FROM PASTOR KENDRA:
September 2024
As a child, I loved shopping for school supplies. Walking through the store aisle getting all the brand new things I would need: crayons that weren’t broken or had their wrappers peeled down; pencils that were whole, unchipped, and had pristine erasers; pens with unmangled lids. As I got older, each new purchase of paper, folders, and notebooks was an untapped potential for organization and success.
Even my college years, my grandmother would take me shopping for the basics. I had added different things to the list: granola bars, microwave popcorn, and cup of noodles. When I was finally past the need for school supplies, I would still wander the aisles every year wishing that I had any reason at all to buy crayons or a protractor. Eventually, I became a parent with a school age child and got to shop again. Shopping lists had changed and had to be done much earlier in the summer, but the experience was still deeply satisfying.
I am once again at a point where I don’t need school supplies and yet I will find myself in a school supply aside looking at the wonderful things and being amazed by all the potential that they contain. A backpack might go to a kindergartener who brings home their very first library book. A lunchbox could belong to a third grader who finds the best friend they will ever have. The set of colored pencils might end up in the hands of a middle schooler who discovers a passion for art. The scientific calculator could be the first tool for a high schooler who devotes their life to scientific inquiry. Not to mention the millions of words written on all the paper as students of all ages find their own voice. It is beautiful and powerful and it is probably at the heart of why I love school supplies. but everyday no matter how many times we need it.
Welcome to the potential that is you and the wonderful things that are yet to come.
The message of the Gospel is also one of potential. Every day we have the opportunity to make change, make a difference, and start anew. Every day is a fresh sheet of paper, a new box of crayons, or a perfectly sharpened pencil. We have the opportunity to make a choice to reorganize, recommit to, or refocus on the important things in our lives. The gift for us is that opportunity doesn’t come once a year,
