The weather this past month, unreal. If only February could be like this every year. We have had so many 60+ degree days and it even reached 80 degrees last week, WILD. While the environmentalist in me is in fact worried, I have been LOVING IT. Not only have the literal flowers and trees started blooming, but I also feel like I have really started to bloom in Raleigh. I am feeling more excited and at peace with the idea of staying in Raleigh each day. That’s right, I am staying. Let the house hunt begin!
February felt like it was a month of non-stop celebrations and adventures. We had 3-ish fellows birthdays this month (shoutout to Emily, Neil, and birthday-less leap-year baby Matt). The gals went BIG for Emily’s birthday with an incredible weekend getaway to the sea to get well! Despite that being the one weekend with temperatures below freezing, we braved the icy wind and walked on the beach, soaking up every ounce of salty air and sunshine that we could. We also closed out the month back at the beach for our church women’s retreat (this time it was sunny and 75 with people out on the beach strolling, SUNBURNT, and SWIMMING (IN FEBRUARY PEOPLE). I was truly shook. Between our weekends at the beach, I had my parents come to town one weekend, and some JMU friends visit the other, so I have checked off almost all the tourist activities Raleigh has to offer - North Carolina Museum of Art, went inside the state capital building, walked the full length of downtown, showed my friends my favorite food and coffee spots, tried a new donut place, and went to THE NUT (the big acorn statue downtown that the fellows make sure to take all family and friends to upon visiting). It is always fun to see worlds collide as my college friends got to meet the fellows, my parents got to meet my host family, and they all got to see this great city I now get to call home!
While I am so grateful they all got to come visit this month, and I had an amazing time with our weekends at the beach, on a real note y’all, I am exhausted. I do not think there was a single day in February that I slept past 8:30 am and rarely did I go to bed before 11 pm. But God has been so gracious in his provision and care for me this month. It is bittersweet to know that the days of life looking like this are winding down fast. I wish I could press pause and stay right where I am a while longer. Keep living life alongside all ten of my fellow fellows. Keep going to Ashley’s house for roundtable every week. Keep the simplicity of a three day work week. This has been a season of abundant blessing and inner healing. Long and tiring days, yes, but when I finally lay my head down each night it is full of thankfulness for the things I get to do and be a part of here. This place is so special. The community we get the honor of being a part of is rich, vibrant, and full of the Spirit. I am absorbing as much of it as I can hold onto and cherishing the gift that it is.
One of my favorite artists, Chris Renzema, has a song that encapsulates a lot of what I have been feeling lately. The lyrics are:
“You're the living water
God, we thirst for you
The dry and the barren
Will flower and bloom
You're the sun that's shining
You restore my soul
The deeper you call us
Oh, the deeper we'll go
There has been so much sweetness in going from a place of thirsting to a place of blooming. God has been cleaning out areas of my heart that have cracks and holes of hurt and insecurity and restoring them to wholeness. Wholeness that comes from knowing his love and goodness. Knowing his care for me. Seeing him draw me to the light and fill me with his love. I feel like this year has been a season of healing and equipping. I am seeing my roots deepen and my life beginning to bud. I feel an excited anticipation for the flowers and fruit to come! (I’m realizing this blog is feeling a bit in conflict with the season of lent that just began, but I guess the resurrection came early for me this year.)
-Linsey