Dare I say it...? Well, it is first day of December, no-one can argue when I say it's baltic outside. All the classic seasonal tunes are being belted out of every shop. Selection boxes are flying off the shelves, and children are rehearsing their lines for the school nativity. For these reasons, it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. I remember, when I was little, impatiently waiting for that big day, excited about what presents would be laid out for me on Christmas morning. Blissfully unaware of course of how much my parents had been running around frantically visiting relatives, buying gifts (and batteries - maybe), and stocking up the fridge with enough food to last through a nuclear war. It's slowly dawned on me in my adult years that Christmas = Stressmas. Our intentions of goodwill to all men suddenly evaporate when there's 2 people trying to squeeze into the same parking space at 4pm on Christmas Eve. I speak from experience.
In my wee patch of homeland, churches have been vying for a space right in the centre of the town during December. In the midst of our busy-ness, I'm excited to see prayer recognised for being central to our lives. But it hasn't been easy to get agreement from landlords, slightly ironic given that a couple of streets away, £200,000 worth of home-grown cannabis was recently discovered in an unused shop. I so want to see the power of prayer overcome in this and hear the stories that come out of the Prayer Shop.
But as well as this lovely prayer update, I'm excited to share about the church in Uganda. Today is World Aids Day. As an avid Facebook user, my morning newsfeed was swamped with links about HIV. I've fished out this article as it's such a good story; How the Churches practise what they preach.
So today, please pray for the 33 million people worldwide living with HIV. Find out more here. Please pray for changes in our towns and cities, that help us 'do' prayer. Finding meaning at Christmas isn't the easiest thing to do, but if you intentionally want to do this, you might enjoy this: YouVersion- Rediscovering the Christmas season.
And remember, goodwill to all men.
In my wee patch of homeland, churches have been vying for a space right in the centre of the town during December. In the midst of our busy-ness, I'm excited to see prayer recognised for being central to our lives. But it hasn't been easy to get agreement from landlords, slightly ironic given that a couple of streets away, £200,000 worth of home-grown cannabis was recently discovered in an unused shop. I so want to see the power of prayer overcome in this and hear the stories that come out of the Prayer Shop.
But as well as this lovely prayer update, I'm excited to share about the church in Uganda. Today is World Aids Day. As an avid Facebook user, my morning newsfeed was swamped with links about HIV. I've fished out this article as it's such a good story; How the Churches practise what they preach.
So today, please pray for the 33 million people worldwide living with HIV. Find out more here. Please pray for changes in our towns and cities, that help us 'do' prayer. Finding meaning at Christmas isn't the easiest thing to do, but if you intentionally want to do this, you might enjoy this: YouVersion- Rediscovering the Christmas season.
And remember, goodwill to all men.
