This message was written and delivered by Ashley Bekkerus.

Encanto‘s Pepa and I are both Fours, which is why I asked to preach this sermon. And I just want to give you a little insight into what it’s like for my husband to have to live with a Four. So, I’m a part of this coffee group with some derby friends and one of them recommended this 4-book series to me. So, I started listening to it on audiobook and I got really invested in it. I mean, I devoured these books in like 2 weeks. So, I got really emotionally invested in the characters and in the storyline and I got to the end and it was a fine ending, I mean, it was a happy ending, but I felt a little cheated out of the ending because endings aren’t always happy and it felt a little forced. And some of you know what I’m talking about – whether it’s from books, tv shows, or even movies. 

So, all day I’m thinking about the series and the characters and stuff and I got in a bit of a funk. My husband gets home and asks me if I’m okay (because he can tell something’s bugging me) and I just got off on all the reasons why this was a good ending, but it wasn’t the best ending and blah blah blah. 

So, 15 minutes later and I’m crying over these book characters and the ending they didn’t get and my husband goes, “so, if they had gotten the much more sad ending that you were thinking of, would you be happy then?” and I was like, “well, no because it would have been sad, but not all endings are happy endings.” and he basically looks at me and says, “you realize most people would just be happy that they got a happy ending, right?” 

So, I guess the moral of the story is that… I can’t enjoy happy endings. That’s a little bit of a joke, but really what it gets at is that Fours have lots of big emotions, which can be both a good and bad thing. You see that with Pepa in Encanto because her mood affects the weather. So, often she has a rain cloud around her, or if she’s happy, the sun is shining and there are rainbows. 

Now maybe you also resonate with that, or maybe you know somebody just like that. A coworker or friend who is always kind of…melancholy, or who always has these deep emotions that might feel… draining to you. 

We’re going to find today, much like Pepa finds in Encanto, that Fours have value in our spiritual circles, just like everyone else. We’re going to talk about these people who seem to live under a rain cloud and what the healthiest versions of themselves look like. AND how you, as someone who may be very different from them, can interact with them and love them and grow with them in our spiritual community. 

Join us Sunday as we learn how these Romantics help us know God’s passion more fully.

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