This morning the power went off at church, at least most of it did.  And of course Toddlers were in, so a cold church is not a good idea.  Amazingly the power in the kitchen survived so they could get hot drinks (well their mums/carers could) and they were happy to carry on, sitting in their coats while the children raced round having fun.

Meanwhile I checked every trip switch, every circuit board, every breaker... phoned people to find where the extra ones might be hidden and now know far more about the church power supplies than I ever wished to know!

Having checked everything at least twice, I ventured over the road to the coffee shop to discover they had the same scenario - but just as I reached the counter, zap the power came back on... You either got the power or you don't!  For that moment I did.

Been an interesting week... the heating (now sorted) the 'external hazard' of snow load in the roof (still monitoring; I'll write the book one day) and now the 'loss of grid'.  Keeps me entertained, holds all my past and present together in a way only God can do, and just shows those who said to me either 'maybe God's calling you to be a missionary engineer' or 'fancy that, God usually calls people from caring professions not industry' that actually God does know what the church (or those churches I get called to) needs... a girlie rev who's not phased by the realities of Victorian barns.

Planning for our Carol Service is well in hand and it's going to be great.  One tricky bit is my desire that we find a poem that gives a Joseph perspective on the annunciation (and beyond) - perhaps based on the dream he had in which he was told not to divorce Mary.  A trawl of my poem books and the web has turned up nothing suitable, and the general response from the networks into which my co-planner has links is 'hmm, that's an interesting idea' (or words to that effect).

I'm not asking people to write something for us, I am just wondering it anyone knows of anything already published that we could use?  We don't want twee and we don't want too heavy... so it's a simple task...

If you can help please leave a comment.

Thank you.

As I sit at my computer, the red sandstone of the tenement opposite glows a warm hue in the afternoon sun, and the chimney pots stand stark agasint a clear blue winter sky - it is a beautiful day here in Glasgow.

Despite the best efforts of the snow, the bus companies and coucil gritting department we filled our cosy back room with people (about 16 I think, I didn't count) for our first lunch time reflection for Advent.  It was a lovely space amidst all the busyness of the day, time to slow down and focus beyond ourselves.

The Promise of Advent is some material linked to the Millennium Development Goals, using some stunning art work by the artist He Qi.  I have to admit that I altered the resource material a bit to fit the flow of what we wanted, but it seemed to work, and prompted some very moving and wide-ranging prayer for the most vulnerable people, some people knew personally, others we know of as statistics.

We shared a lovely lunch and lots of good conversations before people braved the cold to go about the rest of their daily business, and we collected a useful sum for Christian Aid.

The promise of our Advent is good, as, together, we journey towards Christmas.

December 1st, the day we are invited to remember the scourge that is HIV/AIDS.

With no cure, and with lots of new cases emerging worldwide all the time, this is one of the big killers in some of the world's poorest and most vulnerbale communities.  Whatever the transmission route, be it breast milk, be it shared needles, be it unsafe sex, there are real human stories behind the data, and plenty of innocent victims of other people's choices.

According to the AVERT website there are around 100,000 people in the UK living with HIV/AIDS - that's one heck of a lot of families... makes you think.

Off shortly to the pub to sup coffee, as one does.  Well our coffee club does anyway.  It is interesting to see how a crowd attracts a crowd... when we began supping coffee the pub was usually empty, now there are loads of other people.

Next week a couple of dozen folk will be sharing a pre-Christmas lunch, time to enjoy good company and good food in convivial surroundings, alleviating isolation and loneliness.

The week after (snow loading on 'doomed roof' permitting) we will be meeting at church for 'carols and a cuppa' and hoping a few other folk will take part too.

As the year draws to its close it is good to look back at the good this group has achieved, people sharing and caring, and now bringing light into the dullness of winter days.

There are some who feel this is not 'kosher' as we don't have a 'message' or pray overtly or sing hymns.  This doesn't worry me because I can see the good it achieves, and the needs it meets.  Anyway, I reckon JC would enjoy the odd not-so-good latte in the pub and a good laugh with friends.

All good stuff.