4. God is gracious and God is faithful

4.  God is gracious and God is faithful

I had become completely convinced that God’s hand was in this.  God was opening the doors for me to go to study in Aberdeen.  I had been worried about tuition fees, turned out that I’d saved enough to cover them.  I had been worried about paying rent in Aberdeen - but Aberdeen University had covered that for me.  I was worried about how to feed myself in Aberdeen, but rent from my flat and money from my parents had that covered.  For each of the difficulties that I had anticipated in moving to Aberdeen, it seemed God had a plan in place!  I had always believed that God was gracious and faithful, it’s just that I had never seen such a clear out pouring of God’s provision in my life.  Maybe that’s because this was the first real time that I was taking such a clear step of faith.  

So naturally, having seen such clear provision of God in my life, and believing strongly that this was the will of God for my life, I started to worry about what life would be like in Aberdeen.  I began worrying about whether I would find a church, whether I would make friends, and whether I could actually make it at Aberdeen University.  One of my biggest concerns was whether or not I would find a community to become a part of or whether I would find myself completely alone in a strange new place.

Worrying about what was ahead, I started to worry about what I was leaving behind.  I began worrying that I would struggle being so far away from my friends and family.  I had never lived more than 20 miles away from where I grew up, now I was planning on moving 150 miles away.  I was comfortable in my church.  I was comfortable with my work colleagues.  I was comfortable in my community.  I loved seeing my family regularly, particularly my nieces and nephews.  So, planning on moving so far away, I started to worry that I would find it hard.  

It’s so typical of the human condition that we incessantly worry about things that are completely out with our control!  It seems completely ridiculous that, here I was clearly seeing God’s hand at work in my life, and I start to worry about things I can’t control anyway!  I suppose Luke 12 is easy to know and much harder to do… 

Luke 12:25-31 "And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.”

The truth is that really didn’t know I was stepping into, but God knew.  I’m not going to lie, it was quite difficult experience packing my stuff up and preparing to head up to Aberdeen. Even at the age of 31, it felt like quite a daunting task. In a few short hours I would arrive in Aberdeen, ready to attend my second fresher’s week as a brand-new student, in a city where I knew no one (except Grant Brown), and had absolutely no idea where anything was.  But two simple truths kept running through my head, over and over again:  God is gracious, faithful and in control, and people do this all the time.  

I had decided to make the move on Sunday afternoon - that way I could unpack and then attend an evening church service when I arrived. A friend had put me in touch with some friends of hers in Aberdeen, and recommended that I met up with them, and went to church with them, when I arrived. It helped knowing that I had a church to go to, and people to meet up with, when I arrived in Aberdeen. After a lot of packing, a long drive, and a lot of unpacking (with a flight of stairs thrown in for extra fun) I arrived in Aberdeen ready to begin my Aberdream.  

When I arrived in Aberdeen, I met my first flatmate John who was already there. It was a slightly surreal experience, arriving at the University, being given a key, wandering into the flat and meeting someone for the first time who you’re going to spend the next nine months living with. For the first few days it was just John and I living in the flat as we waited expectantly on our other flatmates arriving.  I had already met Srikanth via Facebook, but had no idea who would be in the other two rooms or when they would arrive.  As it transpired, Dom arrived a few days later, and the fifth room was left unoccupied for the year.  

The flat was a comfortable size for the four of us sharing and we got on well together.  We fairly quickly managed to devise a rota for flat cleaning and split up the shared spaces in the kitchen for storage.  We all cooked our own meals, and had our own kitchen stuff, so it was somewhat fortunate that there was plenty of storage space.  As the year progressed, and it became apparent that there wouldn’t be a fifth person joining the flat, the Salvation Graeme (my somewhat militant charity with the sole benefactor being me!) claimed some extra storage space as I’d brought WAY too much stuff!  The others didn’t really seem to mind though!

One of the slightly disappointing things about the halls was that there was no living room, meaning that we didn’t really spend much time socialising with each other.  We did share some meals together, and head out to do a little socialising together, but generally we only caught up with each other when we bumped into one another in the kitchen.  We did get on well though - in fact, we never argued about anything.  If anything, I probably irritated my flat mates, but they never complained!  I think it really helped that it was mature student accommodation and that we respected each other enough to make sure the living environment was pleasant for each of us.  

In a lot of ways it was a perfect flat.  We got on well together and respected each other.  The flat was perfectly positioned on campus, meaning that there was never an excuse for missing lectures - even 9am lectures!  The only sad thing was the lack of a living room, which would have helped to develop our relationships a bit more.  But, all things considered, I’m really thankful for the guys that I shared with over first year, and really thankful for the flat that I was in.

Having visited one church my first week in Aberdeen, I was really keen to visit Gerrard Street Baptist the following week.  Gerrard Street Baptist was the church that I had visited when I was up for the Open Day the previous year, and was the church that Grant Brown had suggested to me - and attended himself.  I knew what I was looking for in a church: Christ centred, Bible centred, prayer centred, worship centred, fellowship centred.  For me, Gerrard Street immediately ticked each of those boxes.  Aside from anything else, they were having student lunches every Sunday in September!  I’m hardly gonna turn down a free lunch now am I?!?!  

I had found a church where the preaching was good, biblically based and Christ centred.  I had found a church where the importance of prayer was evident throughout the service and the life of the church.  I had found a church where the people gathered to worship God.  I had found a church where I had made friends, entered into a community and felt comfortable.  Most importantly, I had found a church that fed me!  So Gerrard Street became my spiritual home.  

Having worried about finding a church, whether I would get on with my flatmates and whether I would make friends and find a community in Aberdeen, I realised that God had answered each of these concerns extremely quickly.  My course mates and I get on really well together.  This year there are three Divinity students - Jamie, Amy and myself - and we have become firm friends.  We have also picked up a random Buddhist, Michael, on the way - but he’s a nice guy too!  The Aberdeen University Christian Union has been absolutely amazing as well, but I’m gonna write more about that in a later post (as this one has gone on for quite a while as it is!)

The last thing I want to mention in this post is that, at various times throughout the last year, I have thought that I was struggling for money, only to be reminded of the graciousness and faithfulness of God.  At one point in the last year, a friend came to me and handed me a cheque.  I had been worried how I would feed myself that month, then a good friend comes to me and hands me a cheque saying “My husband and I felt called to give you this.”  A few months later I was again concerned about money, as I had a number of expense due to come out of my account  and not much money in there!  At the time, I had just started doing some work for Aberdeen City Council as a supply teacher and wasn’t sure when I would be paid, or how much it would be.  As it turns out, I was paid a day later and over £1000 more than I was expecting.  When I spoke to Aberdeen about this, they said it was a tax rebate from my previous work.  It was just incredible for it to arrive at the exact time that I needed it.  God is gracious and God is faithful.