By Lauren Burns
It’s now February, and we have three months left of this Capital Fellows year, and let’s just say - we’re swimming in a pool of mixed emotions. On the one hand, come May, a door opens for each of us to live out the principles we’ve been learning through this program. On the other hand, however, in order for us to walk through these doors, we need to do a lot of knocking. And knocking, in this season, looks like submitting applications.
You can talk to any number of us who have any number of career aspirations, but what you will find in common amongst all the Fellows are red knuckles and sore hands from knocking. Knocking on the admissions doors of graduate schools and seminaries, of Capitol Hill and Young Life, of think tanks, health clinics, and consulting firms. Knocking, knocking, knocking.
As I look at my own hand, knuckles red from knocking, I need some encouragement. Romans 8:26-27 provides the perfect balm.
“…the Spirit helps us in our weakness…we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…The Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
One afternoon last August, I went on a run. The purpose of this run was to pray about my host family. The only problem - I had no idea what to pray for. I rounded a cul-de-sac, checked my watch, and quickly prayed, “Lord, I ask that this family would have a dog and that I’d get along with them.”
Six months later, the remarkable reality of Romans 8:26, has me humbled and falling utterly in love with the Lord. This year, through living with the Ruiz family, I’ve experienced God parting the heavens and raining down blessings I could have never thought to ask for. God isn’t bound by my feeble attempts to pray. When I approach him in ambiguity and confusion, I am completely covered in the Holy Spirit’s perfect prayers on my behalf.
As I knock on these doors that will hopefully open to a season of work and grad school, I feel similarly ambiguous as I approach the Lord in prayer. I don’t know if I want to stay in D.C. or move back to California. “Lord,” I find myself saying, “I’m supposed to pray, but I don’t even know what to ask for.” Once again, I rest on the Spirit who knows how to pray for me. He intercedes for me according to the will of God.
Pictures from the Week
Bethesda has New Haven pizza!
Matt Bolander greets Steve Garber after talking with the Fellows about his book, "Visions of Vocation."
Metro-ing goes faster in a pink coat
Will at the church enjoying "Pancakes and Putt-Putt"
Know a Potential Capital Fellow?
If you know a college student that should consider joining the Capital Fellows program, please encourage them to get in touch with us. The easiest way to express interest in the program is our Contact Us Form.
About Capital Fellows. Capital Fellows is an advanced leadership and discipleship program for recent college graduates. Through graduate courses, a paid internship, one-on-one mentoring and many leadership and community service opportunities, fellows develop and apply their gifts in real-world situations while learning to integrate a Christian worldview into all areas of life. Capital Fellows is a unique opportunity to live and work in the Washington DC area and to be an active member of a supportive community that seeks to serve the city with the love of Christ. It is also a unique opportunity to get hands-on experience in the workplace while deeply exploring God’s design for us as workers and contributors to human flourishing.
Pray for the Capital Fellows
Thank you for praying for the Capital Fellows each week!
During the spring semester, the Fellows are placed in small "peer" groups. These groups of three are intended to be a weekly place of vulnerability, care, encouragement, and prayer. Please pray that they would go deep - serving one another, encouraging one another, confessing their sins to one another, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. As they make their way through the spring semester and beyond, please pray that all of the "one another" passages of the New Testament would frame and mark their relationships.
Want to pray for the Capital Fellows in an ongoing way? Download this handy prayer guide for your phone or tablet.
About The Fellows Initiative
Capital Fellows is part of a network of similar programs across the country. This network is called The Fellows Initiative. There are 34 Fellows programs in TFI, roughly 3,000 alumni living around the world, and more Fellows programs on the way.
If you know a church in the US or Canada that would benefit from joining TFI by launching a new Fellows program. Please contact TFI by visiting their website.
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