To start my very first Raleigh Fellows Blog Post ™ I would like to write a poem inspired by my month so far!
R- is for Really awkward at first
A is for Awe wait I love you guys
L is for Lake Gaston (35 miles of paradise) and also Lets go on a walk!
E is Everyone is so nice here
I is for I love squirrels!
G is for Girls (AKA squirrels) night!
H is for Happy and Hale is not that good
In all seriousness, man these three weeks have been a whirlwind. Has it been three weeks? Wait- maybe it has been four. Regardless, it has been crazy. We moved to a new place! We were put in a room with 12 strangers and got told we would be best friends in 9 months! Somehow I was sitting on Ashley’s couch in her living room thinking- oh man what if we are the exception?! Spoiler alert- we WEREN’T the exception.
My tombstone will read- “A week at Lake Gaston is good for the soul”- Kayley Munkers 1999-Idk yet. But it really was. I think immediately being whisked away on a week-long lake getaway where we were pretty secluded and had no one to talk to except for each other was the best thing we could’ve done. A week of intentional conversations and good ole fashioned lake fun made space for us to ‘dip our toes’ in the water of each other’s lives. By the end of the week, our awkward encounters on our very first day when we looked around the living room at each other were long forgotten. And there is really no one else to thank besides God (and hours of binder talk giving us a reason to bond) for that. Because it is so like him to take something that is seemingly impossible, like becoming best friends with 12 strangers in just a few days, and prove us wrong in every single way. And now when I walk into a crowded room, I hope one of them is there, because they know me the best in this city!
I could honestly write an entire blog post just on Lake Gaston. I love it there. They don’t call it 35 miles of paradise for nothin’! But the weeks that have followed have been just as swell. I feel the Lord’s peace and blessing over this place so strongly. I know I am supposed to be here. I kind of feel like I’m writing in a diary. This is all over the place, I’ll wrap it up soon.
An insightful question today by a teacher of one of our Fellows classes, David Spickard, prompted me to consider what has been the most surprising part of the Fellows program thus far. I immediately thought of the way Raleigh has so quickly felt like home. And I really can owe all of that to the people who have made it feel that way. SO yeah, thanks to my fellow Fellows for surprising me in the best way. I think Ashley said it best when she said our Fellows class is just really for each other. I’m in your corner, guys, and I am excited to see how we grow and stretch each other over these next 8 months! Thanks for making Raleigh ‘be the city’!
-Kayley!