Where There's a Will #1 — Raleigh Fellows Program

I’ve always said that if I had an autobiography one day then I would name it “Where There’s a Will.” As of right now this is the closest I’ll be to an autobiography, so I’m going to use it now. My blogs will all come under this name and I look forward to seeing how these posts combine to tell the story that is my time as a Raleigh Fellow! I have always enjoyed journaling and when I think I have a good idea, I like to share it. Mostly with people who I am close with or I think would like the idea. In my head this blog is like that but on steroids. So my goal is that whoever reads this likes my ideas and thoughts.

September was the longest short month of my life. I can’t believe that I met the rest of the Fellows just over 4 weeks ago, not even a month. On that first day as Fellows, we were all thrown into the fire that is this program. The fire has only grown bigger since we have left Docksology (Ashley’s lake house) and added different tasks to our weekly lives. Things like Youth Fall Camps, Neighbor to Neighbor, telling testimonies or group outings to Durham. When I think about this fire and I think about our lives together it reminds me of Daniel 3 and the Blazing Furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were literally thrown into a blazing furnace by King Nebuchadnezzar. This fire was so hot that it killed Nebuchadnezzar’s soldiers as they threw the three tied up men in. When the King looked into the fire he saw four men, unbound, walking around the fire. The fourth man was described to look like a god! That is how I imagine our group, unbound and walking around in the fire. The 12 of us and that mysterious fourth man, who I like to believe is the Son of Man himself. Now obviously, we are not under persecution and are not being thrown into an actual fire by an evil king (no matter how much you dislike Ashley, I don’t think you can say she is as bad as Nebuchadnezzar). I like to think that when people on the outside watch us navigate this fire, they react the same way Nebuchadnezzar did—jumping up in amazement and astounded at how well we are doing in the middle of this metaphorical blazing furnace.

With all that being said, this blog is another first being added to a long list of firsts that have happened in this first month of Fellows. My favorite thing that happened this month was actually not a 1st, but instead a 22nd. I had a birthday party on September 8th, just 6 days after becoming a Fellow. I thought that I was the one that planned this get together, but behind the scenes Maggie Mae (my girlfriend) and Ashley (our wonderful director) had been planning this event for weeks. A combination of people that I only ever imagined being in the same place at my wedding, were brought together at Lynnwood Brewing Company to help celebrate me. As I stood in front of everybody with my cake and looked out at the crowd and gave my silly speech like we always made the birthday person do in college, I was overwhelmed by emotion. It was incredible that people that I had known since the beginning of high school, the first day of college, my family and people I met a week ago came together to love me so well.

This love has been very evident in this first month and I can only imagine how much it is going to grow as we navigate the next 8 months together. It is already painful to see that number shrink as the program flies and crawls by at the same time. I look forward to writing this blog throughout the year and I hope you guys enjoy reading it! Leave a comment if you feel like it, I always enjoy comments.

-Will Brown