This Is How We Roll

Over the weekend, I hosted in my apartment a student from Harding University who was coming to New York to check out the city and see what it would be like to live and work here. I've been in that situation before, in my last year of school, so I thought it only fair that someone extend to him the same welcome that was extended to me. That said, I'll admit that I was battling some pre-conceived notions about a Harding kid hanging out with me, Wilber, and Casey for the weekend. What will he think? How uncomfortable will he be? What will we talk about?

The trip went smoothly. We hit up a mixture of tourist sites and everday haps here in the city. We spent time in Brooklyn and Queens (let's hear it for the outer boroughs!), Chelsea (it's the second happiest place on earth, next to Disneyland), lower Manhattan, and Little Italy. He wanted to see the "everyday New York", so I showed him just that. Lots of time on the subway, running errands, running into friends on the street, etc.

We had good conversation about church backgrounds and where we both stand regarding our beliefs in worship. To my surprise, we're not that different. He attends a non-denominational church in Searcy, AR, which blew my mind. I didn't think such churches existed there. That shows my ignorance. He's also done a lot of mission work overseas and has a heart for social justice. Very cool.

We went to CCfB on Sunday morning and he got to see how we roll there. He liked it. Maybe he'll be back someday.

I daresay that the weekend was an eye-opening experience for us both. He changed my idea of what the typical Harding student looks like, and likely I changed his mind of what the typical Christian looks like. Good for both of us.