the greatest of these is love: Tennessee (Memphis, Nashville, Chatt-town)

Greetings from Tennessee!
Our journey in TN started in Memphis. We were pretty excited to get there because it's a pretty renown place-or so we thought. We left Arkansas on Monday morning and made the drive to Memphis. Much to our chagrin, there was hardly anybody there! The streets were empty! We found parking and walked around for a bit but it was so strange-many of the places were closed up and scarcely did we see people on the street. We had hoped to spend a solid 2 days here before moving on to Nashville, but it didn't look like very much was happening.
We made it down to Beale St., where the "happening" spot is, but again, not happening. Maybe because it was a Monday afternoon? Who knows, but there was almost nobody out and anybody who was out was making their way in. Although, one cool thing that happened-we walked into a store and there were a couple older gentlemen in suits and (pimp looking) hats with canes, and one of them was dancing to some old time blues. It was a very stereo-typical Memphis picture and I'm so glad we got to see it!
We did drive by Graceland, the home of Elvis, but didn't see the gates because we didn't want to pay to park, not to mention the $33 to get in! From the street we could see his airplane, the Lisa Marie, and the Heartbreak Hotel and that was good enough for us.

They love their Elvis in Tennessee!

Beale St.

for some reason, I really like trolley cars

the nothingness going on downtown

One not so happy thing we got to see, albeit historic, was the Lorraine Motel, the place where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Across the street was the Civil Rights Museum and if you paid to get it, you could actually go up onto the balcony and stand where he was shot, right outside room 306. It was cool to see because of the reminder of how far we've come. I know, as a nation, we still have a long way until everyone is equal, but leaps and bounds have been made since the 1960's and that's definitely something to be proud of.
Moving on from there, we, of course, had to stop and get some Memphis BBQ, since it's so talked about. We found this place called Central BBQ & Marc got a plate of 3 meats. He said the meat was good, but it was weird that they cooked it without the sauce. You served that yourself on the side. And that was it for Memphis.

the wreath marks the spot where MLK Jr. was standing

when he was fatally shot.

lunch

Memphis BBQ!

We had originally planned on stopping in Nashville on our way to Chattanooga, where we planned to spend the bulk of our time in TN, but then changed our minds. Even though we're blessed to be able to act like tourists a lot, we didn't really want to drive so out of our way to get there. Looking at a map of Tennessee, Memphis is on the south west border and Chatt is on the south east, while Memphis is up north about smack dab in the middle so instead of shooting up then coming back down, we decided instead just to skip Nashville and save the gas. That is, until we plugged the directions into our phone. It's so funny because in Cali, you can get on a freeway and go almost anywhere, so we always naturally assume that between major cities, there will be a freeway that connects the 2, but here, there were only side roads and small highways so our gps took us up on the main freeway almost all the way to Nashville anyways, before cutting back down, so we figured, "Why not?!" And off to Nashville we went!
We got there late and didn't actually get to see the city until the morning, but it was definitely a lot better than Memphis! We toured the capitol building and walked up and down hills for a couple of hours. We stopped to talk to a homeless guy named Ben who was selling newspapers. Of course, the reason we were there came up so when Marc asked if he knew where he was going when he died, and why, he replied, "I'm going to heaven. They have to let me in because if I went to hell, I'd take over." What?! You see, people have some weird ideas! We walked down Broadway (I think), which is lined up and down with honky tonks! Talk about crazy! Every bar had a live band playing to a very small crowd, if they had one at all. I don't know if it's because we've been so many places, but I'm starting to feel like every tourist-y spot looks the same. A bunch of flashing neon signs, bars, and gift shops with the same items.

So we were off to Chattanooga! Thankfully, the drive only took a couple of hours. We made it to the church a little late, and made friends with a dude named Zach.
But before I go farther, I must tell you why we chose Chattanooga vs Memphis or Nashville in the first place! When we were in New Jersey (the second time) doing hurricane relief, we were basically the hospitality for the groups that came in. We got them checked into the inn we were using, got them towels, room arrangements, showed them where to get food, made their bag lunches, and just were around if they needed anything. It was good times. Anyways, one of the teams that came up was from Calvary Chapel Chattanooga! We made friends with them and then fast forward to January at the Passion Conference in Georgia, we met up with Joel, one of the guys from their team.
Continuing on, Zach gave us Joel's number that I thought we had but I guess lost so we hit him up and then met up with him at Panera where we caught up for a couple of hours and afterwards went with him to game night at Kyle's house. It was awesome! We played Catch Phrase (I think....is that the one where you have the round little machine and you pass it and have to get your team to guess the word without saying it?) and ate funnel cake. It was bomb! And fun!
On Wednesday we met up with Pastor Darren (also from hurricane relief) and he took us out to lunch at Mojo Burrito. It was so bomb! If there is one thing I love in life besides God & Marc of course, it's giant burritos made exactly how I like them....and this was a giant burrito made exactly how I like it.

