Charlotte Chapel family. We hope to allow you to hear a little about the different lives we live, what makes us tick and how we seek to grow in our faith. This time, we would like you to meet Cat Auden.
Q: Thank you for answering our questions Cat. Could you tell us your favourite Christian song or hymn so readers can listen while they read on?
A : I'm not very good at having "favourites" in terms of music as I like a lot of different things. Very non-committal! I had How Great Thou Art at both my baptism and wedding so I guess that means it's fairly up there with the favourites! I particularly like the verse about realising how great God is when wandering through "forest glades" and down from mountain grandeur" as I'm a country girl at heart and love the great outdoors. My soul definitely sings at the top of mountains, whether there's a 100 mile panorama or a total white out.
Q: Can you tell us how you became a Christian?
A: I became a Christian sometime during my last year at school. I was not brought up in a Christian home and was not presented with the Gospel. I changed schools for my last two years at Senior School and in retrospect can see that God's hand was at work removing the things I usually relied upon for my identity.
Most significantly I arrived at the new school on crutches after knee surgery that summer so was unable to "prove myself" on the sports field which had been one way I liked to gain recognition and respect and to make friends. This also meant I happened to be free to attend the school Christian meeting on a Friday night. One of the girls in my house was a Christian and though neither of us can remember any specific spiritual conversations we had, I know that she gently encouraged my interest in her faith and faithfully asked me along to the Christian meeting each week which I (perhaps reluctantly) began to attend.
I probably realised I was genuinely searching when I heard a visiting speaker from a Christian summer camp come and speak. She spoke to me afterwards and promised to send me some books (CE and Start). I didn't expect her to actually do this! Slowly I began looking at these books and others that my friend offered me, occasionally I'd flick through a small Gideon's Bible but not really knowing what to do with it. At some point in my last year at school, quite alone, I quietly put my trust in Jesus, not really aware of how big a deal this was! I'm not sure I could have vocalised the Gospel clearly myself at this stage but certainly started to believe in Jesus and wanted to live for him.
Coming to University was a critical time and I have no doubt that God's hand was at work in a multitude of ways - from putting Christians on my halls corridor to putting a desire in my heart to "be a Christian" from the start of my University time. I didn't really know what this would entail and made a multitude of mistakes in my early days at uni (the entire spectrum from clear sinning to being very legalistic in my faith). It was a steep learning curve and having not been taught what it means to walk with God I had a lot of learning to do (and still do!). I am thankful for many things during these early years.
In my second year at Uni I met a wonderful group of people through the Christians in Sport group - Christians who I really "clicked" with! This was a wonderful time of growth and consolidating the truths which I believed but couldn't quite explain. I learnt the importance of sharing my faith and some ways to do this. I also saw young, dynamic Christians who were passionate about their faith in every part of their lives and enthusiastically talked about it with other Christians and with non-believers too.
Q: Thank you for sharing your journey to faith. Can you tell us about your earliest memory?
A: I thought hard about this and can't think of anything earlier than the day my brother was born. I was three years old and my dad picked me up from my friend Jenny’s house, helped me put on my “I’m a Big Sister” jumper and then we went to visit my Mum and new baby James (now 23 and 6ft3) in a little cottage hospital on Dartmoor. I got given a baby doll to look after which was a good idea. However I was more interested in eating Mum’s biscuits from her tea tray than in any babies!
Q: To give us a flavour of the life you lead, could you tell us what you would be likely to be doing at 2pm on a Wednesday afternoon.
A: The average 2pm Wednesday I am consulting at the veterinary practice where I work. It’s an open surgery so it’s anyone’s guess what might walk through the door, cat to chameleon, guinea pig to goat. It keeps me on my toes and the job’s nothing if it’s not varied! I love it though. It is a great privilege to work doing what I enjoy.
Q: Where is your favourite place to be?
A: I love being out in the countryside, ideally with milky morning sunshine, a cool breeze and frost on the ground. Often this would be on an early morning run in the Downs at my parents’ house.
Q: I expect that at times your job allows you to be outdoors too. Could you share what is your signature dish in the kitchen?
A: I’m not sure if I have a signature dish. I certainly enjoy trying all sorts of things and
experimenting with new ingredients. I love having people round for dinner too to try out dishes on. I made quite a nice pudding recently containing a raspberry mousse and a lemon and basil mousse. I’d be keen to try these again in a slightly different pudding context sometime. I’m working hard at making my Granny M’s shortbread my own however I think even in 100 years’ time it will still be “Granny M’s Shortbread”!
Q: That sounds delicious. I know you are involved in the Equip ministry to students and young people, could you share an encouragement from that group or another recent encouragement?
A: I am hugely encouraged by the growth of the girls in my Equip group. It brings me GREAT joy meeting with them to study Mark’s Gospel together and seeing their enthusiasm for God’s word develop.
I am also greatly blessed to have witnessed a friend come to faith through various Charlotte Chapel outreach courses. Seeing a new faith grow is such a beautiful thing and encourages me massively in my own walk with God.
Q: As part of our theme this month looking at how we witness in different contexts, could you tell us about some of the challenges involved in witnessing in your workplace?
A: Witnessing to colleagues can be easy in some ways but much harder in other ways. It is not hard to be the patient, kind member of staff but it is harder to make it clear why my character is like this - not to do with me but a) by God's grace and b) I choose to live in a way that reflects Jesus to others. What is much harder is having worthwhile explicit Gospel conversations with colleagues. Most are open to some discussion (particularly whilst operating (!) as you don't have to look directly at one another and there's always potential for a pause in a tricky conversation to concentrate on the operation if necessary). I think I could be more forthright with questioning what people think about God and have certainly got the depth of relationship to do so with colleagues. Having recently studied Mark 13 it is clear that there is indeed an urgency to our evangelism and we spend such a large portion of our lives with our colleagues - surely God has placed each of us there for this reason.
I find it helpful having invited colleagues to CBC events as they can now picture what Church looks like for me. Most people are very accepting rather than offended by my faith but in some ways this can be hard as there is less to work with! It has also been a great blessing for workplace ministry having had veterinary students from Charlotte Chapel coming on placements at my practice (other "normal" people with a living love for the Lord Jesus!).
Having worked in the same place for over two years now I realise the importance of building
trusting relationships, living in a Gospel-centred manner and from this flow the Gospel
opportunities that God has graciously given me (some small, some larger). We are in it at work for the long run. It is not easy living overtly for God in the secular world but it is worthwhile.
Our lives and actions speak volumes but I must be ready (and willing) to give an answer for the hope that I have.
Q: Thank you for sharing this Cat, and for reflecting honestly on the pressures involved. Finally, could you tell us what brings you the greatest joy?
A: The greatest, deep joy I find is seeing someone put their trust in the Lord Jesus and seeing them realise just how far reaching and wonderful this Good News really is! Fantastic!
Thanks to Cat for sharing some of her story. Do feel free to suggest other women who you would like to get to know through these interviews.
