Hi people
Just over a year ago I started writing blogs, partly as something to fill my time, partly as an output for my emotions and feelings, and partly as a way of giving me people more opportunities to comment on what I have to say!
So where was I a year ago:- Well I was going through a bit of a rough time, my uni course hadn't gone to plan, CU was being difficult to deal with and small group leadership was being a drain and a hassle rather than an enjoyment and a privilege. Not that I'm blaming anyone for this but I'd become negative and drawn out, and part of me wanted to give up there and then (especially when I scraped through in terms of surviving uni but having to carry on part time instead)
However after many weeks of trying to sort uni out (trying to sort out what was going on was confusing) I decided that this was the year to try and get involved more in my church, as with my smaller time constraints on uni (I was only doing 3-4 hours a week) and stuff like that. This seemed to match up with God's plan as well cos as soon as I'd offered my services to church, doors to 'big scary opportunities' opened up. This included volunteering for the office team, joining the street work team, and getting involved with a life group
First I'd decided on a whim to see if there was any odd jobs I could do around the church, thinking I'd just be put on the odd thing here and there. However this was slightly blown out of the water when I was 'enlisted' on to the office volunteers 'rota' once a week helping out on a Thursday. Now people who know me well will have thought, 'hang on this is a dyslexic guy who hates being sat around doing nothing, and doesn't really like answering phones' well for some reason it just stuck, and before I knew it I was pretty much being left to my own devices to man the office alone, which was very scary but also was given a lot of jobs to be kept busy with, weather it was sorting out the church database! (yes I've got my own log in for it) given master keys to the building! (Insert evil grin!) and answering the phone and generally being the public face of Jubilee centre. Thinking back this was something I probably would of ran away from in the past, but through God's strength, some great mentors in the form of Hannah Evans, Chris Haygarth and Sara Cosgrove and some general 'I hope you know what you’re doing God, cos I've not got a clue!' I've managed to haul my way though the year, and for some strange reason considing sighing up next year! thought this I'd also been put on the Sunday night live core team, moving tables and chairs around Costa, before being one of the public leason, and then moving tables and chairs back
Secondly I'd started attending prayer meetings and other midweek church meetings, which in themselves where very helpful this year, however at the first one I attended, it was announced that we were looking to do a street party to commemorate the Queens jubilee. For some strange reason I'd signed up to help before even thinking about it and before I knew it I was sat in a room with a load of high up people from both community and the police force, council and bus company talking about road closures and licensing, and I'm sat there thinking 'this is a bit over my head isn't it!'
However 8 months on the party went down a huge success, with us closing the road, covering a 0.2 mile section with tables and staging having the media both locally and nationally potentially showing up and having my name in print in a paper! all very scary stuff!
Thirdly I'd also decided to join the street work team, going out on to the streets of Huddersfield giving out hot drinks, and generally serving the people on the streets of Huddersfield. From this I've gained a lot of experiences in evangelism, especially learning how important it is to listen to what the other person is saying. So many times direct contact evangelism I used to shudder at the thought of, as I'm more used to reacting to someone, rather than trying to dictate the flow of the conversation. However on the streets, standing and listening I discovered was as needed talking, and while we might not have seen conversions on the streets, people were willing to strike up conversations with us, and talk about a whole host of things, from God, to Komodo Dragons. This kind of relationship building had sometimes been missing from CU evangelism, and I Decided at the time to 'put myself forward' for a position on committee, with the possibility to change things as I saw them.
However committee had seen my commitment to the church as well, and in their wisdom desired to allow me to focus my energies on that rather than on CU stuff, freeing me up to get more involved with in the Church, by not putting me on committee, or continuing on my 3rd 'term' as a small group leader. Although this a was a disappointment in some aspects, 1 door closing was showing me the other door was the one to chose, and so I continued on my additional church activities
Another 'sub door' that had opened to me during this year, was the switch from open homes, which in previous years I'd allowed to pass me by, to life groups, consistent groups of people which got together to share how God was working in their lives and grow as a group. This was part of this year that I grew to love very quickly as it was what I'd loved about small groups in the past, people getting together and being free to share and build each other up. through this I Got something out of the group as well as purely contributing to it, something which small groups had become slightly in the previous months, I now left each group feeling challenged and wanting more of what God had for me, rather than just leaving and trying to work out if I'd got anything out of it.