Can I just say...... MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. No joke, after what seems like forever of eating canned corn and canned green beans, this was heavenly. It even had wings. Ok, it didn't, but it was so good. We went back to the church, got the tour of the amazing buildings, and then Joel took us to his place so we could shower and do laundry. And let me just say, I super needed a shower because it had been 8 days since my last one! The day we left Mississippi was my last shower and I was starting to smell like a hobo, minus the beer & urine smell anyways.
Afterwards, we went to their high school study and it was so bomb. It totally spoke to me about my heart in worship and in service. I was blessed indeed.
So Thursday morning we hit the streets! Let me tell you, Chattanooga is a beautiful town. It's the perfect amount of country/mountains and city. There's a nice enough downtown that there looks to be things to do, but it's not so crazy "mass produced" like a lot of other places we go. It's awesome!

Anywho, so we parked and walked around. We were blessed to find free parking because for the most part, it doesn't exist here. We did have to walk over a really long bridge to get into the main drag, but for free, that was a good deal. As we begin to walk, Marc pointed us to the pedestrian bridge that was a little bit farther away, even though the closer bridge has a sidewalk. Nevertheless, we walked over there and as we were going up the stairs to get to it, we saw this streetkid sitting on the steps. One thing I love about streetkids is that they're always down to talk and most of the time have great stories. A lot of them that we meet are train hoppers-it sounds like an awesome way to see the country, but I don't think I could do it. So we talked for a bit about traveling and his dog, his band, and how they earn money. The poor guy had accidentally got split up with his friends the night before because of his dog, and then couldn't find them. Turned out his friends ended up getting a hotel room but since he couldn't find them, he slept under a parking garage. Mind you, by this time, it's about 11:20 AM and 30 degrees outside. I can't imagine how cold it must have been for him the night before. We got him a couple of fully loaded Subway sandwiches for later because if anyone knows the value of a delicious meal, it's me. Then we took him to find his friends, who then performed a song for us! It was fantastic! And then we said our goodbyes!

We did, of course, share Jesus with him. He had accepted the Lord when he was younger, but didn't like the "rules" that people put on him in church, so he doesn't go anymore but Marc explained about relationship and that we get to heaven based on faith, not works or anything else.
We walked around downtown for a bit longer after dropping him off, then we sat and had our studies. We did walk in this one shop for a very interesting experience. It was a bookstore but they had a ton of really pretty yarn in the window. Being that grandma that I am, we went in to check it out. At the end of one aisle, they had 3 spinning wheels. Marc, being the boy that he is, touched one and was immediately scolded by the much older woman behind the counter. Twice. It was hilarious. Then, being the social butterfly and inquisitive soul that he is, asked how much it cost.
"Three hundred dollars," she replied. "Do you spin?"
"No," said Marc, "but I'd love to learn."
That was news to me. She told us that if we bought a wheel she would teach us how to use it for free then asked how serious he was about it. Long story short, she sat him down and taught him how to use a spinning wheel. I'd love to say that I took a picture of it, but frankly, that woman scared me a bit. It was odd because, while she was very polite with her ma'am's and sir's, she wasn't really very polite. I'll give you an example-I picked up a skein of yarn to feel it, then when I put it back down she said, "You're not going to buy that?" Then later when she asked how we fund our trip (a pretty common question), I said, "The Lord funds it." Immediately she said, "Now that's not what I asked you." I suppose she's just more blunt than what I'm used to. The bookstore was an interesting place as well. They had tons of used books, but there was just yarn everywhere-spilling out of bags onto the floor, as bookends, on shelves. It was a sight indeed. The back aisles were all blocked off with things lying around, anything from bags of yarn to boxes or stools. It was a cool little place though. Polly, the spinning lady, then showed me how to use the machine. She seemed like a great lady, but ferocious in her own way.

So eventually we made our way back to the van-even with my thermals and 2 sweaters on, it was too cold for me. Then we found out, a little late but better late than never, that there was a men's Bible study at church so we headed back to Calvary Chattanooga. That night, Marc met a guy named Alejandro who is involved in ministry here at the church. He's a super nice guy and always willing to serve. I don't think we've sat down with him one time that he hasn't offered to get us something to drink and/or eat.
Friday morning was more church ministry, or service I suppose would be a better word. We were going to walk around town again, but it was pretty stinkin cold. There weren't too many people on the streets the day before and with today being colder, we decided to at least go to the church to have our studies. When we were done with that, we helped them out by cutting up flyers-nothing too exciting, but it makes us happy to do the menial tasks that nobody else really wants to do.

