So Many Feelings!

Rev. Jen Auger

Welcome back to the fall season! Full of new routines, as well as re-starting familiar routines. It is a time for getting our feet back under us, anticipating growth and learning, and wondering about challenges ahead. This is the season when we often hold many opposing feelings at the same time: excitement about a new year, but also anxiety about the next challenges; joy to reconnect with school friends, but also sadness to leave summer connections behind; pride about new milestones, but also worry about new responsibilities. It can all feel a bit of a jumble and a whirlwind. The backpack tags we are giving out this week have a quote on them from Isaiah 43:2: “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” Sometimes this simple reminder, that you are not in this alone, that your child is not in this alone, is enough to help come up for air. Take some space to pause in the whirlwind and wonder together: Where might God have been in the different experiences through the day - both the great ones and the more difficult ones?

Some experiences to share together:

...A PODCAST: Sydney Sloth's Bedtime Stories. Ok, I'm not sure if this is cool, or really strange! But, maybe you want to try it out with your kiddos and let me know how it goes. Lectio Divina is an ancient practice of inviting us to place ourselves into the scriptural story. Sydney Sloth offers a scripture each week following the lectionary, with prompts to imagine ourselves within the story. This story, from Psalm 23, reminds us that God is with us no matter the path we are on.

...A STORY: The World Needs More Purple People, by Kristen Bell & Benjamin Hart. Are YOU a purple person? As we go back to school routines and reconnect with peers and friends, sometimes we need a reminder to not get lost in peer pressure, but to be ourselves. Unique. Courageous. Compassionate. What makes you a Purple Person? Who are other Purple People you know in your life? (p.s. this book is available to be borrowed from my office)