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movies and playing Nintendo. He was active in the Lads to Leaders program at his church. He got involved in the puppet teams—putting on shows designed to tell the story of the Gospel to children—public speaking and Bible reading, and traveled to Nashville for competition with teenagers from other churches. He took to speaking in public as if he’d been born for the pulpit.
    Matthew’s charismatic personality came to the fore-front in these years. He was well-liked by fellow students, but he never had a steady girlfriend. His high school friend and football teammate Scott Fuller told The Jackson Sun , “I think more than anything I remember about Matthew was his love for life. He was always a comedian. He never got down about anything.”
    His universal popularity compelled his classmates to elect him “Mr. Austin” in his senior year. He received another honor when he was named one of the escorts for the school’s Miss Bruin Pageant. He wasn’t as intense academically as his older brother. Daniel usually received straight A’s. Matthew was a solid A and B student, though. He graduated in 1993.
    After graduation, Matthew felt a call to the ministry. Although Dan and Diane were careful not to pressure any of their children to take this path, they were delighted. Dan said, “We told all three of our sons if they wanted to preach, we would help them any way we can, and if you do not, we will help you any way we can.”
    Matthew followed his older brother to Freed-
    Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee, a small town of 5,600 located between Selmer and Huntingdon. It was a pretty, compact campus sitting on a hilltop, the clusters of converted old houses and newer brick buildings broken up by green space and trees.
    The church’s influence over campus life was apparent. “Modesty and appropriateness” were mandated in clothing and hair styles. Unless actively engaged in athletic activity, students were prohibited from wearing shorts in public. Attendance at chapel was a daily requirement. There were separate dormitories for male and female students. Only once during the school year were students allowed to go into the dorms of the opposite sex. That was on Halloween, where they were allowed to trick-or-treat at each other’s residences.
    In 1994, Matthew’s parents moved from Georgia to Nashville, where Dan served eleven years as the pulpitpreacher of the 1,300-member Crieve Hall Church of Christ. One year later, Matthew met and fell for another student, a year older than he was. After dating her for three months, Matthew knew it was serious. In October 1995, she placed a call to her mother and father saying she was coming home for a visit, and bringing along someone she wanted them to meet. Before the weekend was over, Matt asked Clark Freeman for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Six months later, wearing her mother’s satin wedding gown, and preceded by nine pink-gowned bridesmaids, she walked down the aisle. Matthew sealed his fate on April 20, 1996, when he recited his wedding vows in Knoxville, marrying Mary Carol Freeman.

Chapter 10
    At the end of the academic year, the newlyweds both dropped out of school to save up money. They moved to the Knoxville area and into a tiny apartment in Louisville, a small town outside of the city. Matthew got a construction job working for his new father-in-law.
    That summer, Matthew started shouting and yelling at his wife on a regular basis. Mary never understood what she did to provoke that behavior. Perhaps he was uncomfortable being dependent on Mary’s father for his paycheck. Perhaps he was bitter about terminating his schooling. Whatever the cause, an angry Matthew was intimidating. At 6'1", he was still built like the linebacker he once was. Riled up, he paced the floor and waved his arms around—seeming to be everywhere at once. When making a point, he’d poke his fingers inches from