Words By Mae

August highlights:

• I’m 26 now!!!! I turned 26 on the very last day of the month. To celebrate, some dear friends and I went on a climbing day trip to Mineral Wells the day before. The day of, I had school and assignments (law student problems, haha), but also ate some delicious Chinese takeout with my sweet family in the evening. It was truly a treasured and memorable day, and I felt ALL of the love.
• My first semester of law school began! The beginning of the next three years of studying, testing, etc. was pretty daunting, but I am also thrilled it is here. It has been quite literally a dream come true.
• My family did a little miniature getaway to Granbury over a long weekend in August. We swam at the lake, meandered around the square, ate plenty of yummy food, and did an escape room. Schrammily bonding!

August lowlights:

• Law school cut my summer short by almost a month. We took a fundamentals course starting the first week of August, and even though it was pretty low-key, it was still a bummer doing homework on our family vacation.

This month, I was filled by:

• I read I’m Still Here by Austin Channing-Brown, in which she shares her story of growing up as a black, Christian woman in America. It was enlightening and challenging and beautiful and hard. The book really opened my eyes to racism, to growth, and to how I can love my black brothers and sisters better.

This month, I was emptied by:

• It is incredibly disheartening for me to continue to see how divisive the conversations are surrounding both coronavirus and systemic racism. From my perspective, I see both as heart and human issues, not as left/right/conservative/liberal issues.

In September, I am looking forward to:

• I’m helping celebrate some friends’ birthdays by spending time outside and in the sunshine the first couple of weekends of September. It should be some great quality time with great quality people.
• I am hosting another discussion-based evening with some sweet friends from different circles in a couple of weekends. I am praying for a conversation rooted in kindness and understanding.