First I'd decided on a whim to see if there was any odd jobs I could do around the church, thinking I'd just be put on the odd thing here and there. However this was slightly blown out of the water when I was 'enlisted' on to the office volunteers 'rota' once a week helping out on a Thursday. Now people who know me well will have thought, 'hang on this is a dyslexic guy who hates being sat around doing nothing, and doesn't really like answering phones' well for some reason it just stuck, and before I knew it I was pretty much being left to my own devices to man the office alone, which was very scary but also was given a lot of jobs to be kept busy with, weather it was sorting out the church database! (yes I've got my own log in for it) given master keys to the building! (Insert evil grin!) and answering the phone and generally being the public face of Jubilee centre. Thinking back this was something I probably would of ran away from in the past, but through God's strength, some great mentors in the form of Hannah Evans, Chris Haygarth and Sara Cosgrove and some general 'I hope you know what you’re doing God, cos I've not got a clue!' I've managed to haul my way though the year, and for some strange reason considing sighing up next year! thought this I'd also been put on the Sunday night live core team, moving tables and chairs around Costa, before being one of the public leason, and then moving tables and chairs back
Secondly I'd started attending prayer meetings and other midweek church meetings, which in themselves where very helpful this year, however at the first one I attended, it was announced that we were looking to do a street party to commemorate the Queens jubilee. For some strange reason I'd signed up to help before even thinking about it and before I knew it I was sat in a room with a load of high up people from both community and the police force, council and bus company talking about road closures and licensing, and I'm sat there thinking 'this is a bit over my head isn't it!'
However 8 months on the party went down a huge success, with us closing the road, covering a 0.2 mile section with tables and staging having the media both locally and nationally potentially showing up and having my name in print in a paper! all very scary stuff!
Thirdly I'd also decided to join the street work team, going out on to the streets of Huddersfield giving out hot drinks, and generally serving the people on the streets of Huddersfield. From this I've gained a lot of experiences in evangelism, especially learning how important it is to listen to what the other person is saying. So many times direct contact evangelism I used to shudder at the thought of, as I'm more used to reacting to someone, rather than trying to dictate the flow of the conversation. However on the streets, standing and listening I discovered was as needed talking, and while we might not have seen conversions on the streets, people were willing to strike up conversations with us, and talk about a whole host of things, from God, to Komodo Dragons. This kind of relationship building had sometimes been missing from CU evangelism, and I Decided at the time to 'put myself forward' for a position on committee, with the possibility to change things as I saw them.
However committee had seen my commitment to the church as well, and in their wisdom desired to allow me to focus my energies on that rather than on CU stuff, freeing me up to get more involved with in the Church, by not putting me on committee, or continuing on my 3rd 'term' as a small group leader. Although this a was a disappointment in some aspects, 1 door closing was showing me the other door was the one to chose, and so I continued on my additional church activities
Another 'sub door' that had opened to me during this year, was the switch from open homes, which in previous years I'd allowed to pass me by, to life groups, consistent groups of people which got together to share how God was working in their lives and grow as a group. This was part of this year that I grew to love very quickly as it was what I'd loved about small groups in the past, people getting together and being free to share and build each other up. through this I Got something out of the group as well as purely contributing to it, something which small groups had become slightly in the previous months, I now left each group feeling challenged and wanting more of what God had for me, rather than just leaving and trying to work out if I'd got anything out of it.
So what have I got out of this year? Well the confidence to try new things, before this year, I'd stuck to what I knew to some degree, both in church life, with my exploration in to spiritual gifts controlled at my pace, and in CU life, becoming involved in other areas outside small group leadership including event planning (the joys of playing pacman and being able to call it research!) a realisation that just because people maybe older and have leadership roles within the church doesn't mean they don't have time to give to students if we are prepared to be dedicated to the time they give us. Lastly, don't put boundaries on your abilities without giving God a chance to prove otherwise, I've always said office work and direct evandalism are two things I'd never do, and yet I've done both through God's strength this year
So what about the future, I'm still in the position of being reliant on passing both my modules in a few weeks to get on to final year!, However if I do so I've realised that much church life is stuff I'm going to continue with, especially working in the office and life groups. However I've decided to give up street work, at least interims of every week, though I may occupationally go back to catch up with the people. As far as CU is concerned I'm entering my final stages of university life, and so may not be able to offer the same amount of time as I once did. However I hope I can use my experiences and gifts to be an example to the more active members and help out where I can (even if it’s only doing words every couple of weeks and being someone's prayer buddy, or even just being around and being a scary final year to all the freshers! or how ever else God wants to use me.) it seems strange that around 7 years ago life didn't seem worth living, and now I've got more opportunities than I can use, I just hope God gives me the wisdom to work out which opportunities to take
So on that bombshow, Good night and God bless
Danny-d-b
The Christian Foodie
So what about the future, I'm still in the position of being reliant on passing both my modules in a few weeks to get on to final year!, However if I do so I've realised that much church life is stuff I'm going to continue with, especially working in the office and life groups. However I've decided to give up street work, at least interims of every week, though I may occupationally go back to catch up with the people. As far as CU is concerned I'm entering my final stages of university life, and so may not be able to offer the same amount of time as I once did. However I hope I can use my experiences and gifts to be an example to the more active members and help out where I can (even if it’s only doing words every couple of weeks and being someone's prayer buddy, or even just being around and being a scary final year to all the freshers! or how ever else God wants to use me.) it seems strange that around 7 years ago life didn't seem worth living, and now I've got more opportunities than I can use, I just hope God gives me the wisdom to work out which opportunities to take
So on that bombshow, Good night and God bless
Danny-d-b
The Christian Foodie
