I’m told, in a cold winter, February can prove to be the coldest month of the winter – time will tell. Some notable dates spring out of February’s short 28 days. It is a month of anticipation. As the days lengthen we reach out in our thoughts to the coming springtime.

Pancakes make a brief appearance on the 13th; although they are so deliciously popular, they now spread across the entire year. I’m missing Lunch Club on that day with its pancake celebrations!

For the romantics among us, watch out for the 14th which is Valentine’s Day – don’t forget the surprise of love! This is the day when supposedly the world of nature sorts out its ‘partner’ matters for the coming season.

A sort of countdown for Easter also begins on the 14th: Ash Wednesday. As the 40 day journey begins, it encourages us to reflect on what God has done for us in the gift of Jesus. In the Gospel stories we meet the Jesus who brings God’s love into the lives of ordinary people as he meets and heals the sick, as he shares heaven’s generosity, as he lifts the burdens of the guilty and brings light to those who are fumbling and stumbling in darkness. This Jesus taught heaven’s values and priorities and how to live God-focussed and God-blessed lives. He shared how, to God, each was special and loved in ways that went beyond expectation.

While all this was happening, each day marked a step closer to Easter. Together let’s journey these precious days contemplating and marvelling that all this is an outpouring of God’s love for us.

We continue to lift up each other in prayer for we realise that many within the church family and beyond are in pain, sadness and anxiety: may you all know the blessings of God’s love to heal, to comfort and to grant you peace.

Blessings and love

Norman