At this time of the year it is very easy to feel a bit down and depressed. The summer is over, the time has changed and it is dark very early! The leaves are coming off the trees and the garden needs raked. There has been a lot of rain but it has been fairly mild, helping to keep the fuel bills down. And of course Christmas is coming!!!!
For good measure I will reach the grand age of 60 before Christmas gets here.
A mixture of good and bad, happy and sad. But personally, I love Christmas with all the trimmings (except the shopping), I see my birthday as just another number and a day closer to eternity, and the autumn brings such lovely colours to the trees. And next summer my son Gareth is getting married to Alison in a little old church miles from anywhere but surrounded by the lovely highlands of Scotland. When we took Sarah over to Glasgow in September, Marlyn and I took a trip up to Huntly and saw the church, had a wee look where the reception will be, and called at possible accommodation for some of the guests including us. How about staying in a hunting lodge frequented by the late Queen mother, and sleep in a room used by the infamous Mrs. Simpson. Maybe, maybe not.
What I do know for sure is that wherever we stay for the wedding, it will be good because we will be there to celebrate and to enjoy the company of family and friends for a while. Because family is important and good friends are special. So as the future unfolds, could I dare to offer some advice. If you have fallen out with a family member, do your best to resolve the problem. If friends have deserted you, hold out the hand of friendship and only say positive things to them and about them. And allow the family of God, the church, to be a support and strength. As a Church we constantly get things wrong, but we always want to show the love of Christ to all we come into contact with. And finally remember above all that YOU are the most precious person to God, because he loves each one of us as if we are the last person alive on this earth. You are loved very very much.
God bless
Adam