09/04/2026
Behind the Magic: Belonging
Okay, I told you I wanted to spend a little more time this year telling you about what's happening behind the magic around here...and this feels like the perfect next story.
Look at this nursery. 🥹 Two of our school mamas spent HOURS of their summer in here painting these sweet little doodles all over the walls. And how precious these happy little walls are truly cannot be captured in this flat picture on a bright screen. It warms you up from the inside out when you see it in person, you can’t help but smile.
But here's the thing...
This isn't even really a space our school kids spend much time in. It's primarily our church nursery. And THAT might be my favorite part. Because the longer I'm here, the more convinced I am that what is happening in this place is so much bigger than what happens between 7:45 and 3:00.
Families come here and somewhere along the way, they find their people.
They find friendships. Some find a church home. Their kids find adults who know their food preferences and love them. They show up for somebody else's kid. They bring dinner. They volunteer. They paint nursery walls in the middle of summer simply because they saw a place that could use a little more joy. They start pouring back into the place that has poured into them.
And THAT is the magic I don't know how to capture in a picture.
There are families all over this school giving their time to raise money, volunteering during a big project, seeing that we need sand and bringing sand, bringing lunch for teachers, leaving a note and your favorite candy on a hard day. They notice. They partner. They come alongside.
Because yes, these walls are adorable. But what I really see when I look at them is community. Women who had the talent and found the time (10 kids between them!) to come alongside a new mom and in a way created a space that feels like its saying…’ you belong here, we’re with you, your family matters here too. There’s room at the table.’
No committee. No big recognition. Just families serving from the overflow of their hearts.
And our kids get to grow up watching that!
They get to see that being part of a community isn't just about finding a place where you are loved. It's learning to love the place, and the people in it, right back. Even when it's not all doodle art and casseroles, sometimes it's in the family emergencies, and surgeries and disagreements because we've made a commitment to the community for these kids and that calls for a lot of grace.
I don't think the impact of that on a family can be overstated.
A school can teach your child to read. A church can teach them Bible stories. But a community can show them what it actually looks like to belong to one another.
To notice. To serve. To use what you've been given to make something a little better for the person coming behind you.
There's a whole lot happening behind the magic around here.
Sometimes it's child development and sometimes it's simply people loving people really, really well.
Marissa and Bambi, thank you for loving us so well!
