Special Guests Here and There . . . Wrap Up of the Civil Forum
- posted by: Cheryl
- posted in: Uncategorized, My Life
- on: August 18, 2008
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. On Friday I posted about ‘Special Guests’. Well, I wanted to thank Kerry Lynn for being our special guest blogger and sharing her awesome project with us. Oh my! It was great and she even shared the ‘how to’. If you haven’t checked it out yet . . . I know you’ll be inspired. Here’s the link . . .
http://www.fiskateers.com/blog/2008/08/16/guest-blogger-kerry-lynn-yeary/
I also mentioned that I was headed to hear some special guests at our church. Well, I have to say that it was such a great experience. I loved it! You see . . . Barack Obama and John McCain where the special guests. Pastor Rick Warren opened up the civil forum with a bit of an introduction to both men. He mentioned that these men both care about our country and are patriots. It was awesome to get to see a bit of their heart, to see their personalities, hear their answers, and listen of their experience. I was moved. It was fascinating and a historical moment.
A couple of major networks broadcasted the forum live and you can also catch Rick Warren on Monday (tonight) as he’s speaking on Larry King Live (6 p.m. PST) and ABC’s Nightline at 11:35 p.m. which is dedicated completely to the ministry at Saddleback . . . the PEACE plan both locally and worldwide (especially Rwanda - a place dear to my heart) .
Secondly, it was a wonderful experience from my law enforcement perspective. I saw some co-workers and enjoyed watching the Sheriff’s Department, California Highway Patrol, Saddleback Security, and the Secret Service work in conjunction with each other.
I know my daughter would have loved it. We intentionally didn’t tell her who we were going to see until after because we knew she’d be disappointed. We talked a bit about it afterwards and she shared the three questions she would ask our future president (without hearing Rick Warren’s) . . .
- Why do you want to be president?
- What would you do as president?
- Are you a Christian?
So there you have it . . . questions that a typical nine-year old might have. I personally thought they were pretty good and Rick Warren asked each of the above questions in one fashion or another.
By the way, Pastor Rick’s questions . . . many thought they wouldn’t be tough . . . they were tough but good ones that really shared a bit of who each of these men are. I enjoyed getting to know each of these men better. I feel Pastor Rick did a fantastic job. It allowed the candidates to answer in a relaxed and non-threatening atmosphere.
The message that Pastor Rick shared this morning was great and some of the service this morning will be televised on ABC’s Nightline later this evening. In his message he had a lot to say about leadership qualities we find in the Bible and some of the most important being integrity, humility and generosity. It was great and a wonderful reminder that in life there are times we are all leaders . . . that we all have influence on others.
I hope you were inspired by our special guest here on the Fiskateer website. I know I was inspired by ALL the special guests I saw and heard this weekend. Like I’ve shared in the past, I know America is not perfect and sometimes the system may fail. I have lived overseas in countries where government was far less than perfect (scary at times to be exact). Despite America’s imperfectness . . . I am grateful to live here with all the freedoms we have (to vote, free speech and even to protest - as Pastor Rick mentioned) and I am proud to be an American.
Roseann #2933 says:
August 18th, 2008 at 12:40 pmI would have loved to be able to attend this special service with you. What a priviledge to meet the two candidates and actually hear what they have to say firsthand. I am so proud to be an American with all our freedoms and priviledges. TFS.
Judy Jackson says:
August 18th, 2008 at 12:42 pmThanks so much for the heads up Friday night. I was unaware that my couin invited more family to our luncheon so I wouldn’t be able to attend. We did talk about it and watched the first showing on KOCE in Newport and the later showing when we got back to Fontana. JJ
Kim #669 says:
August 18th, 2008 at 12:58 pmI totally agree Cheryl. We tend to take a lot of our rights as Americans for granted. We still live in what I believe to be the greatest country in the world, with better opportunities and standard of living than anywhere else. Sounds like you enjoyed the evening.TFS!!
