A promise is a promise!

Well, I did promise that I would blog once I was settled into Cambridge life, and that I am now...so...how is it? I hear you all ask!

Before arriving I swore I would never become the owner of a bicycle. Before I arrived I thought I would find myself in the pub most nights. Before I arrived I thought that Cambridge couldn't be that intimidating a place. Before I arrived I felt that I might be slightly different from other people...before I arrived...!

I now have a lovely purple bike for which I intend on buying a basket, preferably wicker. I've been to the pub a total of 4 times in 3 weeks (although my slightly concerned parents might be glad at this statistic, those who know me from other institutions might gather that this has a sense of slight concern!). I have never felt so daunted by the intelligence of other people before and that I might not have anything to offer a conversation, or that I might make a faux pas at any turn. I am now part of such a varied community that difference in any manner is normal.

The point of these observations? God sending me here was no accident. I thought I would be academically challenged, but never thought that I would find every fibre of my being tweaked and tested as I anticipate it will be here. Already, I have been faced with a worship style that is so undeniably contrasting to everything I have previously known. I have come to deal with the loneliness of my work here, that I sit at my desk most days, barely speaking to another soul, except the daily call from mum, and my neighbour popping in to fill me in about something or other. I thought, before I came that I could probably just get on with leading a church. I have enough common sense, enough experience, enough passion to do it. Now, I know that God sending me here for 3 more years will be just enough time for me to be broken and remade yet again. For isn't this exactly what the Father wants for us? To be broken and remade day after day. To realise that we didn't get through yesterday without Him, what makes us think we can get through today? To know that today, we will make a hash of things, but through the sacrifice of Christ we can start again tomorrow.

As much as I love Cambridge, and Wesley House, I know that the next three years are going to be a challenge for me. For those who are close to me, and anyone else who's feeling generous, please keep me in you prayers, and come visit sometime!

As for research - it's all going pretty interestingly at the moment. That's for next time though!

Gb,
R x