Day one in a congressional office

The scene: 7am on a cold, breezy and rainy morning. Forecast for the rest of the day is snow mixed with rain. I live in a house with 11 other people, so when I woke up and saw the rain outside so did the other roomies and the complaints started rolling about the long walk. I have a half mile walk to the Rayburn in my little black flats. God is so good because he knows we have to walk through a lot of cold and wet days and that is why Philippians 2:14-16 is in the Bible.

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”

This was the verse of the day on Biblegateway.com (the widget right under my weather widget- it was like instantly I saw the weather and then the word). Again I am reminded that God’s word has instruction for us in every situation. To be honest, the walk was wonderful. It may have been because I had first-day adrenaline or maybe it was more because I already had a special moment with my savior.

I was all smiles when I walked into Congressman Payne’s office. For those of you who don’t know who Congressman Payne is, he is the Representative of the 10th district in New Jersey. I got hooked up with his office because of my interests in the developing world, the issues in Africa, world health issues, and education. The most exciting link with Congressman Payne chairmanship of the Africa and Global Health Subcommittee. Here is more about the Congressman.

The day was characterized by a lot of asking simple questions, sorting through mail and faxes, and answering telephone calls. However, I did get to sit in my first briefing where a representative from Osolo of Extractive Industires Transparency Initiative (EITI) presented and update to the Foreign Affairs Committee. It was a small meeting, but a neat opportunity to watch the process of the EITI update our Congress, so that we might be better involved in helping other countries better monitor their natural resources eliminate exploitation of those resources.

My walk home was a bit exciting because one of my coworkers showed me through the underground tunnel from our office building to the other side of the Capitol where I live. I got home and all of the roomies shared about their first day, and as I recall I think I was the only only who characterized their experience with excitement and joy. I think I owe a thank you to God for blessing my day with His joy found when I focused eyes on His promises.