Charlotte Fellows
The Pressure is Off

During the Welcome Retreat in September, our Director Kathryn, mentioned a phrase that would stick with me to this day.

“Remember, the pressure is off.”

I laughed at first. It felt wrong to accept this phrase. I had just come off putting in my two weeks at my corporate finance job after two long grueling years. Now I'm 25, living in a new city once again, and considering becoming a teacher (I think). In summary, life has recently been full of “What are you doing?” questions from everyone. How can the pressure really be off? 

The Pressure is Off
Charlotte Fellows
Made for Dependence

When people asked what I wanted to get out of the Fellows program this year, my answer was always the same: I wanted to truly feel God’s presence in my life – not just mentally know He’s there. Naturally, I assumed that would happen through more intentional quiet time, prayer, or through involvement at church, but God had a different idea: feeling His presence through my dependence on Him. 

Made for Dependence
Charlotte Fellows
My Drive to Work

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.

My Drive to Work
Charlotte Fellows
First Impressions

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.

First Impressions
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

Walking By Faith: Charlotte Fellows Summer Update

Walking By Faith: Charlotte Fellows Summer Update

Another Fellows’ year completed...our 7th year. I look back to when we first started in the fall of 2010, and I'm overwhelmed at all the wonderful memories of God’s provision and the hard and beautiful ways He has worked in our Fellows’ lives.

It reminds me of the quote from A Tale of Two Cities: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." There were probably times this year that I’m sure the Fellows were thinking the same thing.

But isn’t that how all of life is? Wonderful things happening alongside painful and hard things. But it’s walking through both that grows and strengthens us.

Eric Maust on Learning to Live an “Ordinary” Christian Life

Eric Maust on Learning to Live an “Ordinary” Christian Life

Among other things, the Charlotte Fellows program trains Christian leaders to take up strategic places in the marketplace to do good work for the kingdom. This is an aspect of the Christian life that doesn’t get a lot of attention in the church, and it’s a problem the Fellows program seeks to remedy. But as well-intentioned as it may be, this push can fail in two ways.

Mary Norris Tilmes on Hospitality and the Gospel

Mary Norris Tilmes on Hospitality and the Gospel

When I decided to do the Charlotte Fellows Program, the part I was most anxious about was living with a host family. In college, I was incredibly blessed with a rich community, and for that I am forever thankful. But because of it the transition after college was much harder; the people who I’d done life with for the past four years were scattered across the country. (Things people don’t tell you—leaving college and your people is HARD!!!)

 
 

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