Iowa: an unforgettable experience

Well, Emily and I got back Wednesday night from an awesome five days in Iowa. We were on the Mike Whalen (House) and Jim Nussle (for governor) campaigns, and we did do a little volunteer work for some other candidates. Our days were filled with phone banking, literature dropping (knocking on doors and handing out pamphlets), and waving signs at intersections. We were all working on little sleep and did a lot of running during the literature drops, so the days were long and we worked hard. But it was a good feeling to know we were working hard for Godly candidates who truly appreciated our efforts.

In the five days that I was in Iowa I:

Made over 300 calls to angry, ticked off registered voters

Knocked on the doors of hundreds of people with bloodthirsty dogs

Waved signs in front of unnumberable drivers on their way to the polls

I got to meet candidates Mike Whalen, Dave Hartsuch, Linda Miller, and Roby Smith. The two candidates that really made an impression on me were Whalen and Smith. Whalen did not win, and we were there at the victory party to hear his excellent speech. After giving his live speech he spoke privately with our SAT group, telling us how we had not lost, but how we could learn from this experience and still glorify God through it. It was so amazing to hear a politician speak in such a humble, God honoring way... it was such an incredible opportunity for me to witness the faith of such men.

Roby Smith, as far as we know, did not win either. While my group was out doing literature drops one morning we saw him going door to door speaking personally with residents, encouraging them to vote. He had been walking to each house for 6 months; reaching thousands of people.

Our candidates were strongly pro-family and pro-life. They were men who believed in God and carried that belief clearly into politics, which takes a lot of strength to do. It reminds me of a line from the movie "Facing the Giants"; "when we win, we praise him... and when we lose, we praise him". These men were not defeated by losing the election. They reached hundreds of people through faith and hard work, and in the doing so left a huge impression on a 16 year old girl. It was an incredible week full of learning and growing for me, and I will never forget it.