1. 31 May 2010 · 02:51 PM ·

    Arrival in Chattanooga

    It was time. May 26th had finally come. Sometimes it felt like I had just left the slums of Miami from the previous summer in 2009.  Fall semester turned into spring, Christmas came and then was gone and the New Year waved as it passed by. Finals came; we camped out in the library until we were able celebrate our brief stint of freedom from academia. Now summer was upon me again. Wow, what a journey it has been leading up to this point.

    I drove home from Wingate University, loaded my bags in my car, ate a PB&J and then embarked on my 6 hour road trip that would have it’s endpoint in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

                I stopped once for gas. Tennessee impressed me right away with its gas prices boasting an incredible $2.49, which enabled me to fill up my whole tank for $29.00.

                A rush of excitement ran through my body as I neared Nooga. 101 miles away…87 miles…58 miles…27…then interstate 75 turned into I-24 and the trees opened up and I was welcome with a view only God could create to the city I was going to be calling home for the next 10 weeks. I was using my phone as a GPS and it died about 2 hours from Chattanooga so when the signs stop pointing to Downtown Chattanooga, I got off an exit called “Market Street”. I didn’t have a clue where the church was so I took a pit stop at a local pub, plugged in my phone to call Jeff and got to talking to the bartender. He pulled out his IPhone, looked up my destination and wrote them down on a pad faster than I could order a drink. I was starting to appreciate the hospitality of Chattanooga already. With my phone having just enough battery to make one phone call I followed the bartenders directions all the way to the church where I called Jeff Mathis and he met me outside.

    Jeff Mathis is the man who offered me the job here this summer. He is a mentor, a friend, a brother, and leader whom I deeply respect. I owe a lot of my faith journey to this man. Jeff has had a major positive impact on my life.

                So Jeff and I walked into the church, ate some pizza together and then it was time to meet the youth I would be serving this summer and have a little ice cream.

    I walk into the youth room fixed me a bowl of ice cream and thought this was just going to be a hang out session where we would eat and have small talk. Little did I know the youth here in Nooga have a little ritual of putting the new guy on the “Hot Seat.” I had to answer any and every type of question you could ever imagine, from “what’s your favorite word?” to “do you like musicals?” to “have you ever been arrested?” It was an interesting 20 minutes and I was glad to accept the challenge for a game of dodge ball following the interrogation.