Perfectly Titled

Family, Friends, Colleagues, Political Foes,

Just kidding on that last one! Greetings from the nation's capital!! What an amazing privilege, honor, and opportunity I have to intern on Capitol Hill this summer! Capitol Hill! This is a dream and prayers come true, and I am working for, I would argue without a doubt, one of our nation's current most upstanding members of Congress. I literally had tears in my eyes the first few days as I toured the Capitol thankful for this opportunity and in total submission of thankfulness to God to have the amazing freedoms we are blessed to have and the amazing willpower of past Americans who have sacrificed their lives, their families' lives, and ways of life to fight for a cause in which they so wholeheartedly believed. If only I could fight for the same needs for justice, equality, and freedom for all under God's will and as His hands and feet, that would be a life to be lived. I truly cannot believe I am here-- feeling totally blessed by God's plans for my summer.

Arrival on May 15th was a wonderfully accommodating welcome by my Aunt Lynda's good friend from years back and still so-- Pam and her two daughters: Kristen- 15 & Becky-9-- in Vienna, VA. They are wonderfully nice and have welcomed me so warmly into their home. So warm that Pam did my laundry yesterday and took my dress shirts to the dry cleaners! I don't even take my shirts to the dry cleaners. Pam is a food extraordinaire, which is good for a college student who is not jokingly frightened and feared away from the grocery store; I am not kidding; good, too, for someone who won't prepare a meal unless it takes no longer than a minute!

Work on the Hill has been, for the most part, what I expected. It's been administrative in nature by answering the phones, processing the mail, greeting constituents coming into the office, Capitol Hill tours (looking forward to giving those!), learning the structure of the office, and discovering the flow of legislation, how committees work, and the tone and attitudes of Washington. I am hoping to fall in love with an issue and become more knowledgeable on it. Social values and cultural concerns draw me into politics, I would say, more so than any specific issue, at least at the moment. Also, operations management of politics and offices interest me as well.

I must say, every time I look at the Capitol I am in complete awe of the gifts and talents God gives to people. It is awe-inspiring to view this amazingly articulate, wonderfully crafted, uniquely American-designed Capitol. I just know my eyes will never tire from daily seeing this vestibule of our American republic and democracy where voices of millions of Americans are attempted to be heard, fought for through raucous debate, and given credence and power through our bicameral legislature. As Hamilton so perfectly put, "Here, sir, the people govern." The incredible amount of history like the Clay, Webster, and Calhoun speeches and debates, the Dred Scott decision, and Abraham Lincoln's (I love Lincoln) former desk location gives me the chills-- it's that awesome.

Congressman Pence is an incredible stand-up gentlemen in the House of Representatives. He's a Republican in Washington who's actually conservative. I am inspired by his faith in Christ and his open declarations of need for God in his life and our nation's government. On his desk and in his private restroom, he has well-worn Bibles, which is a daily encouragement to me that having a faith and being in government is possible and completely needed and necessary. Sad it is to see in person how our nation has marginalized God when much of the reason our country was founded was for religious freedom and our founding documents so evidently point to unalienable rights endowed by our Creator and Nature's God entitling governments, as stated in the Declaration.

Memorial Day in the capital actually means something. I went to Arlington that day and how humbling, saddening, and patriotic an experience it was-- humbled by those who fought for my freedoms, saddened by the seemingly neverending tombstones, and patriotic as graves were lined with American flags by those who believed in America enough to die for her. Wow. It was my second visit and truly I was blown away again by how many graves there really are. It's a necessary must-see for every American. I also visited the Vietnam Memorial, and for an emotional guy like me, it was a tear-filled experience to say the least. To see a tough, grown man breakdown in tears as he etched the name of his comrade J-O-S-E-P-H-T.-C-H-A-T-B-U-R-N, moved me incredibly. To read a current letter of a mother whose son died forty-two years ago as she recalls of those mom memories and her wanting to take the place of her son's death so that he could live, nearly had me burying my face in my hands so humbled by such incredible braverism, sacrifice, and heartbrokenness. Truly, truly we are a blessed people as a result of indescribale service coupled with terrible hurt and pain. Be thankful for such wonderful freedoms!

Visiting the Holocaust Memorial Museum yesterday had me in tears again. So many unanswered questions are a result of such primitivity, brutality, and unparalleled human sin. How overwhelming it was to see endless death and how it begged me to ask how it could have happened. Words in our limited vocabularies cannot describe the sufferable experiences of the Holocaust. It made me all the more thankful for God's daily mercies given me.

Since mid-March, God has been revolutionizing my walk with Him, and I am so thrilled to see what He will accomplish through this internship experience. How he has changed such huge aspects of my life is evidence to me and others that only He could change me; and, if he could change the things of my heart, who I thought I was or had to be, then God can change anyone.

I love that I get to read my Bible everyday on my Metro ride into work. God has been constantly reminding me of how truly blessed I am to have such a loving family and friends. Honestly, God has blessed me immeasurably through all of you. I really do miss everyone. Trust me, I've thought about you all much since being here. If you could, please pray that I can be a powerful witness for God's Word and the Gospel message on The Hill while here; I must not lie I have cowered since I've been here. I desperately miss my Campus Crusade community at IU, and I am praying to find a wonderful Christian community here. It's a lot different to meet people in a new, big city than on a college campus. Please pray that I find good friends and a loving Christian community! I need it! Also, please pray for my friend and a best friend's mom, Kathy Hummer, for her healing from pancreatic cancer.

I'd love to hear how you're doing so please call or inform me through this venue. I miss you all terribly and pray that when I see you again past memories and our relationship will be rekindled just to the way it was. I love you all dearly.

God bless you all immensely,
Justin

P.S. Sorry about the lengthiness! (Remember, it's me.) Though, I'll keep them shorter and write more frequently to alleviate your pain.