Charlotte Fellows
Alumni Spotlight: Paige Dugo, Class of 2019

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.

Alumni Spotlight: Paige Dugo, Class of 2019
Charlotte Fellows
Looking Back

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.)

Looking Back
Charlotte Fellows
God Will Surprise You, But He is Not Surprised.

It has been such a gift to get involved with the Charlotte Fellows program this year as the Program Coordinator. I loved my experience as a fellow and it’s been a different kind of gift to be on the other side of things and watch God work in the lives of this year’s class. 

God Will Surprise You, But He is Not Surprised.
Charlotte Fellows
Roundtable Reflections

On Thursday nights, as part of our weekly schedule, we have roundtable. Roundtable is where we get to sit with different people and hear their stories; how God is working in, around,  and through them. These individuals and couples often take us back to their childhood up to the present day and share highlights, struggles, themes, and lessons learned. These have truly been some of my favorite nights of the year. I am learning a lot about how we don’t know people until we have heard their stories and I am learning to never make assumptions of what someone's story is. 

Roundtable Reflections
Charlotte Fellows
It All Matters

A big truth that is nestled into much of the content of the Charlotte Fellows program is that we get to honor God through our work and vocation - regardless of what that work is. 

It All Matters

The HBR on Work-Life Balance

A thought on finding successful work-life balance from Stewart D. Friedman, the Practice Professor of Management at the Wharton School, for the Harvard Business Review: 

Start by considering three principles: be real, be whole, and be innovative. To be real is to act with authenticity by clarifying what’s important to you. To be whole is to act with integrity by recognizing how the different parts of your life (work, home, community, self) affect one another. All this examination allows you to be innovative. You act with creativity by experimenting with how things get done in ways that are good for you and for the people around you.

Your Identity Directly Impacts Your Relationships

"To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father." (Col. 1:2)

A lot of the frustration we experience in relationships (with coworkers, friends, significant others, etc.) is directly tied to our search for identity. If our identity comes from things like our romantic relationships, friendships, careers, achievements, appearance, bank accounts, or personality traits, then our identity is an ever-changing patchwork of other people's opinions. Consequently, we use and manipulate people who we think can give us what we need, and we crush people who get in our way. It is impossible to love and enjoy people while we are manipulating or crushing them. 

In the above quote, the apostle Paul is reminding these men and women that their most foundational identity is derivative of their relationship with God. They are "saints", or "called out ones", chosen by God for his good purposes to be worked out in their lives. More specifically, they are "brothers (and sisters)" in God's family. Their identity is found in the reality that God has adopted them into his family and chooses to treasure them as his own children forever. Since their foundational identity is rooted in God's love, they are free to love and enjoy other people. 

Where does your identity come from? 

How does that impact the way you interact with people? 

 

Working like our Creator is good for everyone...

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness.' And let them have dominion..." (Gen. 1:26)

From the beginning of human history, we have been given the privilege and responsibility of coming alongside the Creator in ruling over (i.e. governing, managing, cultivating) our world, imaging him in the way in which we work like him. So how does he work? 

This is what we know from Genesis 1 alone:

  • He brings order out of chaos with design and systems.
  • He cares about practicality and beauty.
  • He doesn't waste anything. 
  • He is wildly creative and innovative. 
  • He only creates good. 
  • He works for the flourishing of all people. 
  • He empowers his "coworkers" through clearly-defined purpose and ownership. 
  • He is logical, discerning, and wise. 
  • He exercises his power and authority only for good. 
  • He anticipates future needs and addresses them. 
  • He enjoys the fruit of his labor. 
 
 

INTERESTED IN BECOMING A CHARLOTTE FELLOW?

 
 

Do you have questions about what life looks like as a fellow? Contact us by filling out the form below, and learn more about the Charlotte Fellows!