CLASSIC CITY FELLOWS

Athens PBJ

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:21:34 -0500

I first attended Athens PBJ the spring of my junior year. It was simply a meeting I had to attend so I could get service credit for my fraternity. The meeting was strange and awkward. Highly touted as an incredible opportunity by the officers of my fraternity, Athens PBJ was nothing more than a small gathering outside The Grill. There the homeless shared generally fragmented and incoherent thoughts. Finally, a college student prayed, sack lunches were handed out and everyone went home. On the walk back to my dorm room, my pledge brother Wesley and I chatted disparagingly about the program. We diagnosed Athens PBJ as enabling the addicts, ineffective as a ministry, but probably a nice sentiment. Mostly, we talked about the homeless. We talked about how they smelled. We talked about how the acted. We talked about a how we didn’t like them. In our lives, something was radically wrong.

Over the next week, Wesley and I continued to talk about Athens PBJ. Increasingly, we became aware that our hearts were cold. Jesus Christ spent his life on Earth with the dregs of society. Forty-five minutes downtown once a week was agony for us. So we forced ourselves to attend Athens PBJ. Dumb jocks as heart, we treated our spiritual growth like we were conditioning for a football game. We would attend Athens PBJ until we became masters of mercy, heavyweights of grace. It didn’t work very well.

There is a type of ironic providence that I am convinced is solely for the amusement of our Father. One day toward the end of the semester, I rode with Robert Thrasher to go visit one of our friends who recently had gone to jail for drug possession. After, Robert thanked me for my faithful attendance on Sundays this semester. Robert shared with me his vision to expand Athens PBJ to include a bible study and more meeting times outside of Sunday. He implicated that he wanted men and women with my quality of character to help him lead the group. In response, I remember sticking my hands in my pocket. Suddenly, the ground became very fascinating to look at. My ears were extremely warm. I mumbled something about how I didn’t really like homeless people. How there was no room in my heart for them. How it probably would not be a very good idea of me to lead students next semester. That day Robert and I prayed that God would show us how to love his children more. We asked him to give us some of his love because our supply was exhausted.

Today, I still generally dislike homeless people. On the other hand, there are now people —who happen to be homeless— whom I love. The scope of my impact on the homeless community in Athens is probably pretty small. Their impact on my life is indelible. Athens PBJ has radically changed the way that I look at the world. I fondly cherish every moment I have spent under the bridge, at tent city, and in the woods behind Hardee’s. Like God promised in Malachi 3, I have given Him a very small portion of my labor. In exchange, God has given me so much blessing it is impossible for me to handle it all.

Also, Wesley is now in Albany, GA. Last week, he met with the elders of his church. The agenda of the meeting was the viability starting of homeless ministry there.

To the Raleigh fellows….

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:21:00 -0500

To the Raleigh fellows….

Peace-FULL

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:16:35 -0500

To most Americans, the idea of peace signifies a absence – an absence of stress, absence of either required or tedious work, absence of doubt, etc. Peace to us is emptiness, a lack. When our lives hasten and the sweat begins to glisten on our brows, we dream of an escape; we dream of “absenting” ourselves from whatever it is that presses in on us like a trash compactor. Four papers due next week? We want out. Impending finals and their exorbitant amount of study time required to excel? We long for the finish line.

Recently I have been learning about the ancient Hebrew word Shalom. Many English Biblical translations, for lack of a more appropriate term, deem it synonymous to our English word peace; however, I would argue it is the exact opposite. What we as Americans associate with peace, the ancient Hebrews would consider laziness (i.e. Saturdays comprised entirely of football-watching, nights where we crash in front of Netflix, etc.). Shalom is actually defined not as an emptiness of strenuous activity, but as a fullness – a fullness of an abundant life, a replacement of whatever ails with something greater and more worthy of one’s attention and thought. So, instead of desiring an eradication of activities in one’s life, or an escape from reality, the ancient Hebrew definition of peace would suggest a paradigm shift. Removing what is required of you in life, to them, is lazy – you just want to work less, feel less stress, do less things. But in actuality, being full of the right mindset and right purpose actually sets one’s mind truly at ease. Work is inevitable. Busyness – especially in modern America – is a certain reality. How one thinks about such things, or how one orients their priorities, is the key to true peace.

