Page 15 - February 2016 Issue 301

FEBRUARY 2016
THE NEW COUNTESTHORPE HERALD 15
Countesthorpe
Methodist Church
Notes from Sheila Howell & Angie Skerritt
By the time you’re reading this Twelfth Night will have passed, the Christmas decorations will be put away and Christmas will be over for another year. But the good news of Christmas is not only for twelve days, not only for the Bank Holiday, but it is for every day of every year.
CHRISTMAS
We were delighted that the children and staff from Greenfield Primary School were able to take part in our Christmas
Tree Festival and we do thank them very much for coming. They were fantastic! They sang and played the Christmas message to a packed chapel; parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends all enjoying their performance and then staying to admire the different Christmas trees and partaking of seasonal refreshments.
Our Carol Service was led by members of our church family; all ages took part re-telling the story of the first Christmas through the eyes of those involved. It was very well received as were the cups of tea and mince pies afterwards!
Our own minister, David, led our Christmas morning service, always popular with our church families; including three generations of three families celebrating together. The collection on Christmas morning was added to the Carol Service collection and we were able to send over £250 to the charity ‘Action for Children’.
NEW YEAR
So now we look forward – and this year we look forward to 366 days! 2016 is a Leap Year. A Leap Year occurs every 4 years to help synchronize the calendar year with the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit around the sun, which is slightly less (11 minutes less to be precise) than 3651⁄4 days. To compensate for these missing minutes the Leap Year is omitted three times every 400 years. The chances of being born on 29th February are 1 in 1,500. Traditionally, of course, it is the year when ladies can take the initiative and ‘pop the question’.
SNOW
January and February are usually the coldest months of the year - the months during which we are most likely to experience snow. Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but when they stick together they can reshape landscapes. Sometimes we as Christians may feel a little fragile but it occurs to us that, if we stand together, sharing the Good News of Christmas in our daily lives, perhaps we too can ‘reshape landscapes’.
A quote by Russian authoress Anne Sophie Swetchine “Let our lives be pure as snowfields, where our footsteps leave a mark, but not a stain”.
AND FINALLY ...
a cracker type joke:
A lady went into a Post Office to buy stamps for her Christmas cards. ‘Which denomination?’ asked the clerk. ‘Oh goodness!’ said the lady ‘has it come to this? Well, I’d better have 25 Methodist ones and 25 Church of England ones please!’
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