Going Farther Together

October 4, 2024
Christine Shipley
Spiritual

An old African proverb says, "If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together."  The synergistic effect of people living in community and doing life together is pretty amazing (essentially, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts).  We are transformed in community.  All throughout Scripture, we see that God made us communal beings. From the beginning, we see God as a community within Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We see metaphors used to describe God’s people, such as the body with many parts or a house made of living stones. We read verses like “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Prov27:17). To lean into God’s design for us, at CCS, we’ve made one of our core values and goals to build intentional communities.

The word "community" likely conjures up different things for different people.  For me, community is a soft place to land when life is hard, a place to celebrate when life is GREAT, and a place where I can be myself in just the normal rhythms of life.  We find joy and laughter in community, and it's a natural place to "bear each other's burdens."  In community we learn, grow, encourage, and are encouraged.  At CCS, our teachers and staff do an excellent job of building their classroom communities. [As an aside, we have had several students get married who MET in our program back when it was Southside Baptist Preschool!  That's how excellently our teachers promote community in their classrooms!]  We aim to build community among our parents and families as well. On this parenting journey, it's so nice to have friends who are just ahead of you and other friends who are younger and just starting out. We will work to provide opportunities throughout our school year for you to rub up against other parents (see below). We do need your help! Your role in this journey will be to say hello to someone new, to ask how they are doing, to open up about your struggles, to offer wisdom that’s been passed down to you.

To that end, October is a busy month as we lean into our core value of "building intentional communities." One opportunity to plug into our CCS community happens this coming Monday for Moms Coffee and Conversation.  Come to the area right outside the sanctuary for coffee, muffins, and conversation!  Fellowshipping will be a large part of this group, but we'll also pray together. Another opportunity is Dads Chapel at 9:25 AM on Thursday, October 24th, AND our November Thanksgiving Morning Meeting in the sanctuary November 20th at 9:25 AM (visiting and getting to know some other parents before and after both).  It's our hope that families will forge deep friendships at CCS.

And finally, we hope that each family at CCS is connected to a community of faith.  We have students from 17 different churches attending CCS, and while each of those churches is unique, I hope you have found "your people" with whom you can do life.  Of course, if you're looking for a church (just another word for a community of believers!), you're welcome to visit Christ Covenant Church any Sunday at 10:15 AM!

While you may have a community of faith, a community of travel baseball families, or a community of friends who serve at St. Vincent De Paul, we hope you find a loving, helpful, Christ-centered community at CCS. Life is hard.  Doing life when you feel isolated is even harder.  We have MANY new families who have joined our school this year.  Come and help us build an intentional community at CCS.  We really CAN go FARTHER together!

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