I reflect often upon how I arrange my priorities. I busy myself with busyness, yes, but this is the way of the world. To remove my busy schedule, I find, would actually not bring me much peace. I retreat to the mountains for a spell, or to a secluded beach, but after some time, I long for my home life full of stressful activities, work, and palm sweaton my Mac as I write songs, papers, and journals. Indeed no, escape from reality and the shirking of responsibility hold no peace. What does bring peace is a paradigm shift. To take in the weather as I write, to enjoy what is around me instead of only what is in front of me.

I have a hope for the future; I have something greater than my stresses. It’s different for everyone, and each of us should search for it and when we find it hold indefatigably to it. It will not be an escape. It will not be an absence. It will most certainly be a fullness and abundance–it may even make you busier. I welcome it.

dream big.

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 11:44:35 -0500

It’s rare to meet someone who doesn’t dream. It’s equally as rare to meet someone living his or her dream. So where’s the disconnect? How can so many people have so many dreams when so few of them actually come to fruition? Clearly, something happens on the way to living out a dream that causes it to loose its grandeur, its importance, its attractiveness. Because when a dream stops being dreamy it stops being worth pursuing. When our dreams become tasks and lists of tasks and lists of lists of tasks and lists of multi-tasks the burden of the dream’s chores outweighs the dream itself. So, we drop it. We modify it. We shrink it. We change dreams all together. We lose sight of the very thing that inspired us to begin working in the first place.

If you haven’t noticed, the CLS is full of dreamers. It’s also full of “taskers.” Somehow the dream of impacting lives over Spring Break turns into twenty emails per day; getting into law school, an inordinate amount of homework; promoting literacy in Athens, an incessant search for funding. These tasks are often what derail us from the dream. Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid tasks on the path to a dream. Simply put, any dream worth running after will take a lot of hard work. But (and this a Sir-Mix-A-Lot-sized “but”) there is a way to not get bogged down in the tasks of a dream: get back to the activity that sparked the dream in the first place.

As dreamers, we never start with the big picture. A dream is ignited by an act or experience that captures the heart. Remember the face of the first child you explained multiplication to? Remember the reaction of the family when they saw their home transformed by your hard work after an afternoon of cleaning? Remember the smile on the fragile old woman after she left the mobile dental clinic with her teeth cleaned for the first time in 60 years? Almost all of us can pinpoint the activity that our dreams center around. Unfortunately, as we seek to make our dreams reality and expand our vision, the bureaucracy, administrative work, and management of the tasks and people involved in our dream cloud our original clarity and purpose.

To return clarity, return to your dream. Go put a book in a child’s hand. Go spend time with the people at the homeless shelter. Go hammer nails into a Habitat house (dreams don’t need to be service-based, these are just examples). Go be with the women in Africa who are using the micro-loans. When you get down to the micro-level of loving and caring for people, the level where the dream smashes into reality and makes a difference, everything seems simple again. Things seem obvious. The dream captures your imagination again and becomes desirable, worthwhile, even achievable. You remember the “why” again.

So here’s to all the dreamers out there. Dream big. Dream scary big. Dream so big that you’re afraid to tell people about it. Seriously. And then run hard after your dreams. Work hard. Laugh hard. Email hard. Whatever it takes, pursue your dreams with absolutely everything you have. And when you feel swamped or overwhelmed or heavy laden by the overflowing inbox or the unending Gmail task list, close the computer, put the pen down, and get back to the activity where the dream first took root. Let the winds of love and change provide fresh air to the smoldering embers of your vision and rekindle that once small flicker back into a radiating blaze.

A day in the life.....

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:00:00 -0500

With the start of fall came the start of my internship at Trappeze Pub in downtown Athens. To be clear that means that I am interning at a church and pub, with both roles being part of the Fellows program. The shock value of that unique combination has inspired confusion from some of my Baptist leaning friends and chuckles from others that haven’t crossed the threshold of a church in awhile. However, I believe God has a purpose for this juxtaposition of a church intern to the bar scene. From the small lesson of trying to let my yes be yes and my no be no to the opportunity to teach English to a Cuban political refugee who until recently worked as a dishwasher has been a seamless continuation of the work and blessing God has been doing in my life through Classic City and the Fellows Program. My internship is teaching me to be in the world, but not of it as I once was and for that I am greatful.

