Get to know me!

Journey With God

Hello!

Before I kick off the season on Monday, the 5th of August, I wanted to make a quick introductory post about who I am, my faith journey, and my vision for this.

Who am I?

My name is Emily, and I live in the UK. I love God. Not because I grew up in Church, not because my family told me to, but because I saw for myself how GOOD He is. Although it took me a little while. I think the word ‘rollercoaster’ is a good adjective. Much to my family’s joy, I finally surrendered to Him completely not so long ago, and I have never felt happier, more peaceful, guided, or loved. I have very loving and supportive parents, grandparents and a little sister. She may be and adult, but she’ll always be ‘little’. If any older siblings are reading this, I’m sure you understand. I also have an incredible partner who encouraged me to start this Substack. Without him, I probably wouldn’t have thought about it.

I studied English Literature at A-Levels, so I think I have a good shot at making this beneficial*.* I also studied Philosophy and Drama. While Drama has helped shape me into who I am today, Philosophy gave me a headache. It wasn’t all bad, though; the ‘Existence of God’ module was very engaging. Has anyone heard of the Omnipotence Paradox? If God is all-powerful, could He create a stone too heavy for Him to lift? The mind used to baffle, but now I think Exodus 3:14 gives us a definitive response: ' God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”’. There’s not really much argument for that. He is whatever He says He is. It’s okay to feel confused. We are not meant to understand God through and through. We were made with finite minds by an infinite God, but if He says something, then it’s the truth, full stop. For me, that definitive response is my support, and my guidance. It’s the cornerstone of the Bible. Who am I to question His power? He is who He is; what He says is the truth, and that’s the end of it.

I’ve been performing my whole life. I started out by doing ballet when I was very young. I wanted to be a Prima Ballerina immediately, so when the teacher spent hours on ‘nice toes, naughty toes, nice toes, naughty toes’, all patience left me. I guess that Fruit of the Spirit had not hit me yet. After taking a gap year, I went to University in Canterbury and got a 1st class degree in Performing Arts. While studying, I discovered Stage Management, which I now freelance in and have had some amazing opportunities on great shows. I used to be a very shy child, but my time in performance has totally transformed me. I get a thrill from public speaking and feel confident in myself. It’s the base that gives me the confidence to do this now.

I love reading and learning. I like to keep my mind engaged with challenging books, usually nonfiction and usually about Christianity, although Sarah Waters’ book ‘The Little Stranger’ is absolutely brilliant. I’ve always enjoyed writing. At the end of my third year, I had a choice to do a group performance or a dissertation. While everyone else in my course did a group performance, I decided to do a dissertation… and it was very successful :)

My Testimony

I grew up in Sawyers Church in Essex and have been blessed to be a part of such a nurturing, fun, loving, educational and God-filled community for so long. It’s your typical ‘I grew up in Church and around Christianity but had to discover Him for myself’ type of story. On the 18th of November 2018, I got baptised, which was amazing. God has had his grip on me ever since. When I was thinking about baptism, I did some repenting and crying and God gave me this verse from 2 Chronicles 12-15. I opened my Bible to a random page, and this is the verse I saw straight away. The crying continued, and my love for God just kept getting stronger. We’ll delve deeper into my faith journey as the weeks go on.

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”

Controversially, I decided to give life a shot on my own for a while a few years after that, especially as I drew nearer to University. I think the idea of growing up, gaining independence and discovering the world kicked in. I didn’t feel connected to God and almost cringed at the idea of it. To be totally honest, I guess I felt embarrassed by it. That’s kind of crazy looking back on it, but that’s how I felt. I still felt some slither of God’s presence and felt guilt when I did something sinful, but I mastered the art of pushing it away. God was always there, though, almost as if to say, ‘I’ll loosen the reigns, but I won’t let you go. You’ll realise that you can’t do life on your own soon enough”… let me tell you something… it does not work. No matter how hard you try, how convinced you are that it is working… it doesn’t work. We were made to do life with Jesus. Not without.

My testimony is nothing drastic; it’s not complicated or something that someone would be jaw-dropped at. But it’s what God intended for me, so it’s perfect. Just like how your testimony and God’s plan for you are perfect.

My Vision

I think following Jesus is the most rewarding thing a person can do, but that doesn't mean it isn’t hard. My Grandpa once said, “The life of a Christian isn’t meant to be easy; it’s meant to be holy.” It certainly isn’t always easy, and as someone who has had her fair share of struggles with it, I thought that I could try to reach some people who maybe feel the same. My vision for this is to build a community of Christians who need some encouragement, some relatability, and a community of like-minded people who want to grow in His word. Or maybe you’re super solid, and you’re just curious… welcome! It would be so awesome for this also to reach people who do not believe as well. Heaven roars with joy when even one soul is saved.

I want to dive into some hard topics as the weeks go on. I saw a brilliant post on here not so long ago by Nathan Rouse, which I re-stacked. “Better to have a pastor that tells you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear.” That post has resonated in me, along with the passion that God has placed in me, I feel driven to serve Him through this. I am tapping into something that I feel a calling for, and I am excited to see where this goes.

I would love to hear from you and talk about your journey with God. Please feel free to drop me a message or leave comments. If there is anything you would like to see me write about, then please let me know!

Thanks for reading and learning a little about me. We officially kick off on Monday 5th August.

See you there! God bless,

Emily 💚