If At First You Don't Succeed...

Travis' birthday having just passed (2/24), I've found myself thinking about him even more than usual.  I thought I'd share a story from his life that illustrates the wonderful work of a loving and caring God.

I've written previously about a season of my life when I was not operating wisely in the financial realm. Unfortunately, that season coincided with Travis' graduation from high school.

He was so intelligent and we knew that he really needed to go to college. However, we were already in significant debt with troubling cash-flow difficulties.  Lacking wisdom, we had not prepared to send our son to college. Debbie and I repeatedly took this problem to God in prayer.  We asked Him to provide a way for Travis to get a good education!   [For more on debt recovery, check out the post titled:  "Once upon a time..."]

This precipitated a difficult conversation with my son.  I had to confess my inadequacies and tell him that we were not prepared to be much help to him when it came to going to college.  Essentially, I told him, "Travis, I'm sorry! The only way you're going to be able to go to college is for your Mom and me to go further into debt - and for you to accrue debt yourself."

This was one of the low moments in my life!

However, Travis had done well in school and met the criteria for some level of help through scholarships. That was exciting, and we were proud of him!

We made quite a few day-trips to visit colleges.  His Mom and I liked Mt. Vernon Nazarene College in Ohio.  We could tell that Travis leaned toward Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania.  Probably out of a desire to please us, he chose Mt. Vernon.

He called me during the fall semester and said, "Dad, they're more strict here than you were!  They won't even let us watch Seinfeld!"  Ha ha ha ha...

He came home early for the Christmas break due to a dormitory fire.  We thoroughly enjoyed having him home!  Right after Christmas, he announced that he was not going back to school!  He had joined the Navy!

I pretended to be ok with that decision, but inside I was very upset with him. I desperately wanted him to get a college education;  I knew the sky was the limit for Travis!

But, his thinking was to get the Navy to help him reach his goal - which at the time was to become a doctor.

He spent the next couple of months with us and then reported to boot camp in late March!  We attended his graduation and then they sent him to 'Power School' in Orlando.  (Poor boy!)

After over a year there, one of his chief's told him that he should apply to the Naval Academy:  "They're looking for guys like you;  and they take 90 from the enlisted ranks every year."

I told him to go for it.  He called months later saying that they wanted him to come for an interview.  Woo Hoo!

A month or so later, he called again and said that the interview seemed to go well!  More weeks passed and then he called saying that he had received an invitation to be part of the class of 2000!!!!!   All he needed was to get one of his state senators to give him a recommendation (each senator has the privilege of extending two recommendations.)

My heart immediately sank!

I explained to Travis that the state of Ohio had two of the most liberal senators and that I had written to each of them many times!  In my opinion, they would connect him to me and refuse to give him consideration. 
However, he was convinced he would get his recommendation.

He called a couple of weeks later and indicated that I was right - they wouldn't give him the time of day.

I asked if he had other options.  He said that he could possibly get a recommendation from the president or vice president.

After a pause, I told him that I had also written many letters to both of these men.  Again, ever the optimist, Travis was convinced that he would get a recommendation from either Bill Clinton or Al Gore.

After a couple of weeks, he called to report that they refused to consider his appeal.

You can only imagine how I was feeling at this point!  First, I had failed to prepare to send him to college. Now, I had inadvertently roadblocked his possibilities for attending the United States Naval Academy!!!!

I asked if there were any other options.  He said that the secretary of the Navy also had two recommendations to offer.  Then, he tentatively asked:  "Dad, you haven't written any letters to the Secretary of the Navy, have you?"

I was delighted to respond that I had NOT written to this man!

Remarkably, Travis got his recommendation and started Plebe summer at the USNA on July 2, 1996.

When his earthly father had botched it, his Heavenly Father found a creative route to get him a free education valued at over a quarter million dollars!!!!!!

Our God is an awesome God!!!!!!