Real Lives

I wAS drIvING HOMe, and suddenly I
felt so empty and lost. I became really upset,
wondering where I was going with my life.
what changed? I’d moved to Cardiff with
work, and two people on my team became
Christians. I’d watched them get baptised,
and they’d told the stories of how their lives
had completely changed for the best – and
it made me seriously think! I
thought I had a nice life doing
what everyone else was doing,
focusing on things I thought
I wanted and needed but I
wasn’t happy. deep down I was
crying and I remember calling
out to God to help me.
So I began to read about what it meant
to be a Christian. I thought I knew what
Christianity was all about, having gone to
church as a child, but it became clear that I
really wasn’t sure about lots of things. I had
wasted enough time. I was an adult now,
Gorffennwyd
Gan Dawn Wooldridge
CLYwAIS yr efengyl am y tro cyntaf pan
oeddwn yn blentyn 11 mlwydd oed a
minnau newydd ddechrau mynd i’r Ysgol
Sul ym Methel. Cyn hynny roeddwn i wedi
bod yn mynychu’r eglwys Anglicanaidd
gyda gweddill y teulu, ond roeddwn yn cael
y gwasanaethau yno’n hir ac yn ddiflas, gan
deimlo bod mynd i’r eglwys
yn rhywbeth yr oedd rhaid ei
oddef yn hytrach na’i fwynhau.
I fi, roedd duw yn dduw pell
i ffwrdd ac yn un nad oedd ganddo fawr o
ddiddordeb ynof. Yn fuan des i ddysgu fel
arall.
pan ddechreuais fynd i’r Ysgol Sul
ym Methel rwy’n cofio cael fy synnu wrth
weld bod gan bawb eu Beiblau eu hunain
– roeddwn wedi arfer â gweld yr offeiriad,
a’r offeiriad yn unig, yn darllen o’r Beibl
– ac ar ôl sawl wythnos roeddwn i wedi
perswadio fy rhieni i brynu Beibl i fi hefyd.
Ond yr hyn a wnaeth fy synnu yn fwy na
dim byd arall, yn ddiamau, oedd yr hyn yr
oeddwn yn ei ddarllen yn y Beibl a’r hyn
yr oeddwn yn ei glywed gan fy athrawon
yn yr Ysgol Sul. Clywais nid yn unig am
“I had wasted enough
time... I needed to
figure out what life
was all about.”
“I fi, roedd Duw yn
dduw pell i ffwrdd.”
and I needed to figure out what life was all
about. I had this sense of God, looking at
the beauty of nature, the complexity of life,
design was everywhere! I thought of dying
too... coming face to face with God. There
would be no excuse I could give him. Surely
this is the biggest question in life, so why
was I doing nothing about it?
I started attending
Bethel Church in
Clydach. Later I went on a
Christianity Explored course
which helped clarify things
for me and I really started
to understand what being
a Christian was all about.
It was about Jesus; why he came and why
he died. I realised that the world we live in
is a broken world because of the sin that
entered it. This caused us to be separated
from God, wanting to live our lives our
own way, without answering to him. That
hanesion yr Hen destament a gwyrthiau a
damhegion yr Iesu, ond hefyd am bechod
a Chwymp dyn yng Ngardd eden, am
Nefoedd ac uffern, a pham yr oedd rhaid
i’r Iesu farw ar y Groes. doeddwn i erioed
wedi clywed pethau fel hyn o’r blaen. At
hynny, roeddwn yn gallu gweld bod fy
athrawon i gyd yn credu’r hyn yr oeddent
yn ei ddysgu a’u bod yn nabod duw –
doedd dim angen llyfr gweddi arnynt
wrth weddïo, roeddent yn gweddïo o’r
galon. Serch hynny, er i fi
fwynhau mynd i’r Ysgol Sul
yn fawr iawn, ac er fy mod yn
argyhoeddedig o wirionedd
yr efengyl ac eisiau dod yn Gristion, roedd
yn saith mlynedd cyn i hynny ddigwydd.
Yn ystod y saith mlynedd hynny,
daeth fy chwaer a’m rhieni yn Gristnogion
a nes i barhau i fynd i’r Ysgol Sul yn ogystal
â’r Clwb Ieuenctid a’r oedfaon dydd Sul. I
bob golwg, roeddwn yn Gristion. Yn wir,
roedd fy ffrindiau i gyd yn meddwl fy mod
i’n Gristion. Ond roeddwn i’n gwybod fel
arall, gan deimlo’n rhagrithiwr llwyr am
barhau i fynd i’r eglwys bob wythnos. Felly,
er fy mod yn dyheu am iachawdwriaeth,
penderfynais yn un o’r oedfaon na
fyddwn i’n mynd fyth rhagor i’r eglwys.
Fodd bynnag, yn ystod yr oedfa honno,
Living
my life
my way
estHer’s LAte teens Were MOstLy FiLLed
WitH GOinG Out, drinkinG, CLubbinG, And
bOyFriends sO sHe didn’t Give MuCH tiMe
tO tHink AbOut GOd. sHe Pretty MuCH
WAnted tO dO Her OWn tHinG And Live LiFe
Her WAy. tHen One dAy, when she was 24,
everything began to change.
brokenness was true, it described me!
