Shadows on a wall

There was a lot of laughter coming from one corner of the Village Hall at the Squeeze Breakfast Club on 6th June. Volunteers were being silhouetted by a projector lamp onto white paper. Each victim then cut round his or her shadow, mounted it on black paper, and wrote five clues to their identity. Silhouettes and clues were then collected for future use, no doubt with more peals of laughter. Banner-making continued from the June Club meeting, with a couple of Mums enjoying a good chat as they stitched. But the handicraft which attracted the most attention was decorating large shells and pebbles.

Melting your heart of stone

Pastor Jim Beveridge seized on the pebbles as an illustration for his three-pronged Topical Talk. First he took a piece of bread in one hand and a rough stone in the other, and reminded us of the Devil tempting Jesus in the wilderness, and Our Lord’s reply that man does not live by bread/food alone “but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Luke ch4,v4), underlining the immense love God has for each one of us as individuals.
But before we accept God’s gift of His love, we are like rough stones. If we try to skim a rough stone across the sea, as soon as the uneven surface strikes the water, it will sink; just as we do when we struggle against the trials of life in our own strength, said Jim. But God the Father, who loves us just as we are, will pour the protection of His smoothing love over us when we let Him into our lives. Then we shall be more able to skim across life’s problems, rather then sink under them, and overflow with blessing to others. Better still, God “will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel ch36 v26). Realising that a heart of flesh might frighten the children, Pastor Jim demonstrated this softening by producing a bag of marshmallows, and later handed them round.
When Susan Boyle presented herself before the judges of “Britain’s
Got Talent she did not look like a star. But when she sang “I dreamed a dream…” from the heart, she melted hearts. God wants us to share His dream for us, said Pastor Jim as he led us in a prayer, asking for forgiveness, and for Jesus to come into the heart of each life.

Questions with no answer

David’s contribution included a collection of unanswerable questions:

• Why does the sun lighten our hair but darken our skin?
• Why can’t women put on mascara with their mouths closed?
• Why do you never see the headline “Psychic wins lottery.”?
• Why is it called lipstick if you can still move your lips?
• Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavour, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
• Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Squeeze Breakfast Club is held in the Village Hall on the first Sunday in each month from 10am. until 12.00. All ages are welcome, whole families from grand- parents to babes in arms, and those who are on their own. Breakfast is provided from 10am. The next dates are: July 5th, August.2nd and September 6th. The morning closes at 12 noon.