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A while ago Mike Fisher preached at the 10.45am Service at KMC.  In the 'Family Spot' he spoke about names and the meaning of them.  One little girl in the congregation said that her name was Verity, meaning 'truth', while another name was Peter, meaning a 'rock'.  My name, Dorothy, means 'gift from God'.   Now, I have to admit that I have never been very keen on my name.  I don't know what I would have like to have been called instead and, having no middle name, 'Dorothy' is who I am (with occasional variations!).

In recent times I have learnt from my sister that she was going to be an only child – but God had other plans and three years later I came along, followed very quickly by my brother.  While Mike was speaking it came home to me the reality of just what my name does mean – 'a gift from God' – wow!  I'd never really dwelt on it before but now I humbly pray that I am and will continue to be, a 'Gift from God' to the people around me.  Then as I thought further, God impressed on my heart that all children are gifts from Him.  Sometimes babies are born 'in the wrong order', before the parents are ready for them, and it can cause much worry and distress – ‘How are we going to manage or afford it' - but once the baby has arrived a lot of that worry is put on one side.  In many situations the birth of a baby can bring much happiness and reconciliation.  In my own extended family, a little girl has been born 'in the wrong order' and there was much worry beforehand.  But now that she has arrived, she is 'the most beautiful little girl in the world' and she has brought about reconciliation.

We don't hear anything of Mary's parents but I wonder how they may have felt when she told them that she was pregnant.  You can just imagine it, can't you?  Here she was – a young girl, unmarried; no home; a fiancée who wished to distance himself from the situation; what would the neighbours say; just how were they going to manage?  As we know though, God had it all in hand.  Joseph stood by Mary even though he wasn't the biological father, and God provided for them and watched over them.  He provided food and shelter for them at the time of the birth; He warned Joseph in a dream that the baby was in danger, and they were able to flee to Egypt before any harm befell him.  And what joy there was when the baby was born – a heavenly choir! What more could you ask for? Just as we receive visitors when our babies are born, so visitors came from far and near with their gifts to pay homage to this beautiful child.  Best of all, this baby brought reconciliation between us and God.  And Mary named him Jesus – Emmanuel, God with us.

We know, though, that it’s not easy being a parent.  'Once a parent, always a parent.'  You rejoice when they rejoice but you also hurt when they hurt.  And God hurt when His Son was hurt, when Jesus died on the cross; but that was the only way that we could be reconciled to God.

But for now, we have no thought of that.  We make our preparations and look forward with excitement to Christmas Day – Christ's birthday.  We simply look forward to the day when that very special baby will be born.

                                                                    Dorothy Richards

Life Is Fragile: Handle with Prayer!!

Are you troubled or anxious right now?  Do you have an urgent need for prayer?  We have 2 prayer-chains, to complement the twice-weekly prayer-meetings which have been operating for some time.

 All are welcome to use this service: you do not have to be a church-member, or a church-goer.  If you need prayer, that is enough, we are willing to help.

Whilst we do not offer a listening or a counselling service (for this, please contact Rev. Paul Wilson on Kn.633276), we can and do receive requests for prayer by phone.

Each prayer-request will be treated in the strictest confidence, and each   prayer-chain operates independently from the other, and from the prayer-meetings.  You may wish to have all members of the chain praying for you, or perhaps just one or two.  If you want to be known just by your first name, that is also fine. 

Please contact either Anne (Kn.652938) or Elizabeth (Kn.650696).