Dear Friends,

Here we are in the winter season. One of the many things I enjoy is thinking and planning what to do in the garden. Somehow, I find myself doing something I never done before, harvesting seeds from plants that have flowered at the end of this season. I have given myself a challenge to share some harvested sweet pea seeds with my grandchildren to plant in the spring and Grandpa Ian will be on hand, at a distance, to give them some help through the summer. As we live through each season winter, spring, summer, and autumn I am reminded of the words of John’s Gospel 12 v24, where Jesus says ‘I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. In Matthew the Parable of the Sower talks about four different types of soil that the seeds fell on and how the seeds developed, and Jesus relates this to our response to the Bible. We can also look at it from another perspective, the Sower is always generous sowing the seeds, God’s love for us is a miracle, welcoming all into his family.

Another interest I have is photography but until recently when I did a little bit of research into my family tree, I was unaware that my great grandfather was a professional photographer in Kirkintilloch in Scotland. I have some of his old black and white photographs which I will treasure. At the end of each minister’s letter, I plan to share a photograph I have taken for your enjoyment. There is always a funny story behind each photograph, so when you next see me, you can ask me what is the story behind the footprint in the sand.

Some of you may be familiar with the poem of the footprints in the sand, written by an unknown author.

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
“Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You’d walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don’t understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.”

He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testing’s.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

Blessings from

Revd Ian Forsyth