A trip

I had a wonderful Christmas vacation, visiting 4 different cities, attending a conference in Atlanta, seeing friends both old and new, and being stretched and challenged in numerous ways. It started on December 22, when my parents and younger siblings came up to Indianapolis to see my house and visit my church. Mom gave the house a thumbs-up. We went to my church and visited with Bob and Carolyn; it was good for them to be able to connect names with faces.

We all drove to Louisville to visit with my grandmother on my mom's side. They had to drive her to the airport the next morning for a visit to Florida. We visited for several hours, toured the assisted living home where she stays, and called our uncles to wish them a Merry Christmas.

I proceeded on to Nashville to visit some old friends of mine who live on a farm an hour outside the city. We spent Christmas morning helping their redneck neighbor build his barn (no lie). One of them is in the military and is currently stationed in Europe, and I was fortunate to catch him during his furlough. I really enjoy hanging out with the whole family, especially Scott and Chris, who are sharp, genuine, and real.

My good friend W currently attends college in Texas, and he has recently gotten involved in Impact and grown enormously in his Christian faith. Impact is a branch of Campus Crusade for Christ specifically targeted at the African American culture. They had their national conference in Atlanta this year, and W decided to attend with several of his friends. He asked (actually, in typical W fashion, insisted) that I attend with him, and, notwithstanding the color disparity, I consented.

The speakers at the conference were rock-solid in their teaching, but they were also very hip and cool. The floor-shaking hip-hop music was awesome too, even though it's not exactly my style. I was impressed by the attendees, most of whom seemed to be passionate about their faith and very solid in their lifestyle and goals. I felt nothing but love from everybody, especially the large contingent of Baylor kids who came with W. I also go to see a couple guys from my small group in grad school, which was an unexpected surprise.

While I was in Atlanta, I took the opportunity to visit City of Refuge, the church I attended when I lived there. I was greeted at the door by Seven, the former Hell's Angels gang member who spent seven years in jail (hence his name). He now leads a home for men in recovery.

On the way home, I stopped in east Tennessee to visit with my family and my good friend Paul. It was nice to be home, if only for a short time.