The Bettelli Buzz Vol. 4 Jan. 27, 2016: My First Week in Colorado Springs

So I have officially been living in Colorado Springs for a full week. It is so different from Florida. No matter where I drive I see mountains, and it takes your breathe away every single time...or maybe that's just the elevation...

Last Tuesday was my first day at Focus on the Family and I woke up to this:

I couldn't believe it. The first day of work, and it snowed the night before. I thought, God has an interesting sense of humor. It made me think of how I learned how to swim. When I was a kid, my oldest brother threw me in the deep end of our pool and told me to swim to the steps. I was so scared, but I got to the steps in no time. My oldest brother lives in Minnesota, and as I began to drive to work, I called him to get a few driving tips because I was extremely nervous. This was my first time driving in snow. As I approached my first intersection, I began to push on the breaks and I thought something was wrong with my car because it sounded like there were rocks in there making some sort of clunking sound, so I couldn't stop. As I turned left, I began to fishtail and thought to myself, I might not be working for Focus on the Family after all. 

I did end up getting to work, but I was the annoying guy in the right lane that everyone stares at because they drive so slow. Again, God's sense of humor...

The second day of work was a little better, except for the fact that as I was walking out to my car there was ice on the driveway, and being the Floridian that I am, I didn't think anything of it. Well, in a matter of seconds my legs were swiftly pulled up into the air and I then got to see what Colorado ice looks like up close. 

Here is a picture of what it looks like as I drive to work every morning. 

My week was filled with trainings, and paperwork, and meeting all kinds of people. I got to sit in the broadcast studio of FOTF, and see where they create all the sounds for Adventures in Odyssey. 

On the weekend I went over and checked out the Garden of the gods. It made me think about how incredibly creative our God is. 

I also went to my first Denver Nuggets game, and it was a "nail-biter," but the Nuggets pulled ahead and won in the final minute of the game. 

Here I am with my new friend David, who has been volunteering at Focus the past week. 

The next morning I took a hike, with my friend Dale and his son Rhett, through a park near where I'm living right now. In the first picture, I'm actually standing in the middle of a pond that is frozen over. The second picture is me and Rhett at the top of a hill that had an amazing view of the Rocky Mountains.

After church Dale invited me over to his house for an afternoon of Broncos football and deer meat. We had venison steak, venison sausage, and venison jerky. It was amazing, and did I mention the Broncos won the AFC Championship. GO BRONCOS! Yes, I am jumping on the Bronco Band wagon. Hey, I can't help it if my new home town has a championship team in the NFL :)

Yesterday I got to meet Dr. Al Mohler, who was recording a broadcast that will air at some point this Spring. He was very gracious and kind. I got to sit and listen to the entire recording in the control room and watch how it all goes down. BTW...It's going to be a great broadcast!

So I'll have more of my Colorado Adventures next week, but because of all the busyness of life, I have used most of my time to read material put out by Focus on the Family. As I finish some of the books and curriculums, I'll be sure to write about them so you know what's out there.

There was one really ridiculous article I came across last week that came out about the Department of Education. Eight senators requested that the Department of Education make public the names of all the institutions that have asked for religious exemptions from Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. The worst thing about this news is the reasoning behind why the senators asked the Dept. of Ed to do this. They said they believe these waivers allow for "discrimination under the guise of religion." Click here for the full article.

Here is your Book Buzz:

The Gagging of God by D.A. Carson $3.99
Worship By The Book by D.A. Carson $3.99
Telling the Truth by D.A. Carson
The Next Story by Tim Challies $3.99
Preaching and Preachers by Martin Lloyd Jones $3.99

The Real Face of Atheism by Ravi Zacharias $2.51

Divine Design by John MacArthur $2.99
Proof by Daniel Montgomery $3.99
Exalting Jesus in James by David Platt $2.99
Exalting Jesus in 1&2 Thessalonians by Mark Howell $2.99
Exalting Jesus in the Song of Songs by Daniel Akin $2.99
Introducing Covenant Theology by Michael Horton $2.99
Reclaiming Love by Ajith Fernando $3.99

Be Edified.