Harold and the Purple Crayon

I’m almost done with Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero. I listen to the audiobook version during my morning workouts. What a classy, interesting couple.

this twenty-something pastor spent the day walking circles around his flock, guiding them from place to place

on a hill overlooking bethlehem

the view from my new home

east jerusalem

In Israel

It was written down on a notecard that I kept in my personal journal. For three years, I looked at it nearly every night before I went to bed.

One of my life goals was to serve as student body president at BYU. I wanted to have a meaningful college experience by giving back. I also wanted to challenge myself to do something great. So, my friend McKay and I entered the race and gave it our best shot. The whole process, from conception to execution, took about five months. We had incredible support in the election, but fell short by only a few percentage points.

When we heard the news, we were crushed. The night it was announced, our whole team was there, anticipating an easy win. We were all crushed. It seemed that after so much hard work, we deserved to see success. Isn’t that how life works? Don’t they say that hard work pays off?

It turns out that they also say you learn more from failure.

I knew from past failures that there would be another plan for me, and that usually it takes a few months or years to see the big picture. This time it only took two weeks. After our loss, I was quickly recruited to apply for student body president of the Marriott School of Management at BYU. After two interviews and a presentation to the Dean, I was selected as next year’s president. The next day, I received a phone call from the BYU Jerusalem Center office. My late application to study in Israel over the summer was pushed through and I was placed in the program. I was to leave in two and a half weeks.

Not many people run for president twice in one month and live to tell the tale. It turns out that winning my second election was probably better for me and for my career than winning the first. Had I won my first election, I would have been tied down to Utah over the summer and for the next full year. Instead, I was elected president of a top 10 business school and was somehow accepted to the highly sought-after Jerusalem program this summer at the very last minute. I’ll be spending my free summer in Israel and starting my term as president next fall. Instead of one opportunity, I was given two.

What’s more, I’m now able to get started on another goal written down on the notecard I keep in my journal: “Learn Arabic”.

We must set goals, work hard, and pray for success. I looked at that notecard for three years, preparing to achieve. Although it didn’t pan out exactly as I had expected, I was still able to meet my goal by serving as student body president at BYU - just in a round about way.

I’ve learned that God doesn’t just want our happiness and success; he also wants us to learn along the way. And now here I am, in Israel.