By Chelsea Spyres
 
I will admit, I don’t really get grace. I mean I get it in a way that I can define it, I can point out examples of it in my life, but how it shows up at the most unexpected moment, or how I am called to it when I want to run in the opposite direction takes my breath away.
 
At one point while in London we were meeting with folks who run a community café out of a local church. They shared about their journey in taking this big risk and how things did not always work out but those big risks were worth it for the sake of living out vision and call. They shared that sometimes in those big risks it meant sacrifice but sometimes it also meant receiving for themselves. In my journal towards the end of our time together I wrote these words big and bold:

By Chelsea Spyres
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Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. Through college I was in marching band, so fall meant a really unique type of community. In each place that I have lived I have watched the leaves on the trees change as the air that I breathe turns a little crisper. This fall was no different, and I especially held on to a few weeks when it seemed like in a matter of hours I could see transformation happening all around me.

By Chelsea Spyres

​“You have so much time, try not to feel rushed.”
 
On our first full day in London one of our hosts Shannon spoke these words to me while we sat on a blanket in a park, after sharing a meal of mushroom risotto from the Saturday market. These words grounded me in a really important way that week in London and has many days since. So often I (and we as a culture) are so rushed, running from one thing to the next, thinking about the to-do list, the deadlines, that I (we) forget to see what is right in front of us.
 
After Shannon and I spoke for a while I sat and journaled as many of my cohort explored the area. This is not normal for me, normally I would have been in the midst of the group, not wanting to miss out on a moment of community bonding or adventure, but for this moment, I wanted to be still and I wanted to empty all that was in my mind. This is a portion of what I wrote on that perfect sunny London afternoon…