Journeying into a New Year.

We spent some time thinking at the service on Christmas Eve about the journeys that were taken that very first Christmas, a pregnant girl, some excited and wondering shepherds, the wise men and God's journey to become Immanuel, God with us. He came to walk our lives, to understand our griefs and trials but to take a path to Calvary so we could know comfort, peace and victory in our lives as we journey into a new year.

The last few weeks have been full of troublesome journeys. Our Christmas Eve service which is normally a time of calm saw us fleeing round the building, ten minutes before we were due to start, trying to work out which toilets would actually flush and not leak .  Ahh, the joys.  Sometimes we do have to battle through to a place of peace.  There are a lot of folks in our communities who are journeying just now with businesses struggling due to the hit they have taken from this weather,  folks who have not been able to work hardly at all this month and others who find this season a stark reminder of all they are missing in their lives. 

On New Years Day our building will be open and there will be a warm welcome there and a hot meal for folks who may find this day more difficult and who would welcome a bit of company. Let's pray that God will draw folks there and that over the next few days posters will be noticed and invites given. The building will be open from twelve and  food served between 1 and 3pm.

The thaw in the weather has helped restore water to all the different parts of the building and a few well timed plumbing procedures by the plumber/pastor has all our facilities back working. We are hopeful that the mop and bucket, which has lived around  the entrance hall for the last few weeks, can be put back in the cupboard.  Both dehumidifiers are now in the creche room and are being emptied most days showing the amount of water that came though this room. We are still waiting to hear from the surveyor and from the restoration team, who hopefully now will just be able to confirm we are on top of the drying process.