Menai Bridge

As I prepared for our holiday in Wales, this year, I discovered that a lot of others were going too. It seemed to be the ‘staycation’ place to go this year.

I’ve been to Wales, once before when I was younger, with my parents, way down in the south, in Pembrokeshire. It was a lovely holiday, but I do remember it felt like it was taking forever to get there!!

This year, when I said that I was going to Wales, it was usually followed up by the question ‘oh where abouts are you going?’ I knew it was Anglesey, but not much more. I hesitantly said it was a little island off the north coast but I wasn’t really 100% sure!🙈 I was always relieved when the person that I spoke to had heard of Anglesey, and I didn’t need to explain any more!

On route to our holiday I discovered that Anglesey IS a little island off the north west coast of Wales. It is separated by the Menai strait and is connected to mainland Wales by two bridges. It all sounded quite intriguing and I looked forward to seeing it.

Sure enough, as we crossed over the bridge, and drove along the coastal route in Anglesey we were well and truly spoiled, with views of the sea, that lay between the island and mainland Wales.

The turquoise colours of the sea were gorgeous and I was amazed at the houses that had been built on little islands, out in the middle of the sea. Some of them were connected by a road that you could drive on at low tide, others you could only reach by boat. The little islands with houses reminded me of something out of an Enid Blyton book, like the ‘famous five’ series and I would eagerly try to see as much of them as I could through the trees and traffic, each time we drove along that route.

Calum and I would amuse ourselves with scenarios of what life must be like living there, with your access controlled by the tide. Trying to organise friends over for dinner, but they could only come at specific times, when it was low tide. Doing the school run or grocery shop and having to rush back before the road was washed over by the sea and you were stranded on the shore.

One of the days, on holiday we visited a castle ruin near our holiday home. It was interesting to read how in the year 1200, boats were used to carry all the men and tools needed to build the castle. This was long before any bridge had been built to connect the island, so it was their only means of access.

I read a few times on holiday how treacherous the Menai Strait was, with its 4 tides per day. Many people and boats had been lost at sea because of the danger caused by the differential tides at the two ends, before the first bridge was built in 1826. The second bridge was built in 1850 meaning the journey to and from the island was much quicker, easier and safer. It was certainly easy enough for us to drive the 1min journey over the bridge to get to our destination.

You might think this is an interesting story, and where could I possibly be going with this? But as I spent the week there in Anglesey I couldn’t help but be reminded of the bible verse:

The more I saw and read about the Menai strait, the more I saw the picture of man, living apart from God, separated by sin.

In my head, mainland Wales is a picture of the human race, Anglesey represented God and the stretch of water separating the two is sin. The only way to get from one place to the other was over the bridge, which represents Jesus.

It was never God's intention for mankind to be separated from Him. Below I have attached a song that my friend has recently written and released. It explains in detail, the message of the bible and how God intended things to be. She sings that on the saddest of days, through man's choice, sin becomes a part of the human race and we all became sinners. This sin as a whole separates all of mankind from God, just like the Menai strait separates Anglesey from Wales.

What God had designed was ruined by sin, and because God is perfect and holy, He could no longer just come down and talk with man. God did not want to create Robots that had no choice but to Love Him, and obey Him. Therefore, He gave man a free choice. Sadly, on that day, Adam made the wrong choice and we are still suffering its consequences today. It was never God's intention to create a world filled with war, famine and disease. But through mans choice, on that day, that is where we are.

Being a sinner means we have broken God's law. Any law that is broken in our land today, results in consequences and demands punishment, whether that is a fine, penalty points, community service, custodial sentence or in some places the death penalty. It is the same when God's law is broken too, there are consequences that ultimately lead to death and eternal separation from God.

However God's plan was to provide a way where we do not need to endure these consequences. He made a bridge for us where we could be made right before Him. Where we could have a relationship with Him once again. One of my favourite lines in the song is, 'But God had a plan'!! I am so thankful God had a plan💗!! God did not leave us with separation and death as our only choice. His plan, was Jesus, and the gift of his life that would bridge the gap between us and God.

Jesus came to die on the cross. During that event, He bore all the punishment for the sin of mankind. In doing so, we no longer need to face the consequences of our sin, we no longer need to live separated from God. By believing in the work that Jesus did on the cross, and trusting Him to bridge that gap for us, we can know life, peace and reconciliation with God.

"We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are."

Romans 3:23