I want to talk about Thursday nights. I'm talking about the real TNF. No, not Thursday Night Football (while we're on the NFL talk, shed a tear for Matty Ice), Thursday Night Fellows(hip)! Us Fellows don't really see each other all that much from after class on Mondays until we reconvene at Roundtable on Thursday nights. So, needless to say, thank God for Thursday nights! For me, seeing people I love on a regular basis is very important. At roundtable, we sit around a (very) rectangular table and enjoy dinner prepared by two of the Fellows. [Apparently, according to Ashley (who shall henceforth be referred to as Our Wonderful Director), it is called 'roundtable' because Kings once used actual roundtables for their most important discussions with advisors and leaders, as well as "bougie universities like Cambridge and Oxford"]. Ok. Roundtable just got ten times cooler. As for the food - cooking for ~14 hungry mouths is no small task. Pull me aside next time you see me and ask me about that time when the Fellows in charge of RT dinner (who will for now remain unnamed) forgot about it and had to call in an emergency Domino's delivery. It's a good one. But I digress. My point is, I thoroughly enjoy getting together with the Fellows and Our Wonderful Director and Sam and Jake and Beau and Molly and Chip (*pant*) after three full days (an eternity in Matty Chen's books) of limited F2F time. Thursday nights = good.
The friends and the three-course meal aren't the only things that get me excited about TNF. Around the dinner table, we discuss life and all its joys and obstacles. Our Wonderful Director organizes for knowledgeable people to come to roundtable and lead a dinnertime life lesson, usually beginning just as dessert is being served. A couple weeks ago we learnt about the importance of insurance - life, auto, home, everything. It's pretty amazing how little awareness we have about exactly how the world works. I for one am very appreciative of all the learning opportunities that are made available to me. I feel equipped to 'Start Well' with the knowledge that I have gained and will continue to amass as this year rolls on. I am beginning to realize that this Fellows year is really a launchpad for my adult life - of which the specific direction of launch must constantly be readjusted; for I am still finding my footing among the rocks.
After dinner, we migrate to the living room for more discussion. Fellows (past & present) has being leading the discussion for the past four weeks, with topics that they particularly care about. These aren't soft, easily digestible topics. We have talked about the Millennials, human sexuality, and race relations. I know that at times I can very easily fall into a state of vegetation - not using my brain and not thinking at all, unless prompted. And boy oh boy does RT discussion prompt some serious thinking! While these discussion are by no means an end in themselves, they are effective in getting the ball rolling and masterful in bringing people together. In the end, we are under God and we seek only to honor Him. Whatever we talk about and whatever we perceive, we see through a Gospel filter that preaches love above all. That has been chiefly encouraging for me personally, whilst also challenging. I don't grow if I am not challenged. So I feel good about saying that I have been constantly growing, constantly striving to understand how I can apply the gospel to my everyday life, constantly struggling to please God by loving others the way He loves them. Thus, I find myself thinking more and thanking more. I am thankful for Roundtable. I am thankful for Thursday Night Fellowship. It brings me closer to the mind of God, and that is nothing short of magical.
As Our Wonderful Director always says, "I love us!"
mattyC