Wow there have been a lot of firsts for me last year:
My first pastorate and my first home in Hertfordshire.
My first birthday in Chipperfield (no I am not the youngest baptist minister in history).
My first Christmas in Chipperfield and my first nine carols and lessons service.
My first set of essays for college,
- and I am sure there are a lot more I haven’t remembered.
However one first that has got me thinking is that of my first New Year. Since my family and I arrived at the end of August we have not really had time to stop. What with getting to grips with the new, and I must say pleasant, life, then travelling to all corners to visit friends and family over Christmas and all that it entails. I have managed to take a few deep breaths as I came up for air but no time to really think.
As I write this it is January 2008 already and it is for the February edition of Chipperfield News so 2008 has started busy. New years are often started with resolutions, we are reminded of what is possible if only we put our minds to it. We start with all the will power and promise we can muster yet as the dark days loom on into February we feel the good intentions slipping away and our heads drop. My new yearÕs resolution was not to make any and not to feel too despondent if I failed at that. So as I fail my first test and make this New Years resolution, in everything I am determined to look up and not down this year. To look at what is possible in God and not look at what I cannot do. Once the celebrations of Christmas are over we can say that Jesus is not just for Christmas but for the rest of the year as well. It maybe so that we often fail ourselves, but in Jesus we have God on our side and He never lets our heads drop. Chin up?
Love Jason, The Man in the Manse