I know them!

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 14:56:00 -0400

Today only….

Grouptunes is offering “Leave Your Guns with the Usher” for only $5. Check out the deal!

You can also visit The Classic City Collective to get a copy.

what's your story?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:46:00 -0400

Recently the fellows read a book, “To Be Told” by Dan B. Allender. Throughout the book the readers were encouraged to write their story to “gain a clear sense of how God has written your life so far” and where He is leading you.

For me, this question is a lot easier thanks to a friend who taught me the blessing of journaling my thoughts/dreams/experiences/prayers….really everything. My story follows my heart. In order to know my story and where it is taking me, it is important to know what is in my heart. What are my dreams? Who/what are the majority of my prayers about? What moves me?

Three years ago I started working with Athens PBJs because I was moved by the homeless community in Athens. If I had any free time, I found myself wanting to spend time with and serve our friends on the streets. My friends and I joyfully planned Christmas parties and tailgates. When I asked myself these questions last year, it brought me to Classic City Community Church. There are many reasons why I want to work here and with the staff, but the outstanding is because there is something that moves me about getting to know college students. Above all else, His unconditional love compels me to trust and follow Him at His leading…..

Thankful for our church.

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:40:00 -0400

Thankful for our church.

Photo

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:44:00 -0400

Making a résumé is a difficult task.

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:24:00 -0400

Trying to fit one’s marketable tasks onto one page is difficult. If you are a college student with little work experience who faces looming unemployment in less than six months, and lives in the worst economy since the Great Depression, “difficult” does not even begin to capture the job-search challenge; the task would be better labeled as arduous. As the corporate recruiting cycle begins this semester, that arduous task is reflected the eyes of my peers in the business school. Our nights are filled with networking meetings, our mornings are spent on e-mails and thank you notes, and our days are spent filling answering online application questionnaires. Our counselors tell us that “finding a full-time job should be a full-time job;” bless their hearts. Naturally, students try to live that out as reality: they shoehorn hours of job searching with school, extracurricular activities, and the unavoidable fact of being a twenty-something with uncertain conviction on the direction of their lives.

Last year, the job search became a compulsion for me. I was a hamster on the job-search wheel. I ran and ran until finally I could run no more. Honestly –and it seems so foolish now—the failure of reaching December and then May with no job was one of the hardest experiences of my life. I take pride in working hard and being successful, so being unemployed was a frustrating embarrassment for me. I wanted the most prestigious jobs in and the most coveted work so badly . I wanted to be the best.

In the book of James, it is written, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” This year, as a Classic City Fellow, my experience is radically different from last year. Last year I networked to benefit myself, but this year I have been working to connect people within our church. Instead of planning for my future, I do my best to build God’s kingdom. I haven’t sent out my résumé once this year.

That is not to say that I have no plan for my life, but instead I do my best, every day, to cede control, to let the Lord’s plans take place of my own. To me, my involvement in the Fellow Program for the past year has been a time of intentionally seeking the Lord, studying the Bible, and praying that His heart could become my own. What more could a Christian ask for?

"Gracious Spirit dwell with me; I myself would gracious be, And with words that help and heal Would..."

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:07:42 -0400

“

Gracious Spirit dwell with me;
I myself would gracious be,
And with words that help and heal
Would Thy life in mine reveal,
And with actions bold and meek
Would for Christ my Saviour speak.

-C.H. Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening

”

For our weekly roundtable dinner, I am going to (attempt to)...

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:28:00 -0400

For our weekly roundtable dinner, I am going to (attempt to) make pork tenderloin with capers and olives. Hopefully the dish will taste as good as it looks :)

What's in a Fellow?

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:23:00 -0400

That’s a good question! For starters, my name is Anna Day and I graduated this past December from the University of Georgia. I am one of the five Classic City Fellows. This blog will follow our year of learning and living life together as we pursue our calling to live faithfully in the Church and in the world.

So what have I learned so far?

· It’s really all about relationships. Get to know people, especially others that are not like you. And walk through the tough patches of life with them. It’s worth it.

· It’s more important to be deep than wide. After college, life gets busy! Whether you work for a church or a law firm, there is always a reason to not be still. I can learn something from the woman from Samaria.