Meal in a Bag...

[exhale] The move is over, and I can now call Knoxville home. Unfortunately, some miscommunication with Comcast has left us still without internet, but that's what Starbucks is for, right? (at least until I can explore and find a better local spot with free wi-fi)

Well, I'm loving Knoxville already. It's a great city, and I also love the new place. My roommate Jeff and I have a townhouse in an older complex built back in the 192o's, right smack dab in the middle of Knoxville's Sequoyah Hills neighborhood. (For those of you from Birmingham, it's like Knoxville's "Mountain Brook.") While the place is definitely older (no central heat or a/c, no dishwa

sher, etc.), it's definitely got some character. The buildings are all brick, with front and rear entrances, all set on these cool courtyard areas. Many of the residents are also grad students and young professionals, and there's a great community feel. We're looking forward to getting a grill so we can have some awesome cookouts! It's tucked back in a nice, quiet neighborhood, but it's also only minutes from Tennessee's campus. I don't think we could have found a better set-up, and I'm so thankful that God has worked things out in

a such a way.

The move-in was tough. It involved a long 9 hour drive up from Panama City with three vehicles (dad driving the U-haul, mom driving their van, and me driving my car), and a long, hot day of hauling furniture and boxes. A big thanks goes out to my parents for all of their help moving and getting me settled. Couldn't have done it without them!

I really enjoyed my first Sunday this morning at Redeemer, the church I'll be attending for the next 2 years. It's just blocks from Tennessee's campus, and students make up about 1/3 of the congregation. I've been so blessed to have Faith as my church family back in Birmingham, and I'm very thankful to have another wonderful church family here in Knoxville. I can't wait to get plugged in!

Well, I'd better be headed back home (wow, that's weird to say...ha) so I can get to bed at a decent hour l

ike a "grown-up." Our first staff meeting is tomorrow! And then I have a week to finish getting settled in and figuring out Knoxville before the students move in on Saturday!

Please continue to keep me in your prayers, as well as everyone else involved with RUF at Tennessee. This is bound to

be a somewhat difficult week. It's hard to realize how different living on your own is from living in a college dorm until you realize that if you don't cook for yourself...you don't eat. Ha. Thankfully, my parents fixed me up with some groceries before they left, and I "cooked" up my first meal this evening. Of course, it was just a Bertolli meal-in-a-bag. Instructions: Dump in skillet, cook, stir, cook, stir, eat. Baby steps...baby steps...

But seriously, this whole next semester is bound to be full of plenty of adjustments and growing up. For instance, my checklist tomorrow involves paying my first rent check, getting utilities set up, etc. Not to mention the job of ministering to college students at Tennessee, a job I'm completely inadequate to do. But the beautiful thing, of course, is the truth that one of my fellow first-year interns shared with me in an email this evening:

"You are inadequate for this job and you always will be. Just remember that God's grace is pretty freaking big."

Can I get an amen?

Your prayers and encouragement are so appreciated. Please keep checking back to this blog...I hope to keep it as up-to-date as possible with what God is doing in my life and through the ministry of RUF at Tennessee. I will also hopefully be posting pictures of the new apartment soon, once we're able to get everything settled in. (Also, if you would like my new mailing address, send me an email to stephen.moss@ruf.org)

All right, well it's back to the apartment for me! It will be nice to have internet there in a few days. It will also be nice to have meal-in-a-bag leftovers for lunch tomorrow. YES.

Resting in Him,

Stephen