Today at our Parent & Toddler group we are celebrating World Book Day by dressing up as favourite book characters and by having an opportunity to buy quality children’s books from Scholastic Books. We don’t meet on Thursdays and couldn’t celebrate on the ‘proper’ day, so it’s happening today… which is also International Women’s Day. Sunday is Mothering Sunday in the UK, so there’s a plethora of ‘celebrations’ to choose from!

Generally I get a bit tired of these ‘special’ days’, seeing commercialism and money-making as the chief reason behind them. I don’t believe people should be celebrated on just one day a year when their contributions to life are just as valid as on other days, nor do I like the pressure on people to conform, to fit in, and to do so by spending money!

So please come along today as you are – you’re welcome whether you’re in fancy dress or not, whether you buy any books or not, whether you’re a Mum, Dad, Grandma or any other relative or carer. You’re just welcome, as are your children.

We think you’re wonderful, and most importantly, so does God. So come and enjoy the fun, but don’t worry if today’s not ‘special’ for you or you’re running on empty. Don’t worry if your children have been screaming since 4 a.m. and you just want to run away. Come and let us fill you up with toast and drinks and a place to chat.

:Looking after children is a thankless job. It’s full-on, demanding, never has a pay rise and has working conditions that would never meet the requirements of any employment tribunal. It’s relentless, repetitive and mostly routine – but it’s also the most important and rewarding job in the world (albeit with rewards you won’t see for about twenty years if you’re lucky.) We get it. It’s why Parent & Toddler groups exist – to share the load! Come along today between 9 and 11 a.m. We might even have buns and flowers to remind you that you really are special!

Today’s household object is the fridge-freezer and our Bible passage is Luke 12:16-21.

Not only do I remember the coal fire in my grandparents’ house, I also remember the pantry, a large long room which was always cold, so as to keep food fresh. In the days before fridge-freezers, the pantry was essential for preservation of food; my grandmother used to shop daily because it was impossible to keep food fresh all week. Nowadays, with the arrival of the fridge-freezer, we can keep and store food for months at a time, which greatly helps to reduce our workload.

Like the rich man in this parable, we in the West have an abundance of food and can store food for long periods of time. This is not the case in many other countries, and even in England, there are those who struggle to have enough food to live a week at a time, with food banks being used to help people who are struggling in this area. We do well to reflect on our abundance and to think of ways to use what we have to help others rather than simply accumulating more ourselves. God is concerned about justice and commands us to be generous towards the needy. We need to practise generosity, and not simply see our possessions as serving us.

Today’s household object is the vacuum cleaner and the Bible passage is Luke 10:38-42, a passage that always resonates with me as I see the choices made by sisters Martha and Mary and realise the importance of spiritual priorities in a busy world full of things to do.

Keeping a house neat and tidy is something that some people really enjoy, but which most of us find quite tedious, no matter what labour-saving devices have been invented to help us. The vacuum cleaner is one such device, but no matter how many ‘aids’ we have, we still feel the pressure of juggling work outside the house, work inside the house , cooking, looking after family members and God! We have sympathy with the flustered Martha who is busy trying to cook and keep her guests happy whilst her sister simply sits at the feet of Jesus, and often find it hard to juggle our busy schedules, resenting those who tell us that prayer and Bible study are important.

Jesus made it clear that spiritual priorities have to be at the top of the list, however, and it really is a case of learning to prioritise. It’s also clear from the Bible that there is no spiritual/ secular divide in the way we often perceive it. The hymn ‘Teach me, my God and King’ by George Herbert makes this plain:

‘Teach me, my God and King,

In all things Thee to see,

And do what I do in anything

To do it as for Thee.’

Even our ‘mundane’ service using the vacuum cleaner can be an offering to God – and certainly, such devices make our lives a lot easier than our forefathers’!

Today’s household object is the washing machine and our Bible passage is Exodus 19:9-14.

In Moses’ time, clothes-washing was a symbol of cleanliness and of marking a special occasion. Moses tells the people to wash their clothes in preparation for the third day, so that when the Lord comes down the mountain, they will be ready with clean garments. In Revelation 7:14 we are told that those who have come out of the tribulation have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The paradox of blood making something clean reminds us of the paradox of the gospel.

Nowadays, washing clothes is much easier than it used to be because of the washing-machine, but the idea of washing reminds us firstly of dirt (and sin) and reminds us that it is through Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross and subsequent rising on the third day that we are made clean. We need reminders throughout our lives that cleansing is not only necessary but has now been made possible.