There was as air of celebration in the Village Hall at the December Squeeze Breakfast Club. The hall piano had been put in place beside the stage, and with our own musicians at the ready, we were all set for a carol sing-along. Word sheets scattered over the individual tables made it very easy to join in or choose a favourite, or just listen. Table decorations of winter greenery and tinsel strips added to the festivity, and breakfast included mince pies.

Two of the younger girls sang a version of The Holly and the Ivy from their school Christmas programme. There was no music to hand so they bravely sang unaccompanied.

At the handicraft tables there was the usual choice of activities. The younger boys and older men were drawn to the glass painting. Long-necked, dark blue bottles made a good ground for metallic paint. It is surprising how effective smudges of gold paint applied with a crumpled piece of tissue paper can be; even close-up they looked very much like a pattern of roses. The candles were also painted in similar style.

The mums tended to gather around the table decorations. Holly, ivy, even partly-open buds of pink carnations, deftly assembled into professional-looking centres for the Christmas table

Our Breakfast Club fell on the Second Sunday in Advent so we again lit a candle, this time on a cross made by one of our lady members, and decorated with alternate white and green rosettes. Pastor Jim Beveridge pointed out that the light represents Our Lord Jesus as the Light of the World. There is a general expectation that white is good, but when we pass white light through a prism, an amazing thing happens – it divides into the colours of the rainbow. Pastor Jim likened this marvel to the effect that Jesus brings into the lives of those who put their trust in Him. The ‘ordinary’ aspects of each of those lives are turned into extraordinary events as the Light of Jesus flows through us and touches the lives of others.