Goodhand in Banbury

 Our five year old grandson has been diagnosed with being coeliac which explains a lot in that his growth has slowed down and so we are thankful we now know that there is something we can actively do to help. As I enjoy cooking and baking the challenge is on to make 'Gluten Free' (GF) foods for him, not least Gluten Free Bread as he is a bread lover, especially granddads. So we now have GF mince pies, Yorkshire Puddings and with a change to a recipe some excellent GF biscuits which he likes oh and some GF chocolate brownies. I did make a first batch of bread only to discover that the yeast was not GF so it couldn't be used. It's going to take us sometime to adapt what we do to ensure we enable him to be GF while seeking to make it as normal as possible. Key will always be making sure you don't cross contaminate foods when preparing them. I now have an app to check purchases to ensure they are GF. During lockdown when we were able to return to 'in person worship&

Luke 1: 26-38   In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee,   to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.   The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”  Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.     But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favour with God.   You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.     He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David,   and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”   “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”   The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be

  It seems a little ironic that we found ourselves sitting in St Gabriel, Aldersbrook, Wanstead for a Carol service on Sunday evening. It seems like a long way to go for such a service. Well our London family have moved church and Emily has been part of the childrens choir. While we couldn't make the Christingle we were able to head to London promptly on Sunday so we could be there for the service and see her sing in the choir.  The Church is a traditional Anglo-Catholic parish that clearly has a tradition of a choir helping to lead worship. So it was a delight to sit in a fairly full church to share in a candle lit service of carols readings and poetry for Christmas. There were lots of families present which was good to see. The parish priest seems like a very gentle individual who is clearly seeking to engage with the wider community. He's tried a pop up church for families with small children to messy church etc. It is good to know that people are willing to try these things

Mary’s Song Luke 1: 46-55 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord      and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has been mindful      of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed,      for the Mighty One has done great things for me—      holy is his name.  His mercy extends to those who fear him,      from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;      he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones      but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things      but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel,      remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever,      just as he promised our ancestors.”   We make our prayers for ourselves and world in the light of Mary’s Song   Let us pray God our creator we thank you   that in fulfilling your promise to come you touched the earth with Your Gr

 Sunday evening and somewhere near 200 people gathered to listen to 'The Milltown Singers' Christmas concert. The choir about 120 people gave a wonderful and varied programme of full choir, solos and group numbers.  They are fortunate to have an excellent musical director in Mike which shows as the standard of singing was very high. The evening was an added bonus as two daughters Lizzie (up from London for the occasion) and Rachel could join me in the audience to see what their mum has been doing. What a turn around from all those years when we attended to watch them in choirs and orchestras.  Of course amongst all the music we had to have an appearance of a Hippopotamus as the choir sang all I want for Christmas is a Hippopotamus. Choirs are amazing for bringing people together. It's all about teamwork. Just watching people really enjoying singing and an audience really enjoying their singing served as a reminder, if I really needed it, as to how important music is to our

 What a really cold start to a Saturday. It made us feel like staying in the warmth. However, when we went outside we were treated to some amazing sights like this web hanging off our repurposed wheelbarrow. In fact everywhere we travelled we were greeted by spider webs beautifully decked in white. We had to go out because one of our grandsons pre-school had their nativity. 'Come to the party' being the theme and he was Jospeh. So with a  simple script and songs they celebrated the coming of Jesus. Looking around and listening to the parents singing along I was struck by the sense of this being a diverse community. Plus I think the children could have sat down and watched their parents, many of whom seemed more than eager to sing the songs and tell the story than the children. This of course begs the question Who was the nativity really for?  Later in the day a question was asked about remembering being in a nativity. I honestly couldn't think of one at school or church tho

Popping into the weekly Thursday communion we were led in an Advent (slightly early by three days) communion service. One of the passages of scripture read was ...  Matthew 24: 42-44 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this : if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would have not let his house be broken into. So you must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. As the reflection began my mind did not so much wander but ponder on the need to keep watch.  If the IDF (Israeli Defence Force) had been keeping better watch on the border much of the horrors perpetrated on 7th October would have been halted. Time and an investigation into what went wrong may reveal what future actions need to be taken, though a lasting just peace would resolve that. Of course there should not be the need for people to watch for potential trouble