Our younger son, Dominic, used to do all his Christmas shopping during our autumn half-term holiday. When we got home he would wrap it carefully and stow all the parcels away in his bedside chest. Then, between the end of October and Christmas he would take them all out at regular intervals and review them – no doubt in excited anticipation of the joy they would give to the recipients.

I wonder if God felt the same when he was planning the greatest gift of all? I wonder if he waited in joyful anticipation to see how we would receive the gift of Jesus? People had been talking of a Messiah, a Saviour, for centuries and at last they were to receive just what they thought they wanted. But you know how it is – sometimes the things we have most wanted don’t live up to expectation. They are the wrong colour or the wrong model or just not as exciting as we expected. Often the most unusual looking packages – the things we may not have chosen at all – give a lifetime’s joy and satisfaction.

Of course, nobody would have dreamt of expressing disappointment with the gifts Dominic had so carefully chosen and wrapped. Indeed, it was generally not necessary to hide any disappointment for he was a thoughtful little boy.

How hard it must be for God, though, to see what has been made of His great gift – the baby Jesus. Well it certainly wasn’t what many people hoped for – no warrior King about the baby in the manger. In fact the present was in such an unexpected wrapper that many people didn’t recognize it at all as the gift they wanted. Some people had a bit of a look at it then ignored it, some tried it out for a short time but it didn’t seem to work the way they wanted it to so they gave up, others were so cross that it wasn’t what they wanted that they tried to destroy it completely. How sad that so many fail to recognize that the unexpected gift, the total surprise, generally turns out best – especially when given by someone who really loves us and knows us well!

I was given an unexpected present recently – and it is proving to be brilliant. It is a copy of the book ‘The Shack’ written by Wm Paul Young. If you want to think further about the focus of this ‘letter’, I suggest you try adding the book to your Christmas ‘Wish list’ – if you have such a thing!

I wish you all a joyful and blessed Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Jo

All Christian people

The people of the Holy Land

Peace between nations

This is the title of a new CD of Carols for Christmas and Advent produced by the Concord Singers and recorded in Turvey Church. It features our church organ played by Paul Edwards. I have copies for sale at the price of £10. Please let me know if you would like one.

Jo Spray

Last months coffee morning at Grove Farm House raised £209 towards church funds. A big thank you to Rod and Carol Petty for hosting a very enjoyable event and to everyone who helped with and supported it. There is no coffee morning in December. The first one of 2009 will be held on Saturday 10th January, at Barton Homes.

A Programme of Music and Readings for Advent & Christmas at All Saints' Church, Turvey on Saturday 13th December. 7.30 p.m.

Tickets £7 (concessions £5) including Mulled Wine & Mince Pies

Available from Central Stores,Turvey, Corner Store, Turvey, or by telephoning 01234 881619

See amid the winter snow,
Born for us on earth below;
See the tender lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.

Hail, thou ever-blessed morn;
Hail, redemptions happy dawn;
Sing through all Jerusalem,
Christ is born in Bethlehem.

Adam and Eve had an ideal marriage. He didn’t have to hear about all the men she could have married, and she didn’t have to hear about the way his mother cooked.

Be gentle with the earth

My Oath to you..
When you are sad I will dry your tears.
When you are scared I will comfort your fears.<
When you are worried I will give you hope.
When you are confused I will help you cope.<
And when you are lost and cannot see the light, I shall be your beacon shining ever so bright.
This is my oath, I pledge till the end.

Why you may ask? Because you’re my friend
Signed God

I woke up on a fluffy cloud
The birds were singing sweet and loud
A pathway lay in front of me
Little I did know
It led out to the cloud of gold<
It had a signpost saying "sold"
Jesus bought it at his birth<
He was the ruler of the earth<
I walked down the path
Into the golden palace
God greeted me past the gates
In heaven there stood all his mates

Victoria Woods aged 8

Profile by Cindy Woods

Claire was born in Liverpool in 1976 and attended the local schools until the age of eighteen. After leaving school she went to Glasgow University to study Law after which due to ill health she moved back home and did a course in criminology locally in Liverpool. Her Mum and Dad had their own business working as financial advisors and her Dad still works for and runs the company. Claire has one brother who lives in Wimbledon with his wife and two sons, he is a deputy Head Teacher. Claire says that she and her brother had a stable and privileged upbringing compared to lots of children.

