Room in the Inn

Last night we stayed in Denver with the Roach family. We had met this Christ honoring family only briefly at a wedding, but surprisingly they were gracious enough to allow us weary travelers a nights lodging, and much entertaining conversation. We all talked well into the night and even when the clock struck midnight Chad, the oldest son of the family, and I spent another hour or so discussing various aspects of his business ventures and his work as personal assistant to Kevin Swanson, a pastor and inspirational home schooling speaker. Mr. Swanson actually stayed the night at the Roaches as well, along with his daughter, so that Chad could drop him off at the Denver International Airport the following morning at around 5:00 AM. I asked to go along and thus was able to talk to Kevin Swanson a bit more before he left.

Upon our return to the Roach’s new home, which is situated on 30 wide open acres of Colorado prairie, Chad and I quietly discussed Cindy Sheehan’s new property purchase (next to Bush’s ranch) and various topics concerning the conflict between Israel, the Hezbollah, and Lebanon over self made burnt bagels and non-concentrated orange juice (not a very promising omen for needed intern culinary skills).

We were in no hurry to leave this blessed family’s company this morning and thus only departed after joining in on the morning devotions, which concluded with a hymn. We then headed East across the corn filled flatlands of Kansas and then eventually headed South on I-35 towards Ponca City, Oklahoma.

The reason for this stop was to visit, upon my mother’s insistence, some long time friends whom I don’t even remember. I presume that it will be interesting to meet people whom I was supposedly playmates with back in the day. But then again, the encounter could turn into an awkward attempt of two parties trying make conversation on pointless topics in an effort to pass the time. In any event, I will let you in on what transpires this evening in my next post.

On the Road

Well the day finally came for me to make my way to San Antonio, though it was not without a many heartfelt goodbye. Dad and I are making good time in our travels and are cruising through the deserted Plaines of Wyoming on our second day of travel. After an overnight stay at the home of some friends we will depart from Denver tomorrow morning and hopefully reach Oklahoma City Friday afternoon.

My main reason for even applying for the Vision Forum internship lies with the deep respect I have for the ministry. My family encountered the wealth of information found at the Forum during a struggle between our church and the principles for which we stand. When we got our hands on a series entitled “Reuniting Church and Family” we were encouraged to find out that families throughout the nation were also facing the same issues we faced. Because of the advice we encountered during that time, we were able to respond to our church family in a way that would glorify God instead of resorting to anger and resentment which were quite ready emotions. From that point on, we have come to appreciate the great ways in which VF is actually making a difference in our culture, and it is my desire to give of my time and energy in whatever capacity to help make such a difference.

The details of a cross country trip can sometimes be very boring so I will only post events of interest. My next post will be coming from OKC tomorrow evening to inform you of some of the interesting things I have seen already and things that will transpire tomorrow, if any. I also plan on posting pictures soon. Stay tuned.

Yet Another Interesting Change of Events

Well, the days all started slipping by as soon as I got the phone call. With all three of my classes churning out assignment after assignment in light of fact that all finals take place next week, I barely had time to think when a Mr. Kevin Turley from Vision Forum Ministries told me they would like to have me join their staff for a six month internship. I had applied several weeks earlier for the opportunity with a half hearted hope of being accepted, but when I heard that Vision Forum was only hiring 3-4 interns instead of last year’s 7,and that over 70 people had already applied, I really felt that the odds were slim. Of course if I use the term “odds” then I am implying my belief in chance, but since I believe that all things work together for good to them that are called to Gods purposes, then I must say I didn’t think I would be blessed with the job. Again, God has blessed the hard work of my parents in my life, and I get the benefit. I could never be the person I am today with their reproof and guidance.

Anyway, many have asked about the phone interview that I had, and wondered what was asked. Well, the interview was carried out by Mr. Turley (who is responsible for the hiring process of interns, among other things), as well as by the company President, Mr. Doug Phillips. As you could imagine, I was slightly apprehensive while waiting for the phone to ring on the morning of the interview, but once the tele-conference got underway my confidence starting rebuilding.

Mr. Phillips asked most of the questions in areas regarding my opinions on church government, dating, and salvation. He also wanted to know how I learned about Vision Forum, why I wanted to spend six months of my life there, if I was willing to be physically and spiritually pushed to my limit, and exactly what I wished to gain by taking on the internship. Mr. Turley interjected from time to time with questions of his own including asking me for my sources of news, whether I felt that President Bush was enacting traditionalistic policies, and what was one biggest things I learned while serving in the Legislature. I believe that most of these questions were not specifically designed to investigate my every thought on these subjects, but were used to measure how well I was able to interact, communicate and express myself on the various topics. At the close of the interview I told both Mr. Phillips and Mr. Turley that even if everything didn’t work out, the interview was surprisingly a pleasure. And it was.

So now I have less than two weeks to prepare myself for a long drive down to Texas and an exciting six month long internship at a company which I respect deeply. I admire Vision Forum’s high quality efforts to equip mothers and fathers throughout our nation with a wide array of tools with which they can prepare their sons and daughters to impact this dark world. I also look forward to being apart of such a great and effective team.

There’s more I’d like to share but my math book is beckoning me from the distant corner of my desk. I will keep you updated on the flurry of events that are transpiring here, while at the same time trying to get decent grades on my finals here at school.

The past six months...

If you have been following my sparse and sporadic blog for any length of time, you will have come to the conclusion that I have worked in the Legislature, but that’s about it. Well, you deserve a little background for your valiant curiosity into my activities (which are not altogether always interesting). So let me explain.

I started my pursuit of a general education degree at Central Texas College, which is actually a satellite school based out of Texas, during November of ‘05. My first semester was focused on Government I and II. I must note that these classes were almost entirely consumed in more arguments and commentaries on various subjects between the students, more so than the teacher was actually able to teach. I only chose to take both of these classes at the same time because each course shares the same book (this matters when books cost over $100 dollars each).

During my semester in Government I found out about the Session Aid job for Senator Benton and applied. I spent countless hours writing and perfecting my resume and eventually, and with much prayer, sent it off. A week went by, followed by a succession of several more. Finally, two week before the session was set to begin I received a phone call from Senator Benton’s Legislative Assistant. He then told me that he had narrowed down the list of applicants to about three different people and was wondering is I still wanted the job. I did. He then called and asked if I would be able to come to the Capitol for an interview. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the interview and thus started to study all the valuable information on monster.com about interviews. To make a long story short, the assistant had already narrowed down who he thought would be good for the job and now only wanted to do a little personality checking.

Well, you all know the rest of the story but I would like to say that I can not in the least bit take the credit for the reasons for which I was chosen. This job was more than just source of income. It was a once in a lifetime educational experience and I knew that if I got the job it would be a gift of God. I also credit my success to my parent’s determination to raise their children after the Lord. I t is because of them and their efforts that I am able to exhibit the character qualities that I have today.

Now that the Legislative session is over I am once again immersed in my college studies. This time I am taking College Algebra, History II, and English composition I. The latter two classes do not challenge me very much, but the mountainous amounts of homework, combined with the fact that our eight week class is boiling down to be only a five week class due to various events, have made college algebra a course to be reckoned with.

I hope that this will provide my readers with a better sense of who I am, and at the very least, inform you of my current activities. With the knowledge that personal blogs can be very self centered and boring, I will be writing not only about my encounters with life’s interesting plights, but also offer discussion and my very informative commentary on our Nation’s current events.