Beneath the surface

One of the exciting things about moving to a new house is seeing what springs up in the garden throughout the year. If you have passed the vicarage during the last few months you may have seen a bit of a change? It was a 'little' overgrown and we were a bit ruthless when it came to chopping things down and cutting things back. Now...I enjoy pottering about in the garden and Chris like to keep a nice lawn but we don't really profess to be 'gardeners'! We do like to see a nice garden though and over the past week or two, with the weather being a bit milder, we did manage to clear a few more weeds. Winter had seen a lot of the growth disappear and so I was thrilled when lots of daffodils appeared in the back garden. Only a few days ago, I tidied up the area in front of the patio window at the front of the house. To my amazement, this morning we have some lovely red flowers. According to the little app I have on my phone, the plant is a 'Japanese camellia'. There was no sign of these flowers other day!

We never know, do we, what is going on under the surface? It is the same in people's lives. We often put on a 'front' because that is what we think people might want to see. Ask how someone is and more often than not, the answer that comes back is 'fine'! We all do it. But are we really fine? Just like the roots of the plants and trees in our gardens, our feelings run deep. They are there, often deeply hidden and they never surface to see the light of day. And that's where God comes in. We can't say 'fine' to God, because he already knows how we are feeling. We can't hide anything from him - and we can talk to him. We can tell him anything and guess what? He understands. He's right there with us and he knows what we are going through. He feels our pain because he's been there and he knows all about pain and loss. I have often taken comfort from the following reading:

For he has said,
‘I will never leave you or forsake you.’ 

So we can say with confidence,

‘The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?’

Hebrews 13:5-6

We're fast approaching Palm Sunday. It's going to be a bit different this year and so we won't be gathering in the town suare or processing publicly to church. We won't be handing out palm crosses or gathering together to worship in church. Instead, I would like to encourage you to make your own palm cross (you can find a video on how to make one here) and to join our service online where the palm crosses will be blessed spiritually.  

Full details of how to join the Palm Sunday online service can be found on our church's 

'A Church Near You website - https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/6880/).