By Eliza Krodel
Have you ever convinced yourself that if you could just knock everything off your list, you would finally have the peace you long for? Ahh the satisfaction of completion. How would you spend your time? What would you do with all that open mental space? You probably don’t want to hear this, but I bet you’d find yourself making another list.
I’m quickly learning that the “list” of things to do will never cease. With every season comes new lists. A year ago, it was… Fellows application, homework, and pick-up grad materials. Now it’s the job search, seminary reading, and lesson plan for Sunday School. Many Capital Fellows alumni have described the program as a “fire-hydrant” of knowledge and wisdom being poured out on you. That is, there is so much coming at you all at once that you cannot absorb it all.
I believe part of the program’s purpose is to show us how it’s impossible to do every role well all the time: daughter, host-daughter, sister, fellow, employee, church volunteer, friend, and long-distance friend. We can’t do it all. We actually were not meant to do it all. And yet, we are called in obedience to trust God with our “lists” and learn to step into the rhythm of sabbath.
We cannot wait until the list stops to sabbath. Actually, the most courageous thing we can do is look at our long, burdensome list in the face, declaring “I am dead to the law,” and sabbath in spite of what’s clamoring for our attention. We sit in the tension of knowing there is always more to do, yet believing that God’s design for us is to walk in the peace that comes through sabbath living.
The sabbath was made by God for us. How cool that our God made us to be creators like him, who make lists, produce, and engage with the world. Yet we are finite, unlike Him. He understands our soul’s need to delight and rest in Him, even though we are equipped for the greatness of being creators.
Dr. Irwin Ince, one of our professors last fall, reminded us that sabbath is the “resistance to the power and principalities of hell that tell me my value is measured by my productivity.” But how do we resist? Take captive the lies of the perpetual I must do, do, do, and more than that, act accordingly—go call that friend, share fellowship over a meal, choose sleep, and all those things that the clamoring to-do list forbids you and me to do.
Eliza Krodel is a member of the Capital Fellows class of 2023-24. She is from Nashville, TN, and is a graduate of Auburn University. This year, she is working as a Strategic Communications Fellow at Pinkston in Falls Church, VA.
Pictures From The Week
Playing some intense games at our belated Galentines Party, hosted by our Assistant Director, Martha Roszak.
Our Capitol Hill interns took us on a tour of the White House!
Celebrating Catherine and Caroline's birthdays at the Schmidt's house!
A usual sighting of fellows laughing, pictured at Capital Commons.
Know a Potential Capital Fellow?
If you know a college senior or recent graduate who should consider joining the Capital Fellows program in 2024-25, please encourage them to get in touch with us. The easiest way to express interest in the program is through our Contact Us Form. You can learn more about the program, including application deadlines, by visiting the Capital Fellows website.
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!
Next week, the Fellows will have a half-day silent retreat. It's the second of two silent retreats during the Capital Fellows year. These retreats enable us to replace the noise of the world around us - news, texts, social media - with a short season of prayer, reading, and reflection. Please pray that the fellows will be blessed by this short time of silence.
Want to pray for the current 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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