Goodness Weekly 2.24.25

“She finally saw a light she didn’t create herself”
- the internet about a tiny anglerfish

What’s Good

Fermentation Workshop with Christopher Galvan
Join us for an interactive fermentation workshop with Christopher Galvan! Learn the art of fermentation, including its benefits and practical techniques to try at home. Whether you're a beginner or looking to refine your skills, this class is for you! Proceeds support the Armadillo Gardens grant, helping to cultivate community and sustainable agriculture. All Materials Provided. Attendees will go home with a quart size fermentation.

Register Here

March 15th, 10 AM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market at Charis Park, $30

Yo Amo

Mae Czarnecki, Storytelling Manager, Sunset Ridge Collective

At a park in Mexico City, I saw a sign that read:

"Yo Amo: A mi mismo, A mi familia, a mi comunidad, a mi alcaldía BJ, a mi CDMX, a mi México."

I love myself.
I love my family.
I love my community.
I love my borough.
I love my city.
I love my country.

It stopped me in my tracks.

This past week, I quietly celebrated my 20th Re-Birthday—20 years since I tried to end my life as a teenager. I don’t often acknowledge this anniversary, but this year, standing in another country, safe, in love, and deeply at home in my own body, I felt the weight of it.

For years, I didn’t believe I’d get to live a life I wanted to stay for. Hopelessness can be loud. It can convince us that the pain of the present will last forever, that the future has nothing to offer us but more of the same. But hopelessness is a liar. And life, if we let it, will surprise us.

A tiny angler fish is making its way across the internet right now—a deep-sea creature that, for the first time, was recorded rising to the surface to see sunlight. The footage is mesmerizing. This little fish, so used to darkness, found its way to something new, something brighter. Watching it, I thought about Jess’s words on glimmers—those small moments of hope that remind us we are still here, still moving, still capable of change.

Rest is a glimmer.
Feeling welcomed is a glimmer.
The quiet reassurance that you belong—that you are wanted here—is a glimmer.

At Sunset Ridge Collective, we don’t just want people to feel welcome. We want you to feel welcome. Whether you are in a season of joy or one of quiet survival, we hope this place feels like rest. A breath. A reminder that your presence matters.

I read that sign in Mexico City again and let myself feel the truth of it.

I love myself.
I love my family.
I love my community.

I do.

And what a gift that is.

*Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City*

A Look At March

Every Saturday, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, 9 AM- 1 PM
Every Sunday, Worship at Sunset Ridge Church
March 8th, Second Saturday
March 15th, Fermentation Workshop
March 25th - April 2nd, Betty’s Co. Mobile Health Clinic on Campus

Event Rentals - Interested in hosting your event at Charis Park or in our facilities? We are currently booking for 2025–please email rentals@sunset-ridge.org

Community Partners: For updated schedules and events please follow One Another Coffee, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, NYX Wellness, Scott’s Pizza, Mission Compost, Sprouts School, Good Acres, Community First Food Pantry, and Betty’s Co.