Hey again! It’s surreal to think we’re already wrapping up month two of Fellows. October truly flew by! We are entering into my favorite time of the year, complete with colder weather, bulky sweaters, drinking coffee for days, and some of the best holidays on the calendar. In this month’s edition of the blog, I want to share what I’m plugging heading into November and offer a little insight into what our class has been up to.
One word that has been on my mind lately, and I think captures much of what I want to share in this post, is familiarity. Whether it’s growing more accustomed to our weekly rhythms of class, church, and roundtable, recognizing the same faces in their unofficial assigned seats at church each week, or accidentally memorizing the highway signs on I-85 after spending three consecutive weekends at Lake Gaston, there’s comfort in the familiar. I’ve been in a “saying yes to everything” mood that while I’m not sure how long it will last, it has challenged me to try new things outside of my comfort zone.
As for our fellows class, I have felt so encouraged being a witness to the increase in comfortability amongst the group. I laugh now thinking about the ways we carried ourselves at the beginning of this fellows year to now having established foundations and real relationships with one another. Some might say we’re moving out of the honeymoon phase, but I don’t think that takes anything away from how we show up for each other. Intentional and quasi prayer partner time, impromptu coffee chats, an encouraging text during the work day, making CapCut edits of each other, waking up for early morning races, and staying up for late-night post-puzzle debriefs. The list goes on! If anything, I think these seemingly ordinary acts make our relationships more meaningful. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are discovering that community isn’t built exclusively through big conversations or memorable experiences, but also through the little moments of consistency that happen in between. Maybe that’s part of what makes this season so special!
Now, to shamelessly plug!
Recently, on a pilgrimage for our Just Leadership class, we were asked to share one of our favorite places in Raleigh. Some might frame the question as, “What’s a place you would gatekeep from everyone else?” I immediately thought of Lake Johnson, a beautiful spot with one of my favorite loops to run or walk when I need to get outside and clear my head. Lake Johnson has seen me through many stages of college, from walks with friends to getting in miles for an online PE class (a story for another blog), and now as an adult trying to navigate life as a Fellow and whatever comes next. I think what I value most about it, besides the opportunity for some excellent people-watching and the chance to be near a body of water, is the space it gives me to step outside of whatever is weighing on me. There's always something to think about or compete for our attention. Sometimes, we need a little distance from the busyness of everyday life, even if only for the length of a walk around the lake. What I’m learning in this season is that stepping away from the noise doesn’t have to mean stepping away from God. Some of my favorite moments at Lake Johnson are the ones where I set aside intentional time with God. Not every walk or run comes with a profound realization or a neatly packaged answer to whatever I’m wrestling with. Sometimes, it’s simply an opportunity to slow down, be still, and remember that God is present even when my circumstances feel uncertain.
If I’m being honest, another place that came to mind when I was originally asked the question was Iris Coffee Lab. Having lived in Raleigh before Fellows, I had several coffee places you could find me doing work, so you think I would have heard of this downtown coffee shop by now, but perhaps timing really is everything. Per one of the girls’ recommendations, the five of us met up one Monday before Neighbor2Neighbor. The plan was simple: drink coffee, play Rummikub, and catch up a little before rushing off to our next thing. Little did I know that this coffee shop would quickly make its way onto my list of recommendations for friends and become a place I look forward to visiting each week. I'm not saying Iris has the best coffee I've had or that it has flashy aesthetic decorations, but the fellowship and conversations around the table are life-giving. We rarely finish a full game of rummikub or have time to unpack every thought we’ve had since the last time we saw each other, but I consistently leave our time together better than when I walked in. Laughing about something that was said at the roundtable, checking in on each other's families and lives outside of Fellows, being honest about how each of us are showing up in the moment, and seeing each other's competitive side playing rummikub (which is always entertaining) among other things.
Maybe you can get a better coffee somewhere else. Maybe your favorite cafe has plenty of parking and doesn’t have scaffolding on the side of the building. But, one of my new favorite spots offers something beyond an appealing exterior or a good drink. It gives me a space to spend time with people who are becoming familiar faces in a season of life that is still full of unknowns. It reminds me that community doesn’t always have to be planned or complicated. Sometimes, it looks like five girls, a table, a few iced coffees, and a very competitive game of Rummikub.
If you’re still hoping for a coffee order recommendation, I always order the same thing at every coffee shop I visit: an iced vanilla latte. Trust me it's a good baseline for any coffee shop evaluation. Lucky for me Iris does a pretty good job, if I may say so (this is not sponsored). Maybe one day I’ll branch out and try matcha!
-Katherine