“Bless the ones who show up—awkwardly, imperfectly, beautifully. Their presence is a small miracle.”

— Kate Bowler

WHAT’S GOOD

Holiday Night Market at Charis Park

As the gift-giving season approaches, we invite you to mark your calendars for Friday, December 12 and Friday, December 19 for our first annual Holiday Night Market at Charis Park.

The park will glow with holiday lights, live entertainment, kid-friendly activities, and mulled wine — creating a joyful space to gather with friends and neighbors while supporting small, sustainable, and local artisans. It’s the perfect opportunity to find meaningful, handmade gifts for the holidays.

📅 Dates: Friday, December 12 & Friday, December 19

🕕 Time: 5 PM – 9 PM

📍 Location: Charis Park

RSVP and share the event with your friends —we can’t wait to celebrate the season with you!

Random Acts of Kindness

Taylor Bates, Deputy Director, Sunset Ridge Collective

When I was in elementary school, we had a program called Random Acts of Kindness. Any time you noticed someone doing something kind, you could write it down on a little slip of paper and turn it in so teachers could celebrate it. I witnessed something this weekend that would’ve certainly deserved one of those slips.

My family and I participated in the Shine On run on Saturday, hosted at Charis Park for the first time. Shine On is a remembrance gathering for families who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss.(Amber, who leads the event, shared the story behind it in last week’s Goodness Weekly.)

It’s been seven years since I lost my first child to stillbirth. My grief has softened with time, but I’m grateful for tender, intentional spaces where love and loss can coexist—where I can remember, honor, and feel it all again.

*Taylor, Amber, and Jess at the Shine On event in Charis Park*

After the run, Jess and I stood in the middle of the park, taking in the golden-hour sky washed in pinks and blues. A middle-school boy from the neighborhood—someone we see around often—walked up to us holding a sprig of flowers. Perched on top was a butterfly that had stayed with him for several minutes. His whole face lit up.

He’d seen the event happening and, being his wonderfully social self, asked about the yard signs Jess and I were holding. Each one was lovingly made by the Shine On organizers with the names of babies remembered by their families. We were each holding our children’s signs—Ellis and Ava. When we told him what they represented, he paused, looked right at us, and said with such gentle sincerity, “Oh, I am so sorry this happened to you. That is very sad.”

I’m always struck by how some people— especially children—are able to meet grief so simply and sincerely. It doesn’t take much. He didn’t look away. He named the hard thing out loud. He stood in it with us for just a moment. And that moment meant something.

If each of us offered even one small act of kindness like that each day—sharing beauty, like a butterfly on a flower, or asking someone about the thing they’re carrying (in our case, a literal sign representing grief that is usually invisible)—the world around us would feel just a little softer, a little kinder.

May we each be on the lookout for the small openings where kindness wants to happen—and step into them.