07/17/2026
This Community Brings Learning is a nonprofit ministry that I am honored to serve with as a board member. Having the opportunity to spend Youth Week in this space, surrounded by community, purpose, and faith, has truly been a blessing.
This week has been filled with harmony, connection, healing, and moments that reminded me of God’s presence in every part of the journey. We began the week in prayer and in the garden one of my favorite places to be. I especially enjoyed working with compost, planting, and witnessing how something so simple can become part of something beautiful and life-giving.
Midweek, we visited a farm, and the entire experience was powerful. Seeing the work being done, being present in the community, and watching God move in such mysterious ways gave me a deeper sense of gratitude.
The past part of this year has been very difficult for me. Grief has changed me in ways I know I will never fully recover from. But this week taught me something meaningful: sometimes, healing is not about finding answers. Sometimes, healing is learning how to sit with the question.
There are moments when we do not need to search for answers, force understanding, or ask why. We simply need to sit with what we are carrying and trust that God knows exactly what we need. He knows the people, He will place in our path, the spaces that will hold us, and the moments that will slowly help us breathe again.
We often think healing has to be loud, visible, and immediate. Yet this week, healing was quiet for me. It was found in prayer, in community, in the garden, in planting seeds, in shared conversations, and in simply being present.
Thank you, Terika, for creating and leading such an amazing experience. Thank you for allowing me to be part of this meaningful ministry, this youth partnership, and this beautiful collaboration. It means so much when we can set aside titles, names, and positions and simply show up as a community learning together, processing together, praying together, and planting seeds together.
I also received a special gift from God in being able to share this experience with Sandra Martinez. I know much of what we did may have been new to her, but having her there was deeply special to me.
I want to leave everyone with this thought: someone asked me why I love compost and why I enjoy working with it. My answer was simple. What many people see as trash, scraps, or something to throw away, I see as the beginning of life.
Compost teaches us that what appears to be waste can become nourishment. It can become the soil that feeds plants, crops, and gardens. It becomes rich with vitamins, nutrients, and minerals needed for growth. What others may see as an ending, I see as a beginning.
May we remember that even the parts of our lives that feel broken, discarded, or painful can still become part of something life-giving. Sometimes, the very thing we thought was waste becomes the foundation for new growth.
