Dear Congregations
What a busy summer it’s been! I think we have been really lucky with the weather – most days it actually felt like summer! My family and I had a lovely time. I always enjoy the summer, because then I get to spend lots of time with my boys (all 3 of them!). This summer Andre’s mum visited us with the purpose of babysitting, so we could work. But we also took her on a wee trip up North and she absolutely loved it! She thinks that Scotland is the most beautiful country in the world.Then of course there was the hugely successful Holiday Club (which I enjoyed just as much as all the kids who attended) and we also had a trip to the south of France – lots of adventures there! Hope you had a good summer too.
My younger son, Nehan, started school after the summer, and Henro is in P3 this year. Where has the time gone?! André is still enjoying very much being minister at Kirknewton & East Calder, and I am absolutely loving being the minister here in our parishes!
Since everything is back to normal now, I would just like to share a few administrative details with you. From 23rd September onwards in school term time, I will have office hours once a week at both churches. This is an opportunity for people to see me locally (due to the fact that manse is in East Calder). I will do this for a trial period up to the Christmas holidays, and then review the situation. So every Tuesday, from 10:30 – 12:00, I will be at Polbeth Harwood, and every Wednesday from 10:30 – 12:00, I will be at the West Kirk. Please pop in for a cuppa and a blether!
I have an open door policy – please feel free to contact me any time about anything. I now have my own telephone number in the manse: 01506 884 802. André and I have decided to take a Monday as our day off – but please don’t hesitate to contact me in a crisis.
I’m looking forward to this new session ahead of us, and I hope all of you are too! Time goes by so quickly, we should really make the most of every single minute. Just like all the farmers are making use of the good weather to get their harvests in, we, as children on God, should do the exact same thing. My boys LOVE looking at the tractors pulling huge trailers full of hay bales – “wow mummy, that’s awesome!” they would say every single time we see one!
In Proverbs 20:4 we read: “A sluggard does not plough in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing.” That should never be true of us. As labourers in the fields of God, let’s sow the seeds of faith everywhere we go – starting right now – so God’s harvest can be plentiful.
May God bless us all to do just that!
Nanda