“It’s so sweet, the way that you love me.”
That’s a paraphrase of a lyric that I can’t get out of my head right now. I won’t tell you the song it’s from cause it’s not the most appropriate. Very stuck in my head like all of the past 2 weeks.
Why?
Because it rings true right now.
There is no word that more aptly describes my life right now than sweet.
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At roundtable last week we were asked our thoughts on our experience these initial weeks of Fellows. My response, whelmed. (Yes, whelmed is a word). Neither overwhelmed nor underwhelmed. No, it’s not an original quote. Robin (sidekick of Batman) said it in a children’s show.
Nothing from these initial weeks has been too much, nor has it been too little. I’m feeling stretched in the best of ways. The only thing that would have probably overwhelmed me this month at all is the karaoke we were supposed to do last week. I do not like doing karaoke at all, and I’m grateful the plans fell through. But I would have done it.
So, why would I do it then? Well, we’ve had 4 birthdays in Fellows this month and this is what the 4 of them all wanted to collectively do to celebrate. And being able to love on these people I didn’t know a month ago has been, well, sweet. It’s such a great opportunity to be intentional.
Furthermore, love “does not insist upon its own way” (1 Corinthians 13:5).
That’s been a beautiful reminder over these weeks, to see how we’ve all been so willing to die to ourselves for the sake others.
So, I am willing to die to myself and butcher a beloved song on stage.
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On welcome retreat the Lord placed these lines from a hymn in my head and they’ve been stuck ever since fellows started.
“When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my thought thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul”
I heard that hymn in full the next week at a funeral and, well, that made me cry.
It was the first entry in my journal during our quiet hour of spiritual formation class.
The last line on that same day?
“It’s so sweet, the way that you love me.”
God has me (and you) exactly where we’re supposed to be. Even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Find something to be grateful for today and every day. His blessings abound. For me, it’s this Sebastian Ramirez Watermelon Co-Ferment coffee I drank while writing the first draft. It tasted like a watermelon lollipop & pink starburst (shoutout to the homies at Black &White).
But I’m also grateful for these people. Mostly these people.
Jacob W. Currin