It is often difficult to sustain a lot of energy through to the end of January, but I found today's service energetic and energizing.  The children's choir sang well, and it is always a treat to hear their young voices singing.  I particularly enjoyed the theatrical reading of the exchange between Jesus and Peter, with the contemporary language applied to the notion of making "fishers of men".  The children's story Christine offered was lovely as well.  I too love the game where little children jump into the water and are caught by their parents - thinking about that made me think of summer afternoons when our children were very small, and the joy we used to all find in what we called "crazy jumping", a major past-time of our family's.  It is a charming and comforting analogy to think of the love of God as something as certain and present as a parent waiting to catch a child at a pool, and this is an image I will take with me into the week, and into February...

Rebecca B.