Goodness Weekly 12.18.23

Dec 18

“Nothing is yet in its true form.”
― C.S. Lewis

What’s Good

Thank you to everyone who gave, served, and shared love and cheer during Camelot Christmas last week! We loved getting to spend this time with the Camelot families, and we know that Christmases will be a little brighter this year.

We have a few gifts remaining from this event and would love to invite our neighborhood and congregation to experience this generosity. If you or a family you know would benefit from this experience, please contact Noelle to make an appointment to shop the affordable toy store.

This Week

Monday, Dec 18 6pm Prayer Service for Jess

Sunday, Dec 24 11am Christmas Eve Worship

Coming Up…

Campus Closed for the week of Christmas. Normal office hours to resume Tuesday, January 2nd. Sunday evening groups will resume January 7th.

Sunday, Jan 7 Supper Church

A Message from Chelsea

Chelsea Stirman, Sunset Ridge Church Family Minister

Last spring, my little brother was supposed to graduate college. Having started his college degree in the fall of 2019, his experience had been unique, to say the least. After only a few months away at school, the pandemic happened and he moved back home and continued his work online. Four years of hard work and preparation led up to this one big moment in his life. And then, five days before he was supposed to walk the stage and accept his diploma, he had an unexpected heart attack and passed away. We hung his cap and gown up at his memorial service rather than his graduation party. Four–or really twenty-two–years of preparation, felt lost in an instant.

Sometimes I feel a smaller yet similar sense of loss around Christmas, even though it is my very favorite time of year. I love the decorations and cheer and sweaters and gifts, and I especially love this season of Advent. I am grateful for a practice that pulls me to slow down, to savor the hope and impatience of waiting, year after year. But that sense of buildup–and then letdown–can sometimes linger with me too. My favorite day of the year is Christmas Eve, because Christmas Day can sometimes feel like a return to the ordinary. The charming Christmas Eve snow (not in San Antonio, I grant you) turns to gray sludge on Christmas Day, and the preparation seems not to have yielded the spectacular conclusion we had hoped for.

Sometimes that for which we prepare turns out differently than we imagined.

Last week, my parents were asked to walk the stage in my brother’s December graduation ceremony, accepting his diploma on his behalf. A large state school that owed my family nothing took the time to make sure that his preparation had not been in vain.

This Christmas season, I invite you to consider what you might be preparing for. If you’re consumed by gifts or meal planning or even wrapping up things like budgets or projects by the end of the year, you might look up and wonder where the finale is. But if you’re preparing for something deeper, by slowing down enough to cultivate a sense of presence, you might begin to find that what you’re seeking is already available to you. Perhaps our peace and joy aren’t all wrapped up in one final day, but are with us all along.

Let’s rejoice together.