The end of January is said to be the worst time of the year - days are dark and gloomy - the reality of the Christmas excesses has hit the bank statment and the bathroom scales - broken toys and new years resolutions litter the house. It's not a good time of year. Even the snowdrops and daffodils are a few weeks away. Yet I am full of excitement and hope as I look into February and the weeks ahead.
Over the last few months amazing things have happened in our church family, shoulders and withered hands being healed, the start of The 3:15 Community in Highfields, the amazing answers to prayer which have completely surrounded Jacquie's operation in mid-January - I am writing this article from the desk of the vicar of All Saints Church... in Islington, a friend whom I had never met until Joshua. Joel and I descended on their home to take up an amazing offer of hospitality just 15 minutes journey from the hospital.
If as you stand and look at 2008 with "end-of-January" eyes and heart just remember that we put our trust in a God who cares - who cares about shoulders and hands, who cares about hearts and lives, who cares about tube times and parking spaces, who cares about each and every one of us - deeply, passionately, truly - who cares even when we don't - who cared enough to become one of us.
Lent is not far away - let's take this time in the Church's year to remember a God who cares... and who acts. And let us do the same!
