✝️ Dear JCC Family,

I hope you’re safe and warm after yesterday’s ice storm. Events like this have a way of reminding us how quickly “normal” can change—how fragile our routines are, and how much we actually need one another.

If you’re doing okay today, I want to encourage you to look around. Check on a roommate, a neighbor, someone from church you haven’t heard from. A quick text—“Are you good? Need anything?”—can be a small act of love that carries real weight. And if you’re the one who’s struggling—without power, stressed, behind on work, or just emotionally drained—please don’t disappear. Let us know. You’re not a burden. You’re family.

There’s a verse I keep coming back to in seasons like this: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1, ESV). Notice it doesn’t say God is “far away help” or “eventually help.” He is present. In the middle of unpredictability, the Lord doesn’t just give us advice from a distance—He gives us Himself.

And one of the ways God often makes His presence tangible is through the body of Christ—through ordinary people showing up with ordinary faithfulness. A ride to class, a meal, a charging station, a couch to crash on, prayer over the phone. These aren’t “small things.” This is what love looks like when it has hands and feet.

Let’s take today slowly. Be careful on the roads and sidewalks. And as we recover, let’s do it together—looking to Christ, and looking out for each other.

I’m praying for you.

With love in Christ,
Pastor Joshua