Nights of the Roundtable

Here is my Raleigh Fellows blog entry for October...

"For the next 7 months, my life is planned out for me on a Google calendar. I kind of love it…fewer decisions to make. As in all of life, there are certainly times when I really don’t want to go to work or class or Bible Study. But, oh well because the calendar has spoken! That’s just part of growing up…sometimes you just gotta do things you don’t really feel like doing.

However, there is one thing I ALWAYS want to do, and it’s called Roundtable. Every Thursday night, the Fellows end our work week by having dinner and discussion at our director’s home. Roundtable is something that needs to be experienced more than explained, but the basic premise is that two Fellows prepare dinner, we all eat the dinner together, and then we have a discussion. In the future, we’ll be discussing controversial topics, but for now, we are sharing our testimonies with each other. Each week, two Fellows have been sharing their stories. No holds barred. No time limits. No rules.

Thus far, the testimonies have been, for me, the most meaningful part of the program. It is difficult to explain just how much of an honor it is to be able to listen to someone you love and care about share their story with you. It’s humbling to realize that you are being entrusted with precious information- both joyous and heartbreaking. Each Fellow has a story to tell- a story that has been written by God and given to them- and each time I listen to one of them share, I feel like I am being invited into that story with them. I experience their happiness and their sorrow, their celebration and their grief. And I always see God’s hand- how His fingerprints cover their story and shape it into something beautiful.

I love Roundtable. There’s just something very special about sharing food, conversation, and real life with one another. The Lord meets us in those moments every Thursday night where we experience the riches of fellowship with other believers.

C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world…Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.”

On Thursday nights, my desire for deep and purposeful community is awakened. It is partially met, but one day it will be fully met. I will be in that other world in perfect community with my Savior and with every brother and sister in Christ worldwide. And I can’t wait!"

Nancy Childers