My TeenPact Story...Or something like that...

I found this as I was preparing for my presentation the other day. Apparently I had written in the weeks following the 2015 TeenPact State Class and completely forgotten about it's existence. It's rather lengthy, but I had no idea how inspired I was by attending TeenPact.....Perhaps it will inspire someone else as well....

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   Did you know a chimpanzee once ran for the Presidential Primaries in New Hampshire? Did you know New Hampshire is the only state to have a Governor and Executive Council? Did you know the first battle in the American War for Independence was actually fought in Northern NH?.....Did you know New Hampshire established the first free government in the world?

   New Hampshire is one of the freest and most unique states in the US. Despite our small size, we have more Representatives in our State House than almost any other state. This means each of us have some of the best representation in the world. We have more freedom than some people even dream of having, but so few of us realize this. So few people of this generation understand the gift they have. And so many of this generation don't want to know or care either.

  That is just how a society crumbles. That is exactly how freedom is taken away. In fact, it isn't really taken at all. We are giving our freedom away. Or, probably a better analogy, we're throwing our freedom away. 

   To me that is a crushing thought. To realize that we are throwing away one of the greatest gifts we could ever have so we don't have to be inconvenienced. Do we really think so little of all the freedom we enjoy that we aren't willing to work hard to keep it?

  This past week I met, talked with, and listened to so many men and women who challenged me not to be that type of person. People like Rep. Dan Itse, Rep. Josh Moore, Secretary of State Bill Gardner, and Executive Councilman Dave Wheeler expressed to me and the other young people I was with the need in NH for young men and women to rise up and become involved in our government. While a group of TeenPact staffers encouraged us to learn more about our government and prepare to become the men and women our country needs. And I watch dozens of young people walk away inspired to be whatever God planned for them to be.

  The program that made it possible for me to meet and learn from these people is called TeenPact. I attend their four-day State Class for NH terrified about what I would be pushed from my comfort zone into doing. And I left, still terrified of the great job that I now realized loomed before me. But, you know what? I also left those inspiring days behind to become a much braver young citizen of the United States. 

   Over and over again, I used to get discouraged by the way I saw our towns, state, and country heading. Honestly, that discouragement makes it hard to hear or learn anything more about government, politics, etc. However, slowly, I realized though how accessible our state government is, how well represented we could be, how much freer we are than the rest of the world...Suddenly, that little seed of hope my mind was watered. It's just a seed - a tiny thing really in light of the great world we live in - but it was watered anyways. And it grew; I grew. God still has hope for this nation. So, I pray, He will continue instilling that hope in other hearts, like He did in mine.