Fall 2003

In early September of 2003, my dad and I filled my little Nissan Altima to the breaking point, climbed in, and tag-teamed the drive all the way to Colorado Springs, CO (with a little pit stop on the way to visit my grandparents who were motorhoming across the country). We got there, moved my stuff into the 2BR apartment that I would be living in with three strangers for the next 4 months, and I drove him to the airport to catch a plane back home.

I had been accepted to attend a one-semester academic journey into the how's and why's of the Christian life. It absolutely revolutionized the way I view the world, which impacted every sphere of life from family to politics to science to psychology. I was challenged to give an answer for what I believed, why I believed it to be true, and what believing those things meant in day-to-day life.

I never could have possibly imagined the importance of the foundation those few months laid in my life, or the impact that the Institute would have on the way I parent, the movie choices that I make, and the friendships that I have.

If you are/are going to someday be 20-26 years old, if you know someone who is 20-26 years old, if you have a child that will be 20-26 years old at some point (I'm thinking this should cover everybody), you really should check out the Focus Leadership Institute. It's one of those moments in life in which I would have pressed the "pause" button indefinitely just to never stop experiencing the richness and depth of education, community and truth that is totally inescapable at that place.