But, I also realised that God loves me
and has given me a way out to be saved
from this. He sent his Son, Jesus so that
I could know God through Him, and if I
trusted in Jesus’ death on the cross… in
my place, for my sins… then I could be
forgiven! Because Jesus dealt with my sin
on the cross, it meant I no longer had to be
separated from God!
This ultimate love and sacrifice deeply
moved me and I realised I was a sinner and
felt guilty for the way I had been living my
life. I prayed honestly to God, I confessed
to him the things that I was ashamed of and
asked for his forgiveness.
That year I had great opportunity at
a Christian conference in Aberystwyth to
really focus and learn more. The message
of the Bible became more real and started
fitting together.
At the beginning of this story I told
dywedodd Mr Mainwaring, y gweinidog
yn ei bregeth, wrth fynd heibio fel petai,
‘Os ydych yn chwilio am iachawdwriaeth,
rydych chi yn y lle iawn. peidiwch â stopio
dod yma tan i chi ddod o hyd iddi!’ A
diolch i dduw, des i o hyd
i’r hyn yr oeddwn yn chwilio
amdano cyn hir iawn.
rai misoedd yn
ddiweddarach, pan oeddwn
yn ddeunaw mlwydd
oed, roeddwn i yn un o’r
cyfarfodydd ieuenctid yn
yr eglwys. roedd y siaradwr yn esbonio
arwyddocâd yr hyn a ddywedodd Iesu
ar y Groes, yn enwedig ei air olaf, sef
‘Gorffennwyd’. roeddwn yn gyfarwydd
iawn â geiriau Iesu ar y Groes. Yn wir,
roeddwn wedi clywed nifer o bregethau
arnynt, ond y noson honno wnaeth y gair
‘Gorffennwyd’ fy nharo i’r byw. roeddwn
wedi bod yn ymdrechu am flynyddoedd i
ddod yn Gristion, gan feddwl bod angen
i fi fod yn fwy edifar, neu fod angen i fi
weddïo’n fwy cyn i fi allu cael fy nerbyn,
ond y noson honno des i ddeall, o’r diwedd,
nad oedd fy iachawdwriaeth yn dibynnu
ar fy ngweddïau na’m dagrau o edifeirwch.
roedd Iesu wedi gwneud popeth a oedd ei
angen, wedi cyflawni pob dim, wedi gorffen
“Roedd fy ffrindiau
i gyd yn meddwl fy
mod i’n Gristion ond
roeddwn i’n gwybod
fel arall.”
you about driving home deeply upset
because I wasn’t happy. I’d just heard a
friend tell me how God had changed him.
He was so happy and full of this joy. I hadn’t
felt that way myself. I had been sceptical of
what he told me. I just didn’t understand
how it could be true.
And now I was driving home from the
Christian conference in Aberystwyth. This
time driving home was like no other day.
Something wonderful happened. Suddenly
it all made perfect sense. My eyes felt like
they opened and I could see the world
clearly. I was just so moved by the power
of this conviction that I was crying. It was
amazing, and I knew that this was it. I knew
that I really did believe that Jesus died for me!
Life didn’t feel right before because
that separation from God was the cause
of the emptiness I was feeling. No longer
being separated from God has made me feel
so complete and at peace. It was incredibly
liberating. Before the conference, I was
worried with what people would think,
so I hadn’t told anyone I was going to a
Christian conference for a whole week!
But after, I wasn’t worried anymore of what
they thought. I just honestly told whoever
asked. It felt I was finally being true to God,
being open about my trust in him. I wasn’t
hiding away what I believed anymore.
It keeps on amazing me how this
conviction has changed my life! All those
years ago I did not think submitting my life
to God would be the most exciting thing in
the world. But now it feels like I’m finally
alive and nothing else compares.
Come and hear
more of Esther’s story
sunday 6 October
10.30am
at Bethel Church
y gwaith. Nid oedd angen i fi wneud dim
byd ond ymddiried yn ei waith cyflawn
ef ar y Groes i’m hachub. Sylweddolais yn
raddol fy mod wedi bod yn euog o geisio
ychwanegu fy ngweithredoedd pitw at waith
gogoneddus Crist a’i bod yn
amser rhoi terfyn ar yr holl
ymdrechu ac ymddiried
ynddo Fe yn unig. Ac wrth
i fi ymddiried, teimlais
dangnefedd a gorffwys a
sicrwydd anhygoel, sydd
erioed wedi diflannu ers
hynny.
Mae’n wir dweud i bopeth newid i fi y
noson honno. efallai na fyddai pobl wedi
sylwi ar newid mawr ar y tu allan, gan
fy mod eisoes yn mynd i’r eglwys a byw
bywyd ‘parchus’, ond roeddwn yn berson
hollol wahanol y tu mewn. Yn wir, rwy’n
credu bod y trosiad o ‘gael eich aileni’ yn un
addas iawn i ddisgrifio’r hyn sy’n digwydd
pan fydd rhywun yn dod yn Gristion.
Ces i lygaid newydd, gan weld y bobl o’m
cwmpas mewn goleuni newydd. Ces i
dafod newydd i drafod pethau ysbrydol. A
ches i ffordd newydd o fyw. dydw i ddim
yn byw bywyd perffaith, wrth gwrs, ond
gwn fod gen i Iachawdwr perffaith. Iddo
ef y mae’r holl glod.