Of all the words I could use to describe the Fellows Program, “easy” is not one of them. Some of us ran across the finish line, while the rest of us army crawled our way to the end. Nevertheless, the 2017-2018 Charlotte Fellows graduated.
I began this journey with a 10-hour drive from Memphis to Charlotte, filling that time with music, podcasts, and audiobooks with no real end in mind. One particular podcast stood out to me in a way I wouldn’t realize until much later. This episode was on the topic of prayer, in which the guest spoke about a woman who had a close, personal, and intimate relationship with Jesus. She said she developed that relationship by spending two hours a day walking in the woods, just talking to and spending time with God. When I heard this, I remember thinking, “That sounds great, but I don’t have that kind of time in my day”, then I carried on with the drive, not giving it a second thought.
I moved to Charlotte on September 1st to join the Charlotte Fellows program, and since then have met a plethora of people connected to my experience as a Fellow and to the larger community at our partner church, Hope. The number of people rooting for, supporting, and excited about me and the other Fellows was not something I expected.
Putting my thoughts into words has always been difficult for me, so when I was asked to write about the ways the Charlotte Fellows Program has impacted my life, I was left at a loss for words. How could I possibly articulate how just nine short months after graduating from college have changed the way I have lived these past six years? Though I entered the program hoping to figure out how to live a meaningful life in the “real world,” I left knowing that true meaning comes from living a life that has been radically transformed by the Gospel.
It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone. On May 16th, the Charlotte Fellows class of 2025 officially graduated. We had a special evening with fellows and their families along with many of our volunteers. After dinner was served, a blessing was said over each fellow by someone significant in their time as a fellow. It was a joy to celebrate all God has done and is doing through these young adults.
It’s tradition for our fellows to spend some of their final weeks in the program reflecting on God’s faithfulness throughout the past 9 months. A few days before the banquet, the fellows shared some of these reflections with each other. They were asked to consider how God showed up in the good and the hard times, how he stretched them, the people he used to love and challenge them, and how this year will impact their next steps. Included below are a few snippets from these reflections. Enjoy seeing what God has done! (And thank you to so many of you that support this ministry in various ways. You are God’s hands and feet.)
