On my own.

Three words that usually means a big change.  In the fall of 1972 I left for Tennessee Temple College with just a letter stating I was welcome to enrolled, two hundred and fifty dollars, a suit case of clothes, my Bible and a 1967 Impala.  It only took me a day to realize how much was in store for me.  Registering for class and getting a room was easy.  However, I had to stay at Holly Hall which was a very old two story house that had about twenty students living there (three or four to a room).  However, to my surprise Kroger had no job openings, so my new number one task was to find a job.  Since my last position at Kroger was a stock clerk working on the night shift I thought I could find a job at a Kroger store here in Chattanooga.  However, these stores were smaller and only stocked their shelves in the day time and that then I had classes.  I finally got a big break when one of the students told me about a job he applied for at Red Food but could not take since it required him to work the night shift.  I jumped on the lead and had the job that day.

One thing I realized at nineteen was that going to school full time, working full time and the chapel requirements at school keep my days full.  In high school I could sleep through most of my classes and still have a passing grade.  Here it was different, I could sleep in classes, but it would be almost impossible to pass the classes since almost all of the class material was lecture based and note taking  a huge requirement if you wanted to pass the class.  However, after eight weeks I had the routine in placed and kept my class naps down to just a few.  I did learn the trick of keeping a nine volt battery with me to place on my tongue to wake me up when I got sleepy in class.

The only thing missing were letters from my girlfriend back home.  The first two weeks of school the letters came almost everyday, but after that only once or maybe twice a week.  So because I had no detentions after eight weeks, I was able to get a pass to go back home for a weekend.  Yes, all of our activities were monitored and we had to be in our rooms every night by nine.  However, I had the exception to the nine o’clock rule since I worked third shift.  So off I went to back home to Cincinnati, only to find out my girl friend had found someone else.   

Life happens.

School was now easier to focus on, especially since Tennessee Temple had some of the greatest Bible teachers and speakers that were in the Conservative Christian ministry at that time speaking in our chapel morning meeting everyday.   Work was also great and I was able to make enough money to pay for school, however very little left over to live on.   However, I needed something else and that need was meet by working in the Chapel ministry.  The number one acquirement that one needed for the Chapel ministry was a car.  That I had.  Also the Chapel ministry gave me the opportunity to work in a small local church or help out in church planting.  It was a time of growth in my life working with many young students as well as several older and more mature pastors and their families.  Much of the knowledge I have of the scriptures today were acquired during this time.