I feel like it’s been a very long time since the last blog postings. This month has felt full and so sweet. One of the sweetest parts happened to be this past weekend at the silent retreat. I’ve said this once, and I’ll say it a thousand times: I really get a kick out of being somewhere outside, and no one in the whole world knows where I am except for me. It’s been pretty hard to find that in Raleigh, so I was beyond giddy to get to do that at St. Francis yesterday.
What I mainly want to talk about is Psalm 23. This chapter has been a recurring chapter throughout my life. Little did I know how special it would be when Mr. Hilborn had us memorize and recite it every day in Bible history class seven years ago. Oftentimes, in moments of solitude and silence, the only thing I know to do is pray Psalm 23 over and over. Saturday morning, I woke up waiting for the coffee to be done brewing and decided to just go walk the labyrinth while I waited. I wasn’t sure yet what I wanted to talk to God about, and probably needed the caffeine to figure it out, so I just prayed Psalm 23 over and over till I reached the end. Every time I do this, I feel different parts being lit up more than others. The part that got me this time was “He restores my soul”. Which is funny because it was always the part I missed in Bible history class that got me points taken off on our memorization tests. But this time, I could picture it written in bold. I gotta tell ya, Fellows is fast-paced and sometimes hard to stop to take a breath and care for my soul. Every time I said that part out loud, I felt my soul expand (just like the little toy that Mary showed us), and it felt very needed. Praying that my soul continues to feel restored this April.
Another reason why Psalm 23 felt so special and needed was the picture Mary gave us to meditate on at the start of the retreat. It was a picture of a shepherd holding his lamb. I know this is a silly thought, but the first thing it made me think of was how I always look at my cat and wish I could live life like her. Just doing nothing all day but sleep and run around, and your owners feed you and do everything for you. It made me think that because the Lord is my shepherd, I kind of get to feel a little bit of that. He just carries me. I don’t need to do anything. This doesn’t mean I’m just gonna sit around and not eat the food that was given to me or ignore my owner and not let them hold me. I get to eat the food the Lord provides me, and I get to just be held. Crazy that I compared the Lord being our shepherd to my fat cat and her food, but it makes sense in my head.
Anywho, thankful for this weekend, thankful for March, thankful we have April, and thankful for the Fellows.
This month I recommend… JADE!!! (the Bolash’s cat I love her so much), La La Land color theory (thanks Celeste), 15 passenger vans, green bagels, day trips to Boone, the new Hunger Games book, roses (thanks Sam), lego keychains, and of course two more months with fellows.
Evy :)