Afterwards we headed out to the mall. Witnessing at the mall is a tricky thing but sometimes it has to be done. If it's cold outside, we gotta go where it's warm so we can find people. All too often, that place is the mall, yet to many, witnessing is seen as soliciting and that is generally not allowed. We know that the gospel is more important than soliciting rules, but we still don't want to leave a bad witness and, like it or not, we are called to follow the laws of the land. Thankfully, Marc is extra fantastic at starting regular conversations and steering them towards the holies so then we're just talking and not "soliciting". So we walked through and eventually found the one! Marc was talking to this dude at a kiosk for a few minutes about the gauges he was selling. Knowing he wasn't going to buy any and not wanting the salesman to associate me with being "led on", if you will, I went nearby to sit down. As Marc stood there talking to homeboy, I watched as the lady at the neighboring kiosk curl a little girl's hair. Afterwards, she got up and was twirling around like a princess. She looked so happy! So when that same lady came over and sat right next to me, I complimented her on making that girl's day and we got to talking. The conversation was heading the way I wanted it to, but then Marc came over and we ended up walking away. It was really cool though because I am terrible, absolutely terrible, at starting conversations with people. I hate asking questions that are insincere and so I feel like most of the things that I would say are fake. Marc always asks, "What is there to do around here?" which is a great question that he truly is interested in, but because I realize that nearly everything they are going to say is either going to cost money or be a bar/club, I lost interest in that question a long time ago. I've never been the type of person to talk to strangers-it just isn't me, but lately, I've been praying that God would teach me how to start conversations. After all, one day, I'm not going to be around Marc 24/7 and I won't be able to rely on him to start a convo with someone I want to talk to. I have to do it! So I've been praying that God would show me how, that He would make it easy so I could just do it and that's exactly what this was. I didn't even intend to have a conversation with this woman in the beginning-it didn't even cross my mind. I was just going to compliment her and that was it. After a few words back and forth, it dawned on me, "I'm doing it." I know that sounds dumb, but that's how it went.
As we walked away, Marc told me about his conversation with the guy at the kiosk. He believed in God, but thought he was going to hell because he's done some bad things. Marc shared a bit of his testimony and the importance of walking with God and so the guy asked him what did it for him. After talking for a bit, he seemed disinterested and just said, "Well I'm glad that worked for you". It reminds me of Agrippa when he told Paul, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian". Some people are so close, but they talk themselves out of it because of fear or stubbornness.
After the mall, we headed back to the church to meet up with Pastor Darren and his wife, Bernice and the 4 of us went to a surprise birthday party for one of his friends. It was funny, the boys were parking so Bernice & I went in then she went to the bathroom. While I was just standing there, all alone, this lady comes up to me and asks, "So how do you know Maureen?"
"....I don't." I replied.
"Oh, ok. Who are you here with?"
"Well, right now, nobody."
"Are you crashing this party?"
It was a very funny conversation. Bernice came out shortly after and then the boys got there and I was rescued from my awkward, funny conversation. Momentarily. Then the birthday girl got there and Darren, being the funny man that he is, put Marc up to a ridiculous stunt. Not being one to back down from a challenge, he accepted. After she made her rounds saying hi to all of the people there, she gets to us with a slightly puzzled look on her face and Marc, enthusiastically, gives her a big hug & says, "Hey! How are you? Happy Birthday! Have you ever met my wife?" The whole time acting like he knew her. It was funny, that poor lady. It didn't last very long, but it definitely makes for a good story.

That night we slept in the nursery at the church, which was awesome because usually at night we lay down around 10 for lack of anything else to do then end up talking for 2 or 3 hours until we get tired. So I did some work on the computer and Marc worked on a project he has going. I didn't end up going to sleep until 6:45 am, but then we had to get up at 7:30 and move to the van because people start getting to work at 8. So I slept until 12ish, but Marc got up around 9 and went to a prayer meeting.....a ladies prayer meeting :) but they gladly took him in and prayed over us. Marc spent the rest of the day bragging about the prayers of these women and the power behind them. Sweet.
Not a whole lot else happened in Chattanooga-we went to service that Saturday night. Alejandro cooked us some bomb Cuban food beforehand and then after service we went to his house & played Sequence. Oh! And we met these awesome girls, Jenny, Jasmine, and Amy who we got to share stories about the trip with. Jenny has a burden to do something similar to what we're doing. She was a huge encouragement and super awesome!
Sunday morning we spent at church. We got up early to fill up the communion trays and then between services did it again. Marc helped distribute it during 2nd service. After church we took showers at our good buddy Joel's house, and then we bounced!