Strange words to begin with when we watch the news and hear so many negative statistics about past, present and future. Our word for today is ADOPTION. This week 75 years ago the war against Europe was over. There was celebration, people smiled again and got together in London and in street parties and even though the war had changed lives there was an air of SO GOOD. The people adopted the future and sang, not for the first time ‘We’ll meet again’.

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ADOPTION for a child can mean a change of life, both for the children and for the families who have ADOPTED them with hope for all; SO GOOD.

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A few months ago, my daughter saw an advertisement for a cat, free to a good home. When I returned from a short break, I discovered we had ADOPTED a beautiful cat, and our lives changed. Nala, the cat, without words shows us what she doesn’t like and what she likes. She rules our lives. Not always SO GOOD but even better!

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Recently I was given a book in which the author, a Christian with a family, had hit a time of darkness and was ill for a while. Later with his family he ADOPTED a small child and through the ADOPTION he realised what it meant in ROMANS 8. V. 22-24 about wanting to be ADOPTED by God. People of faith need help in their lives to have hope. The HOLY SPIRIT is the first gift and it says that from that gift and even through suffering we know that there is still better to come, and we seek it eagerly.

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ADOPTION by God, given through Jesus changes our lives, takes us with our problems and loves us completely.

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PRAYER FOR THE WEEK

Heavenly and giving Lord,
As our thoughts go to the past when people of our country gave their lives to save others and sang, ‘We’ll meet again’, we thank you Father that you gave your Son’s life that we could be free. We bring to You our memories and the memories of those who were there when the war ended. Our thoughts go to the present, when through the necessity of lockdown we are apart from our loved ones, so that others loved by their families working in caring will be safe and their lives will be saved as they will be singing, ‘We’ll meet again’. Our thoughts go to the future and our prayers are that we will be together, ADOPTED children of God, drawn together in His love. We pray thanks and hope that those words we began with will be used: SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD. AMEN