 I worked in the SEBN (Social, Emotional Behavioural Needs) units in Falkirk Council.  I really enjoyed the work: it was like a funny mix between teaching, youth work and social work.  We were helping some of the most vulnerable children, living in the most appalling circumstances, to overcome these circumstances and work towards a brighter future.  The job was emotionally and physically draining.  You had to process some awful things.  But I was in a position to help children and families in an amazing way.  I got to point them towards the hope of a bright future.  A future that they couldn’t necessarily see, but a future that I could help them to realise.

And yet, for me, the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ were wrong.  I am firmly convinced that Jesus is the only hope that any of us have in life.  Acts 4:12  “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  Jesus takes care of our greatest need - the need to be right with God.  At FDU and the MSS, we were able to point the children and their families towards a hope, but it wasn’t the hope of the gospel.  It was the hope that their circumstances could, and would, change.  It was important that they had that hope.  But they had need of a far greater hope.  I decided, and felt called, to give my life to telling people of that greater hope.  And so I left teaching and came to live the Aberdream.  

Chryston Parish Church 2005 - Present

I have always attended Chryston Parish Church, but in 2005 I became a member and was baptised.  I had become a Christian a couple of years beforehand, and it seemed like a good idea at the time!  (totally was a good idea!)  My engagement with the church had been steadily growing, and I was actually believing what I was hearing preached each week - which is always a plus.  I was beginning to understand my sinfulness and my need for, not just salvation, but sanctification as well.  I started meeting with one of the ministers on Friday mornings for breakfast, bible study and prayer.  We discussed at length my besetting sins, my distaste for teaching and a whole raft of other things.  It was during these breakfast bible studies that I first talked about feeling called to preach the gospel.  It was in these meetings that my minister suggested that I go on mission to Rwanda and use the opportunity to explore a gifting in preaching whilst there.  

In 2010 and 2011, I went on mission with a charity called Comfort Rwanda (now Comfort International) to Rwanda.  Comfort Rwanda took us on a two week mission trip, to visit their partner agencies, and visit some of their grassroots ministries.  In Rwanda we got to see something of the amazing power of the Gospel at work in the people.  We would visit a town and hear some horrific stories of what happened in the genocide.  We would then hear of the amazing way in which the gospel was making a difference in that situation.  We met one lady who had lost everything.  Her house had been burned down, her children and her husband had been killed, she had been abused and her community had been completely destroyed.  When we met her, we were helping at a building project in her community, including helping build her a new house.  At the end of the day, we sat down to hear her story.  After that, we saw her embrace a man who had been helping with the building.  The man had been part of the group that had destroyed her community and killed her family.  Yet, through the healing and reconciliation work being done in the community and through the power of the gospel, this lady had been able to forgive this man who had taken so much from her.  

It was in Rwanda, in 2010, that I preached for the first time.  I spoke on one of my favourite passages of scripture - John chapter 21, the restoration of Peter.  I preached twice on the same day on the same passage.  It was an incredible privilege for me to have the opportunity to open up scripture.  From then on, I was given the opportunity in my church to further explore, to grow and develop my skills in preaching.  

Having prayerfully considered for years a calling to preach the gospel, I finally decided on moving to Aberdeen, to pursue my Aberdream.  Sometimes I think that, if I could go back and give myself some advice leaving school, it would be to go and get a job, rather than going to university the first time.  That said, I feel very strongly that, at each step, God’s hand was at work, changing me into who He needed me to be, before heading back to university.  I maybe didn’t enjoy some of the steps along the way, but I very much believe that God’s hand has been at work in my life, and that is such a blessing.