Recently a few of us went to a Prayer Conference at Willersley Castle and there was an opportunity to share testimony of what God had been doing in the past year. David, whom we did not know, shared a meditation which were words that God gave him. He claimed no credit other than that he was the hand that picked up the biro and wrote. At a Circuit prayer-event there were pieces of a jigsaw which those attending were invited to pick up and write on their names.

David is a scientist and writes factual reports. These are the words that flew into his mind, and he knew it was from God.

"I see a box of jigsaw pieces. I pick one piece up and look at it. There are colours on it representing a part of a big picture. I cannot see the big picture, God can. He painted it… I look again at my piece. It has parts reaching out to others. It has parts to receive the reaching-out parts of others. Put these giving and receiving parts together and there is a joining. I look again at my piece. It has three colours. On their own they mean very little but I know God's paintbrush has been my way. He has made me to be part of His picture. I will be content to be what He has made me. I will be content to be placed where He wants and to fit into His picture. Let the pieces come together".

These words spoke to me very powerfully. I have struggled in the past about my inadequacies, and have not had any prominent role in the church. God has told me that all I needed was His approval, not man's, and that I am in the place where He wants me to be.

This meditation said to me that as individuals in the body of Christ we need the support of each other, and that when the Holy Spirit gives us gifts they are not for us individually but for the building up of the Church. As the body of Christ we each have a part to play. Some have bigger parts and some smaller.

It has been very important to me to belong to a House-group. For others it might be the Ladies Fellowship, Focus or some small gathering. In our group we are all special to each other. We are different in age and personality and have grown together, but we miss each other if one is absent.

It is important that we accept and encourage each other and, above all, love each other as Christ loves us.

So if one piece of the jigsaw is missing, the jigsaw is incomplete and so this tells me that we are all special to God and each has a part to play. So it is with all of us at Knutsford Methodist Church.