After her course in criminology Claire went to work in Kenya as an outreach worker working with street kids in a large slum area. It was while working here that she got engaged to Ian who was also working in Africa for a company based in Sudan. After leaving Kenya in 2000 Claire came back to Liverpool to get married. She and Ian met in their local church in Liverpool and decided to come back to get married in the same church. Ian’s parents are Australian and Ian spent a lot of time there as a child so after they were married they decided to go and live in Sydney for a while where Ian worked for the Salvation Army, Claire also worked for the Salvation Army for a while and also for Roche, the Pharmaceutical company.

On their return to England in 2002 Ian got offered a place to study International Development in Swansea, Wales. Claire worked in the Child Protection Department for the local authority. While in Swansea an opening came up for Ian to work for World Vision in Milton Keynes so they upped sticks once again and moved to Turvey when they found that Chantry cottage was for up for rent. How many more times do you intend to move Claire? Since moving here Ian heads up the disaster and emergency team for World vision and travels a lot with his job. Claire is presently a full time Mum to two girls, Anya (four) and Keziah (eighteen months) although she tells me she is hoping to go back to study next September. Turvey is now home and Claire has many good friends here and feels very settled.

Claire has an interest in helping people and with that in mind she and Ian set up their own charity to help two little orphans she met while working as an outreach worker in Kenya. They and their family support these children and pay for them to attend school in Kenya. They are now 12 and 14 years of age.

Claire’s hobbies include running, swimming, and reading. Claire used to play the violin at school but has not played since. She and her brother used to swim for the county and swam every day up to the age of fourteen. Claire says she became a Christian when she was baptised at the age of fifteen. Since Sarah Beecham left Little Lights in 2004 Claire has helped to run Little Lights with Cathy. Also since 2004 she has helped to run Turvey Toddlers. Claire hopes to run a half marathon next year to raise funds for Addenbrooks intensive care unit which looked after Keziah when she was little.

In 2006 the family went to Australia for five weeks to visit family and had a great time. Claire was off on her travels again earlier this month when she and her Mother and Godmother went to New York to have fun and do loads of Christmas shopping. I secretly think she needed a break from the two girls who can be hard work at times. She had a great time. Good on you Claire! This past year has been pretty tough for Claire. However, she firmly believes God’s grace is sufficient for each day.

Due to our dwindling intercession rota we could do with a few volunteers for 2009. If you would like to read the prayers, either for the communion services or for the family service please contact me 888849, it is really easy and I have lots of material to help you! Cindy

There was a man who had worked hard and saved all his life and was a bit of a miser with his money. Just before he died he made his wife promise to take all his money and place it in the coffin to be buried with him, so that he could take it to the afterlife with him. As he was in his coffin during the undertaker’s ceremony the wife dutifully came over with a box and put it in the coffin. Then the undertaker screwed down the lid and rolled it away for burial. Her friend said, "were you fool enough to put all that money in there with your husband"? The loyal wife said "I’m a Christian, I can’t go back on my word and I promised him". "You mean to tell me that you put all that money in the coffin with him"? "I sure did" said the wife, "I got it all together, put it into my bank account and wrote him a cheque, if he can cash it, he can spend it"!

The church will be decorated for Christmas on the morning of Monday the 22nd December and after midday on Tuesday 23rd. If you can help, please let Anne Claypole White (881661) know. We would welcome contributions of holly, ivy (especially variegated) and other Christmas foliage which may be left at the back of the church, preferably on the Monday morning.

So glad this was before my time.

Submitted by Cindy Woods

Next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about England in the 1500’s.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelt pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children—last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it, hence the saying "don’t throw the baby out with the bath water".

Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for the animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals and bugs lived on the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall of the roof—hence the saying "it’s raining cats and dogs".

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed, a bed with big post and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying "dirt poor". The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway—hence a "thresh hold".

In those days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while—hence the rhyme "peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot, nine days old". Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon". They would cut off a little to share with guests and would sit around and "chew the fat".

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so tomatoes were considered poisonous. Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made of stale bread, which was so old and hard that they could be used for quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms and mould got into the old bread. After eating off wormy mouldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth".

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests the top, or "upper crust". Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait to see if they would wake up hence the custom of holding a "wake".

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people so they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone house" and reuse the grave. When re-opening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive so they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the graveyard all night "the graveyard shift" to listen for the bell: thus, someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a "dead ringer".