Jan says:
August 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pm“Despite America’s imperfectness . . . I am grateful to live here with all the freedoms we have (to vote, free speech and even to protest - as Pastor Rick mentioned) and I am proud to be an American.”
Amen, sister! How wonderful to be a part of this experience. I hope to be able to see some of these interviews soon.
RitaS says:
August 18th, 2008 at 1:56 pmWe will have to set this up to tape tonight -thanks Cheryl. I suspect my 10 yr old would ask those very same questions as your daughter.
Betsy #2572 says:
August 18th, 2008 at 3:06 pmHow wonderful to have that experience!!! I am so thankful to be living where I am ! We do have may freedoms we take for granted!
Sweepnut (Denise) #3618 says:
August 18th, 2008 at 4:41 pmI think I saw a snidbit of this on television and it was very interesting hearing how the candidates responded. I would have loved to have heard everything.
Cheryl says:
August 18th, 2008 at 5:07 pmWhat a wonderful opportunity - thanks to you, I was able to see it on Fox News - I wouldn’t have known about it otherwise.
Nan Paturzo says:
August 18th, 2008 at 5:19 pmHi Cheryl:
You were fortunate to experience the forum. I watched it live and found it all very enlightening from a number of perspectives. The fact that I could see circling helicopters from our backyard (that was probably secret service and law enforecement and not fire-fighting helicopters for once!) made the closeness of the event very surreal. INcredible to be part of history.
lydia #3510 says:
August 18th, 2008 at 6:03 pmWOW..what a wonderful experience..is this the same Rick Warren who authored the book ‘The purpose Driven Life”? U really were in great company..I would’ve loved to be there!!
Michelle 3624 says:
August 18th, 2008 at 7:00 pmThanks for sharing and I thought of you as I saw the new coverage and hoped that you had a fun time watching it live and I knew you would of spent a great deal of time figuring out the security of the meeting.
How cool it is to share history with your daughter not everyone is able to do that!
I too think we are all very lucky to live in this country and not some place else. Yes it is not perfect but better then so many other places in this world!
Have a good week and stay safe!
Wendy Jo says:
August 18th, 2008 at 8:31 pmWow what an experience that must have been!
Debbie Buckland says:
August 18th, 2008 at 10:24 pmOh my gosh!!! was that YOUR church!
I saw that on the news! Yes here in little old New Zealand!
Stephanie says:
August 18th, 2008 at 11:18 pmWhat a great event to be able to attend! I’ll watch what I can on the tube, sure wish I could have been there!
Love and Hugs!!
Lisa #1989 says:
August 19th, 2008 at 7:22 amWhat a wonderful opportunity you had to attend the Obama/McCain event. That would have been really great to be there in person! Thanks for sharing!
Tara Hilde says:
August 19th, 2008 at 4:41 pmThanks for sharing Cheryl! Rick was recently in TIME too!
Kimberley 2626 says:
August 20th, 2008 at 6:53 amHey, Cheryl.
I was just thinking about your perspective of how the meeting was in a non-threatening place. It’s funny, but since evangelical Christians comprise such a large percentage of the voting public, churches are probably one of the most threatening to candidates sometimes, you know? They have to phrase everything sooo carefully! I would never want to be in politics — too much pressure! I am very proud to be an American, love our country, but will be glad when the whole presidential election process is over for the next four years.
Julie Overby says:
August 20th, 2008 at 12:28 pmI’m so glad you let us know about this night. I was able to watch and loved the fact that they were both asked the exact same questions. It really gave us a glimps into each of their lives. Very powerful night.
Sandi says:
August 20th, 2008 at 12:49 pmWow how blessed we are! TFS
Sandi #2584
Edith Vest says:
August 20th, 2008 at 9:15 pmThanks so much for sharing.
Pinky #3405 says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:26 pmHow did I miss this post? Cheryl, you are so right America is not perfect but man other countries are worse off then we are! Even the gas at 9.00 a gallon in Europe!
It was a wonderful interview and I am happy it was actually publicized a SMIDGE! LOL