Three days after Festus arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from

Caesarea. The chief priests and the leaders of the Jews presented their case against

Paul to him; and they appealed, asking for a favor against Paul, that Festus summon

him to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, preparing an ambush along the road to kill him. (Acts 25:1-3)

In 1991 The Soviet Union dissolved into 15 independent states marking the end of the

Cold War. Michael Jordan and The Chicago Bulls won their first NBA championship and

Nirvana released “Smells Like Teen Spirit” under front man, Kurt Cobain, which served

as the soundtrack to my Sophomore year in high school. With only one day left until

summer break, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Not only had I recovered from a

torn muscle earlier in the season, but I had lettered on the Varsity Team as a

Sophomore after helping the Dunwoody Wildcats advance to the state quarter finals.

More importantly, I had lettered WITHOUT attending “hell week.”

Hell week (as our Head Football Coach affectionally refereed to it) was a week of two-a-

day practices at Georgia Southern College in the dead heat of Summer. Due to my

injury, I was unable to attend football camp and enjoy all the “fun.” So when all my

buddies returned home with buzzed heads, bruised muscles and war-stories, I started

my sophomore year with flowing locks and no "Hell Week PTSD” to speak of. And to the

chagrin of my peers, by Christmas, I was sporting an authentic Dunwoody Wildcat

Letterman Jacket. So you can see why I was feeling pretty good about my Sophomore

year of high school with only one day left until Summer break…but that’s when it

happened.

With only one day left until Summer break I gathered my belongings at my locker and

turned around to find two of the largest offensive linemen on our team that were waiting

for me. Like the chief priests and Jewish leaders, they had been “preparing an ambush

along the road” to deliver me over to my teammates who were all waiting in the football

locker room; armed with insults and clipping shears…my punishment for somehow

lettering without attending hell week. Like Paul in Acts 25, I found myself in a completely

helpless situation. Over the next five days, we explore the intersection of faith and

helplessness. Some of us may never letter in football, but we all must navigate our own

personal “hell weeks” from time to time.



Q: Have you ever experienced a season where you were physically, emotionally,

vocationally or financially trapped and/or helpless? How do you tend to respond in these

situations?

By Jimmy Carter