One month of being back in Germany and I keep reflecting on my time in the UK and all the things I learned. First of all, I did learn a lot about myself: Which things are important to me? What do I look for in a relationship with people? What makes a good friend? Which things do I value? Who do I want to spent time with? Which things I want to spend less time on?... But secondly and even more important I learned a lot about my faith and my relationship with God. I feel like it is almost impossible to express my thoughts and sum everything up. However, in this blogpost I want to give it a try. This is my faith journey:
I always wanted to go abroad after school to do a volunteer service. There was not an exact plan in my head but I did not want to go into a school and working in a church congregation was not on my list of priorities as well. And yet, as you all know, I ended up in Heswall. Looking back at it, I do believe that God brought me into this place. I did know that the volunteer service in England had a focus on the development of one’s personal faith. On the webpage, my German organisation called it a “faith journey”. After all the disappointments during the pandemic, I was really happy I got offered a place and didn’t mind the fact that I would go on a faith journey. The contrary: I was looking forward to it! But never ever did I imagine it to become that precious.
He picked me up, turned me around Placed my feet on solid ground I thank the Master, I thank the Savior Because He healed my heart, He changed my name Forever free, I'm not the same I thank the Master, I thank the Savior I thank God
That’s the chorus of the song “I thank God” by Maverick City which is by the way the one I heard on my way back home when the plane started from Manchester Airport. I chose to include this one because it describes some of the changes I have been through quite well. After my time in the UK I am not the same. God turned me around. God placed my feet on solid ground, He changed my heart and I am thankful for that. But let me explain:
One of the first things I started when arriving in the UK was praying more regularly. My family and I used to pray around the table before a meal and when I was younger we gathered as a family around my bed to say a night time prayer. But I somehow got out of the habit to pray on my own. The only thing I would pray for was good weather for my birthday or that someone who was feeling ill might get better soon. But I did not talk to God on a regular basis. I cannot even say why I felt like I wanted to change that. Maybe it was because I recognised that for a lot of people around me prayer made a huge difference and it was an integral part of their daily lives because they believe praying is an (or the most) important thing you can do as a Christian. And after trying it out, I can only confirm that. How wonderful it is to be able to spent time with our gracious God, surrendering everything to Him: the small and the big things, the loud and the silent thoughts, my worries and fears, but also my joys and things I am thankful for. (I still pray for good weather on some days though and more than once it worked ;)) My prayer life is still not perfect. There are days when I don’t make time for it or times when I just pray for the sake of it. But I keep getting better at it. The truth is: praying is a (spiritual) discipline and it becomes more special every time you do it.
Secondly, I realised that not only I want to surrender everything to God but He also wants to know about me. He wants a relationship with me. Think about it: Our God who made the universe and the earth with everything on it wants a relationship with us. And that’s a fact I love about the Christian faith: it’s so personal and intimate. Another reason for that is, of course, Jesus. I feel like I really got to know Him during the last months. First of all by working through and with the Bible. Preparing the sessions for the youth groups made me dig deep into the passages and I got a lot more out of them than I would have done by just reading them. Right now, I am trying to read the Bible more regularly, going through different Bible Reading Plans and figuring out what works best for me.
Another huge part were the people I spent my time with. Living a life that brings glory to Jesus is a goal a lot of them follow. Here’s another quote from a worship song summing up how I want to live my life, trying to mirror the actions of Jesus:
Oh, I have days I lose the fight
Try my best but just don't get it right
Where I talk a talk that I don't walk
And miss the moments right before my eyes
Somebody with a hurt that I could have helped
Somebody with a hand that I could have held
When I just can't see past myself
Lord, help me be
A little more like mercy, a little more like grace
A little more like kindness, goodness, love, and faith
A little more like patience, a little more like peace
A little more like Jesus, a little less like me
(Less like me, Zach Williams)
And this is what I will try to do every day: being more like Jesus and less like me, letting His Holy Spirit work in and through me so I can be a blessing for others. I cannot wait for all the things God still has in store for me.
This is by far not all I learned during my time in the UK and my faith journey has not come to an end yet. The train will continue to ride with the destination of eternity. I am sure it will not be a straight line and there will be times where I fail to see the end or do not see the driver. But knowing that, even if I might leave the train for a certain time, I can always come back in through its open doors is such a comforting assurance.
Thank you all for accompanying and supporting me through this part of my faith journey. If you have any thoughts on this entry, please let me know. I would love to chat about it. I hope you enjoyed reading this blog and maybe even got inspired by some of my thoughts.
God bless you,
Alicia