As we enter Lent we become focussed on preparing for Easter.  In this bitterly cold weather with persistent coughs and colds in tow, it is lovely to think of warmer days ahead when the winter blues will be shattered!

There will be lots to do as we surface from the winter gloom, as can be seen in the pages of this magazine – life is, and will not be dull!

I hope in your busyness though that you will have time to think about Easter and the renewal the Easter season brings.  It is not a coincidence that Easter is timed to coincide with nature waking from its winter sleep and entering into new growth and glory.  The birds’ eggs will be hatching, the fresh bright green leaves bursting forth, the daffodils blooming, and of course the grass begins to grow too – prompting the dusting off of the lawnmower and looking for those weeds that, for us, spoil the beauty!

Easter is a wonderful time!  As the hope of new life comes from all around us we also have spiritual hope within us.  We journey with Jesus to the cross – the greatest humiliation anyone could ever suffer – and see him rise over the centuries to become King across the world for millions of people.  What a transformation.

We too can transform, as Jesus did, through prayer and trust in God following the Way of obedience that Jesus took.  Nothing is impossible.

I hope to see you at some point during Holy Week and Easter.  There is plenty to do – Easter Drama for the children, Reflections during Holy Week and a Passover Meal on Easter Eve, as well as the Easter Celebration of Holy Communion and Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Day.  I leave you with…..

The First Gold of Dawn

The long day
stretched into night
and time crept onward
towards the new day.

With the first gold of dawn
came a resurrection,
a new hope that grew
with the rising sun,
and went out to a waiting world.

Jean Murdoch

With love.
Ann